"What We Learned From Testing Christmas Music"

From Sean Ross, For Edison Research

When Edison Research did its last national test of holiday music in 2007, nearly half of the best songs–those making up the top sixth of the songs tested–came from 1967 or before. In any other radio genre, time marches on, songs lose their currency, and new listeners age into the target demo and bring a new handful of songs with them. But not holiday music. 

Edison has just completed a test of more than 200 women ages 30-49 who like or (in most cases) love hearing Christmas music on the radio. And the era balance of the music has held, essentially. Now 53% of the best-testing songs come from 1968 or before. 

The top-testing song, the Andy Williams version of “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” is from 1963. The newest recording in the top 10, Air Supply’s version of “Sleigh Ride,” is from 1987. The newest holiday hit of any significance that is not a cover, Newsong’s 2000 tear-jerker, “The Christmas Shoes,” just misses the top 100. And developments below the top tier of songs make some of the holiday standards look even stronger by comparison than they were five years ago. 

AC radio’s holiday strategy–more emphasis on the standards, earlier start dates to be “first in,” even at the risk of alienating listeners for a few weeks if they’re not really ready for holiday music–takes a little more flak every year, particularly for any AC station that looks vulnerable again after January. Yet, holiday music actually looks as strong as ever in the 2012 research.

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