{"id":64802,"date":"2023-12-22T15:06:50","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T20:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2023\/12\/22\/christian-music-is-missing-out-on-the-booming-christmas-market-2\/"},"modified":"2023-12-22T15:06:50","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T20:06:50","slug":"christian-music-is-missing-out-on-the-booming-christmas-market-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2023\/12\/22\/christian-music-is-missing-out-on-the-booming-christmas-market-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Music Is Missing Out on the Booming Christmas\u00a0Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- no image --><\/p>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tHoliday music has exploded in popularity over the last decade as listeners hit play, again and again, on their favorite Christmastime songs on their favorite streaming services. The top 100 holiday tracks \u2014 track sales and on-demand audio streams in November and December \u2014 rose more than ten-fold from 2014 to 2022 compared to all-genre growth of 165% over those years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBut one group of songs has been left out of the holiday gold rush: religious songs.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Consumption of the Top 100 Holiday Songs Has Exploded\" aria-label=\"Column Chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-f2LVM\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/f2LVM\/3\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"389\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBack in 2014, the top holiday song was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/pentatonix\/\">Pentatonix<\/a>\u2019s version of \u201cMary, Did You Know?,\u201d a song penned by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/mark-lowry\/\">Mark Lowry<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/buddy-greene\/\">Buddy Greene<\/a> in 1991 and originally recorded by Christian recording artist Michael English the same year. In the November to December holiday listening period, that recording of \u201cMary, Did You Know?\u201d had 276,000 track equivalent units, according to Luminate \u2014 with 92% coming from download purchases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn 2022, the top song was a secular one: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/mariah-carey\/\">Mariah Carey<\/a>\u2019s omnipresent \u201cAll I Want for Christmas Is You,\u201d which amassed 1.6 million track equivalent units in November and December. In 2023, both Carey and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/brenda-lee\/\">Brenda Lee<\/a>\u2019s \u201cRockin\u2019 Around the Christmas Tree\u201d are on pace to do even better thanks to constantly growing streaming numbers and the artists\u2019 heavy media presences. Universal Music Group Nashville\u2019s campaign for Lee, which included making an official video and an appearance on NBC\u2019s <em>Christmas at the Opry<\/em> television special, pushed \u201cRockin\u2019 Around the Christmas Tree\u201d to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/chart-beat\/brenda-lee-rockin-around-the-christmas-tree-number-one-hot-100-second-week-1235550742\/\">No. 1 on the Hot 100<\/a> for the weeks ended Dec. 9 and 16.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"A Falling Number of Religious Songs in the Top 100 Holiday Tracks\" aria-label=\"Column Chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-U8wwl\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/U8wwl\/3\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"400\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn contrast, this year\u2019s top religious holiday song, Pentatonix\u2019s \u201cGod Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,\u201d ranks just No. 47. That lower ranking means fewer royalties from tracks and streams than the 46 secular songs in front of it. From Nov. 3 to Dec. 14, \u201cGod Rest\u201d has only 19% of the track equivalent units of the No. 1 recording, \u201cAll I Want for Christmas Is You.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe shift to secular holiday music has been abrupt. Pentatonix took the No. 1 spot in 2014 and the No. 2 spot in 2015, but by 2017, the top 10 holiday tracks were filled entirely with secular songs. Since 2018, no religious track has pierced the top 40. One of the top religious songs in recent years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/nat-king-cole\/\">Nat King Cole<\/a>\u2019s \u201cO Come All Ye Faithful,\u201d was No. 50 in 2022 and No. 46 in 2021.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Top Religious Holiday Track Has Fallen in the Rankings\" aria-label=\"Interactive line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-iVyRg\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/iVyRg\/4\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"487\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tSecular music\u2019s command of the top 100 holiday recordings has widened over the last decade. In 2014 and 2015, 14 and 13 religious songs were among the top 100 holiday tracks, respectively. In each of the last three years, however, religious songs have accounted for only seven or eight of the top 100.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThis change means religious songs have missed out on the recent financial bonanza. As secular songs dominate holiday listening, religious songs have won a smaller share of royalties. In 2014, 14 religious songs accounted for 83% of the top 100 holiday tracks\u2019 royalties, according to <em>Billboard<\/em>\u2019s estimate based on Luminate data. By 2022, seven religious songs accounted for just 4% of the top 100\u2019s royalties. This year will have a similar disparity as only eight religious songs are currently in the top 100 holiday tracks.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Religious Tracks Have A Smaller Share of the Top 100 Holiday Tracks' Revenue\" aria-label=\"Stacked Bars\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-GcFXi\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/GcFXi\/3\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"507\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tDemographic shifts and the nature of popular holiday music suggest religious music will have a tough time making a comeback. As <em>Billboard<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/christmas-music-new-holiday-songs-trouble-becoming-hits\/\">has reported<\/a>, once a track becomes a holiday favorite, it gains a competitive advantage over other holiday tracks. That's not to say a religious song can\u2019t climb up the ranks in the coming years. But it takes multiple years for a new holiday recording to stick with listeners, and the young recordings with the most success \u2014 such as \"Merry Christmas\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/elton-john\/\">Elton John<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/ed-sheeran\/\">Ed Sheeran<\/a> and \"Like It's Christmas\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/jonas-brothers\/\">Jonas Brothers<\/a> \u2014 are all secular. And with a declining Christian population in the United States to boot, it seems consumer sentiment is likely to match that trend, favoring songs about a special feeling this time of year over biblical themes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/christmas-music-christian-songs-less-popular\/\">Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Holiday music has exploded in popularity over the last decade as listeners hit play, again and again, on their favorite Christmastime songs on their favorite streaming services. The top 100 holiday tracks \u2014 track sales and on-demand audio streams in November and December \u2014 rose more than ten-fold from 2014 to 2022 compared to all-genre [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}