Christmas Music: How Much Do You Need? (Hint: Not a Lot)

Christmas music on the radio means it’s the least wonderful time of the year… for country ratings that is.

Diary market Decembers are hit and miss for Country shares (often miss) while in PPM markets the Holiday Book are ALWAYS the lowest ratings periods of the year for country.

How much lower? Using PPM data trending back to 2011, here’s how Country shares fare in the 12 non-Holiday months vs. the Holiday month.

Demo	Average Non-Holiday Months	Average Holiday Month
18-34	8.5	7.3
25-54	7.3	6.3

Worse, of all the formats impacted by all-Christmas stations, country suffers the most. Last year saw the lowest PPM share for Country 18-34 and 25-54 since trending began in 2011. It was also the first time that Country’s 25-54 shares in the Holiday book fell below 6.0 (5.8).

Less Is Less… and More

At this time of the year especially, country must contend with decreased occasions of listening. That means the frequency of impressions – whether for music or anything else – is going to be lower.

If you’re thinking that this translates into a “tighter is righter” approach, you’re correct!

Exactly how tight?

Think squeamishly small.

We’re only talking about 4-5 weeks of Christmas music exposure. And in most of these weeks you’ll be playing just one or two titles an hour. You don’t need a lot of Christmas music, so just play the best.

Familiarity is your friend

The songs that get the best response are those that are the most familiar.

Plus, what’s true for songs is also true for artists.

So, as you go through the process of evaluating the Christmas music you’ll play, your top criteria should be “familiar artists performing familiar songs.”  And, while it’s OK to have a couple of songs where there are two versions, in most cases one version will suffice. Pick the one that is the best and the most contemporary.

Having said that however…

Nostalgia

This is one of the few times of the year that mainstream country as a current-based format can capitalize on nostalgia (which works across all demos).

Here, the age of the song is less important than the song itself. Of course these icons – including ones like Holly Jolly Christmas and Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – should be part of your playlist.

And, just for reference, the average age of the top 150 Country titles played last year was 1980 for pop and 1996 for country.

Novelty Titles

Elmo and Patsy have survived the years far better than any other Christmas novelty. Its appeal is better on the younger rather than the older end though it is still highly polarized.

Certainly there are regional novelties (my 40 years of living in the Northeast guaranteed I would hear “Dominick the Donkey” multiple times each Christmas).

If you’re going to play any novelty songs, strongly consider packeting them in your second tier. And absolutely subject them to the rules below.

Three Christmas Programming Recommendations

Putting all this together, here are three Christmas Programming Recommendations:

• Have a tight list. Treat the biggest hits like a Current category.

• Play the best titles significantly more than the other titles. Of the top 150 most-played songs in country last year nearly 2/3 of the plays (63%) came from 1/3 of the titles (pop was 59%).

• Be sensitive to artist power. Or, more precisely, the lack of it.  Build a filter to insure your list as powerful as possible.

Bottom line: variety is great for a Christmas buffet but not so much for your Christmas playlist.

Related:

Nightmare on Elf Street

‘Twas Two Months Before Christmas and All Through the Station…

Special thanks to Nielsen’s Jon Miller for supplying A&O&B with 6+, 18-34 and 25-54 Country trends.

Photo by bruce mars from Pexels