Christmas music in 2022
Fewer and later Christmas hits on the radio, Nielson scores biggest Dutch Christmas hit
Christmas 2022 is just around the corner. Traditionally, radio stations adjust their programming and choice of music to the time of year. Music copyright organisation Buma/Stemra and media monitor for the music industry SoundAware have mapped the figures, hits and trends on this.
Christmas slightly later on the radio
In previous years, many Christmas hits sounded from the radio speakers between 15 and 19 November. The top 30 Christmas hits were played 225 times in 2020 and 297 times in 2021. This year, these hits were played only 18 times in the same period. Only from 20 to 24 November did the Christmas rotations become active and we counted 446 Christmas records. This was less than in 2020 (741) and 2021 (589).
Less Christmas on the radio
Until today, 11,955 Christmas records have been heard on the radio this year. For now, the number of Christmas plays from 2020 remains unmatched: in that year, a total of 16,123 Christmas hits were played on the radio.
Biggest homegrown Christmas hits in 2022
This year’s biggest Dutch Christmas hit is “Kerstcadeau” by Nielson, written by Niels Littooij, Matthijs de Ronden and Lodewijk Martens. The song is a new release and immediately a big Christmas hit. With 389 radio plays, the song tops the top 10 Dutch Christmas productions and number 6 in the list of biggest international Christmas hits of 2022.
Biggest international Christmas hits of 2022 on national radio in the Netherlands
Last year, Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s new Christmas record titled “Merry Christmas” was the most played Christmas record of 2021, scoring 820 plays. This year, we see that record back at position 13. Mariah Carey again seems ubiquitous, but even her “All I Want For Christmas” is not at the top spot. The most played international Christmas hit is “Driving Home For Christmas” by Chris Rea.
Check out all the Christmas songs 2022: Christmas hits-BumaStemra-SoundAware
About SoundAware
SoundAware is a pioneer in automatic audio recognition. SoundAware measures and reports music consumption on Dutch radio and TV on a daily basis. We also compile the monthly Airplay Top 20, which includes the most played records on national radio stations in the Netherlands.