![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/img\/newsletters\/newsletter_weekender_embed_desktop.png\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nEven in 2025, a single seasonal hit can still deliver a dependable December payday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
For some artists, the income from songwriting royalties alone is enough to live on, a premise neatly illustrated by Hugh Grant\u2019s Will Freeman in About a Boy. And for others whose chart fortunes have faded since their moment of festive glory, Christmas remains the gift that keeps on giving.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The money flows from multiple streams: compilation albums, streaming platforms, physical sales, advertising syncs, film and TV placements and, crucially, cover versions that bring old songs back into circulation each year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/p>\nMariah Carey is the self-confessed Queen of Christmas<\/p>\n
Mariah Carey<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
How much does Mariah Carey make from All I Want for Christmas Is You?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nMariah Carey<\/a>\u2019s 1994 hit All I Want for Christmas Is You has become less a Christmas song than an annual event, reliably soundtracking shop floors, office playlists and December parties alike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nThree decades on, the record remains a financial juggernaut. Carey is estimated to earn between \u00a31.8 million and \u00a32.24 million in royalties from the song each year, according to figures from Forbes and The Economist. By 2017, it had generated more than \u00a344.8million in royalties since its release, with co-writer Walter Afanasieff also receiving a substantial share.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nIts dominance is cultural as well as commercial. The track is the most-streamed holiday song of all time, the highest-charting festive single by a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100<\/a> and returns to charts across dozens of countries every December with metronomic precision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nIn 2021, it made history once again, becoming the first \u2014 and so far only \u2014 holiday song to receive the RIAA\u2019s Diamond Award, recognising 10 million sales and streaming units in the US. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nHow much does Noddy Holder make from Merry Christmas Everyone? <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nSlade\u2019s Merry Christmas Everyone may have first topped the charts in 1973, but its earning power shows no sign of seasonal fatigue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nWritten by frontman Noddy Holder alongside bandmate Jim Lea, the song has long since graduated from festive hit to cultural fixture \u2014 one that resurfaces every December to soundtrack office parties, supermarket aisles and family gatherings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"https:\/\/static.standard.co.uk\/2023\/10\/19\/14\/8482e36d85db1038ee8d2d49461225ecY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk3ODA3MDA4-2.8382263.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960\")
<\/p>\nSlade frontman Noddy Holder<\/p>\n
PA Archive<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nThe financial upside is just as enduring. As of 2024, the track is estimated to generate around \u00a31 million a year in royalties, with the sharpest spike arriving, predictably, in December. Over the decades, that annual windfall has added up to a reported \u00a350 million in total earnings from the song alone according to The Sun<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nHow much do Roy Wood and Wizzard make from I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nRemarkably, the two most famous British Christmas songs were released on the same day in 1973. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nMerry Christmas Everyone went up against I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday for the first time 51 years ago and they are both still regular fixtures in the top 40.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nWizzard came off second best that time but the song has charted every year in the UK since 2007 and has already reached the top 40 in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nIt earns songwriter Roy Wood a reported \u00a3180,00 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nHow much does Shakin\u2019 Stevens make from Merry Christmas Everyone?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nWelsh singer Michael Barratt, better known as Shakin\u2019 Stevens, scored a Christmas number one in 1985 with Merry Christmas Everyone (not to be confused with Slade\u2019s near-identical festive staple).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nBut while the song continues to pay out handsomely, Stevens himself receives only a modest slice of the annual takings. The bulk of the royalties flow to the songwriter: according to The Sun in 2024, the track brings in around \u00a3140,000 a year, of which Stevens pockets roughly \u00a310,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nHowever, the lion\u2019s share, an estimated \u00a3130,000 annually<\/a>, goes to lyricist Bob Heatlie, a reminder that when it comes to Christmas classics, the real money is often in the writing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n![](\"https:\/\/static.standard.co.uk\/2024\/12\/27\/18\/491ff2e1472822d1c7f60c16e2e5a23dY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM1Mzk1ODM2-2.29572333.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960\")
<\/p>\nWham!\u2019s Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael<\/p>\n
PA Archive<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nHow much does Wham make from Last Christmas?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nWham!\u2019s Last Christmas remains one of the most-played seasonal songs in the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nWritten by George Michael<\/a> in his childhood bedroom, the 1984 single was famously denied the Christmas number one spot by Band Aid\u2019s Do They Know It\u2019s Christmas? \u2014 a record Michael also appeared on. At the time, Wham! donated all proceeds from Last Christmas to the Ethiopian famine appeal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nFour decades on, the song has become one of the most lucrative hits in British pop history. Industry estimates long cited by The Independent put its annual royalties at around \u00a3300,000 \u2014 a figure still widely regarded as the benchmark, despite exact numbers being kept confidential by PRS, the Performing Right Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nThat level of income places Last Christmas among the top five highest-earning Christmas songs of all time in the UK. Following Michael\u2019s death on Christmas Day in 2016, aged 53, his estate has continued the tradition he began, with the song\u2019s full royalty income donated to charity each year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nHow much does The Darkness make from Christmas Time (Don\u2019t Let the Bells End)?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nWhen The Darkness released Christmas Time (Don\u2019t Let the Bells End), they weren\u2019t aiming to create a festive fixture. It was a tongue-in-cheek rock song, recorded at Abbey Road, written quickly and delivered with a wink.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nYet the track surged to number two on the UK singles chart in December 2003, narrowly missing the Christmas number one spot to Michael Andrews and Gary Jules\u2019 cover of Mad World. At the height of the band\u2019s fame and in the era of peak CD sales, it reportedly pulled in around \u00a31 million in its first month alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nMore than 20 years on, the song still resurfaces every December. But frontman Justin Hawkins has been clear that its annual payday is far more modest than fans might assume. Christmas royalties, he has explained, are driven less by how often a song is heard and more by publishing deals and licensing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"https:\/\/static.standard.co.uk\/2023\/07\/03\/16\/PA-37411595.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960\")
<\/p>\nJustin Hawkins from The Darkness performing in Glasgow in 2018<\/p>\n
PA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nHe said: \u201cIf somebody uses your song in say, a movie, then you get a bump of cash. There really are so few hard copy sales these days that royalties from that are extremely small.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nRather than festive excess, Hawkins jokes that the song\u2019s yearly return inspires only a small upgrade in his weekly shop. \u201cWhen you can hear our Christmas song from mid-November I do hear the sound of a small pound coin entering a piggy bank in my head,\u201d he said. \u201cThen I think, \u2018Ah yes, I will buy the Tesco Finest range instead of economy\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Mariah Carey<\/a>\u2019s 1994 hit All I Want for Christmas Is You has become less a Christmas song than an annual event, reliably soundtracking shop floors, office playlists and December parties alike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Three decades on, the record remains a financial juggernaut. Carey is estimated to earn between \u00a31.8 million and \u00a32.24 million in royalties from the song each year, according to figures from Forbes and The Economist. By 2017, it had generated more than \u00a344.8million in royalties since its release, with co-writer Walter Afanasieff also receiving a substantial share.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Its dominance is cultural as well as commercial. The track is the most-streamed holiday song of all time, the highest-charting festive single by a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100<\/a> and returns to charts across dozens of countries every December with metronomic precision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In 2021, it made history once again, becoming the first \u2014 and so far only \u2014 holiday song to receive the RIAA\u2019s Diamond Award, recognising 10 million sales and streaming units in the US. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Slade\u2019s Merry Christmas Everyone may have first topped the charts in 1973, but its earning power shows no sign of seasonal fatigue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Written by frontman Noddy Holder alongside bandmate Jim Lea, the song has long since graduated from festive hit to cultural fixture \u2014 one that resurfaces every December to soundtrack office parties, supermarket aisles and family gatherings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Slade frontman Noddy Holder<\/p>\n PA Archive<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The financial upside is just as enduring. As of 2024, the track is estimated to generate around \u00a31 million a year in royalties, with the sharpest spike arriving, predictably, in December. Over the decades, that annual windfall has added up to a reported \u00a350 million in total earnings from the song alone according to The Sun<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Remarkably, the two most famous British Christmas songs were released on the same day in 1973. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Merry Christmas Everyone went up against I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday for the first time 51 years ago and they are both still regular fixtures in the top 40.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Wizzard came off second best that time but the song has charted every year in the UK since 2007 and has already reached the top 40 in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It earns songwriter Roy Wood a reported \u00a3180,00 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Welsh singer Michael Barratt, better known as Shakin\u2019 Stevens, scored a Christmas number one in 1985 with Merry Christmas Everyone (not to be confused with Slade\u2019s near-identical festive staple).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But while the song continues to pay out handsomely, Stevens himself receives only a modest slice of the annual takings. The bulk of the royalties flow to the songwriter: according to The Sun in 2024, the track brings in around \u00a3140,000 a year, of which Stevens pockets roughly \u00a310,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n However, the lion\u2019s share, an estimated \u00a3130,000 annually<\/a>, goes to lyricist Bob Heatlie, a reminder that when it comes to Christmas classics, the real money is often in the writing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Wham!\u2019s Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael<\/p>\n PA Archive<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Wham!\u2019s Last Christmas remains one of the most-played seasonal songs in the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Written by George Michael<\/a> in his childhood bedroom, the 1984 single was famously denied the Christmas number one spot by Band Aid\u2019s Do They Know It\u2019s Christmas? \u2014 a record Michael also appeared on. At the time, Wham! donated all proceeds from Last Christmas to the Ethiopian famine appeal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Four decades on, the song has become one of the most lucrative hits in British pop history. Industry estimates long cited by The Independent put its annual royalties at around \u00a3300,000 \u2014 a figure still widely regarded as the benchmark, despite exact numbers being kept confidential by PRS, the Performing Right Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That level of income places Last Christmas among the top five highest-earning Christmas songs of all time in the UK. Following Michael\u2019s death on Christmas Day in 2016, aged 53, his estate has continued the tradition he began, with the song\u2019s full royalty income donated to charity each year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When The Darkness released Christmas Time (Don\u2019t Let the Bells End), they weren\u2019t aiming to create a festive fixture. It was a tongue-in-cheek rock song, recorded at Abbey Road, written quickly and delivered with a wink.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Yet the track surged to number two on the UK singles chart in December 2003, narrowly missing the Christmas number one spot to Michael Andrews and Gary Jules\u2019 cover of Mad World. At the height of the band\u2019s fame and in the era of peak CD sales, it reportedly pulled in around \u00a31 million in its first month alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n More than 20 years on, the song still resurfaces every December. But frontman Justin Hawkins has been clear that its annual payday is far more modest than fans might assume. Christmas royalties, he has explained, are driven less by how often a song is heard and more by publishing deals and licensing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Justin Hawkins from The Darkness performing in Glasgow in 2018<\/p>\n PA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He said: \u201cIf somebody uses your song in say, a movie, then you get a bump of cash. There really are so few hard copy sales these days that royalties from that are extremely small.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Rather than festive excess, Hawkins jokes that the song\u2019s yearly return inspires only a small upgrade in his weekly shop. \u201cWhen you can hear our Christmas song from mid-November I do hear the sound of a small pound coin entering a piggy bank in my head,\u201d he said. \u201cThen I think, \u2018Ah yes, I will buy the Tesco Finest range instead of economy\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow much does Noddy Holder make from Merry Christmas Everyone? <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\nHow much do Roy Wood and Wizzard make from I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
How much does Shakin\u2019 Stevens make from Merry Christmas Everyone?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\nHow much does Wham make from Last Christmas?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
How much does The Darkness make from Christmas Time (Don\u2019t Let the Bells End)?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n