It takes two to write a Christmas hit

PRS for Music top 20 most played Christmas song chart reveals ‘two’ is the magic number

Songwriting society, PRS for Music, has revealed that it takes two people on average to write a Christmas hit. Analysis of the organisations’ database of 22.2 million musical works and top 20 most played Christmas songs on UK radio, found that two minds are better than one when it comes to conjuring up a festive chart-topper.

Overwhelmingly, ten of the most played Christmas songs on UK radio, have two songwriting masterminds behind the nations favourite Christmas hits, including big band favourites, ‘Fairytale of New York’ by The Pogues, Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It's Christmas’ and Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’. 

Even some of the most famous solo acts have had a helping hand with their Christmas hit; Elton John’s ‘Step Into Christmas’ was penned with long-term collaborator, Bernie Taupin, while Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, was co-written with Walter Afanasieff aka Baby Love (also known for co-writing ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Hero’ for Mariah and producing Grammy Award winning ‘My Heart Will Go On’ for Celine Dion).

To date, Chrissie Hynde is the only woman to have singlehandedly penned a top 20 most played Christmas song with ‘2000 Miles’, released by English-American rock band The Pretenders. While Paul McCartney and Chris Rea, are the only solo songwriters in the top 20 to have written and performed their own solo Christmas hits, ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ and ‘Driving Home For Christmas’.

Today’s original festive tracks, those written and released post-2000, often see more songwriters on them than the traditional ‘classics’; ‘You Make It Feel Like Christmas’ released by Gwen Stefani this month sees four songwriters credited, Kylie’s ‘Every Day's Like Christmas’ (2016), five songwriters, and Kanye West’s ‘Christmas in Harlem’ (2010), also credits five songwriters. Leona Lewis’ ‘One More Sleep’ (2013) is the only post-2000 track to feature in the PRS top 20 most played chart, ranking at number 14, and was also penned by five songwriters.

Christmas Trivia: Girls Aloud Christmas song, ‘Not Tonight Santa’ (2005), was penned by an unusually merry bunch of songwriters officially credited as, S Claws, Holly Bush, Henry Mistletoe, Festiv Gifts and Beth Lehem.

PRS for Music represents songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK and around the world. As a not-for-profit membership organisation, it ensures creators are paid whenever their music and songs are played, performed, downloaded, broadcast, or reproduced in public.

The essence of any successful Christmas song is its ability to conjure the festive spirit, be it as a celebration or as a deeper reflection of the season. At its core, this can only truly be achieved through writing the kind of lyric and melody that resonates with all our feelings at this time of year, and it’s why, so many of the same classic Christmas songs have been covered and played countless times across the years. It takes exceptional songwriting talent to pen a long-lasting hit that speaks to many generations.

Traditional Christmas standards ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ have both been covered no less than 200 times each by artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, The Jackson 5, Andrea Bocelli, Mylie Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, and Michael Bublé.

The chart above shows the most played Christmas songs on UK radio throughout the month of December in the last five years, as reported to PRS for Music by commercial and non-commercial radio stations. Ranking includes both original and cover versions of each song.

• The only official duet to rank in the PRS top 20 most played Christmas song chart, was written and performed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono; ‘Happy Christmas (War is Over)’, ranks at number 11 in the chart. A version of the duet was later released with the Harlem Gospel Choir in 1972. 
• Even though the PRS top 20 most played Christmas songs, cumulatively achieved over a staggering 163 million seconds of airplay in the last five years, festive tunes are not guaranteed a UK Number 1 chart position. ‘Stay Another Day’, by East 17, ‘Do They Know It's Christmas’, performed by Band Aid, Slades ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, and Shakin' Stevens ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ are the only tracks in the top 20 most played list to reach pole position. 
• Originally released by Band Aid in 1984, charity single, ‘Do They Know It's Christmas’, is the only ‘most played’ Christmas song to have more than one version make it to the UK No.1 Official Chart position; three further cover versions of the song also made it to No.1, including, Band Aid II (1989), Band Aid 20 (2004), and Band Aid 30 (2014).

About PRS for Music

Here for music since 1914, PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 175,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers. Redefining the global standard for music royalties, PRS for Music ensures songwriters and composers are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. 

For 110 years it has grown and protected the rights of the music creator community, paying out royalties with more accuracy, transparency and speed. In 2023, PRS for Music paid out £943.6m in royalties and collected a record £1.08 billion in revenues. prsformusic.com