{"id":3474,"date":"2021-11-25T15:16:02","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T04:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bprworld.com\/?p=3474"},"modified":"2021-11-25T15:23:58","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T04:23:58","slug":"its-christmas-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/news\/its-christmas-again\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Christmas Again…"},"content":{"rendered":"

By The BPR Team<\/em><\/p>\n

Christmas songs are the staple of many formats and stations around the world. There has been a rise in the number of All Christmas Music radio stations helped substantially by digital streaming options that allow stations to have the choice of a little or a lot of Christmas music\u2026<\/p>\n

Assuming that you have decided to play some Christmas music then you\u2019re still left with the question of how many songs, how often and which songs to play<\/p>\n

Oldies based stations, AC, Full Service or Soft AC format have an advantage in terms of available song repertoire. For contemporary and niche formats the available pool of Christmas music may be more limited. However, the mood of Christmas is what defines the choice rather than the format.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a surprise to hear Cliff Richard, (Mistletoe and wine) Dean Martin, (Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer) Slade (Merry Christmas Everybody), Paul McCartney (Wonderful Christmas Time) alongside new songs or versions of songs by Justin Bieber, and Ariana Grande all played on a CHR station.<\/p>\n

In recent music surveys the \u2018usual suspects\u2019 continue to top the list. After all, Christmas wouldn\u2019t be Christmas without Wham singing \u2018Last Christmas\u2019, however it\u2019s the rest of the list that may contain a few surprises. In the US the list of \u2018most Played Christmas songs includes many long-dead artists and much played songs. The US top ten includes:<\/p>\n

10. “Last Christmas,\u201d Wham<\/p>\n

9. “White Christmas,” Bing Crosby<\/p>\n

8. “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12\/24),” Trans-Siberian Orchestra<\/p>\n

7. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Andy Williams<\/p>\n

6. “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Burl Ives<\/p>\n

5. “Feliz Navidad,” Jose Feliciano<\/p>\n

4. “Jingle Bell Rock,” Bobby Helms<\/p>\n

3. “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You),” Nat King Cole<\/p>\n

2. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee1.<\/p>\n

1.”All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of course, many of these songs have been re-made by contemporary artists but many original versions survive \u2013 the notable of these is of course \u2018White Christmas\u2019 which is still played without irony in many Southern Hemisphere Summer Christmas cities.<\/p>\n

Christmas Music lists also vary by location. Band Aid\u2019s \u2013 \u2018Do they know it\u2019s Christmas\u2019, Chris Rea \u2018Drivin home for Christmas\u2019 The Eagles \u2018Please Come Home for Christmas\u2019 have become modern-day classics in many countries.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the more recent additions to the Christmas list<\/p>\n

Fairytale of New York \u2013 The Pogues<\/p>\n

How to Make Gravy – Paul Kelly<\/p>\n

And of course, a special mention goes to \u2018Snoopy\u2019s Christmas\u2019 by the Royal Guardsmen that has been a New Zealand Christmas staple for many years<\/p>\n

This year, a number of stations have carried out their own Christmas Music surveys to find out which songs their listeners<\/strong> really love<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

When to play?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christmas music season has already kicked off in the US (even before Thanksgiving) with major stations including KOST in Los Angeles, LITE FM in New York, WTMX Tampa, WLIT Chicago, among 80 stations across the country already deep into an \u2018all Christmas music\u2019 format.<\/p>\n

In recent years these stations have also been joined by Magic FM in London and many others around the world in the All Christmas Music group although it seems that the US stations are well ahead of their counterparts in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

How many songs? <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a question with an answer like \u2013 \u201cit depends\u2026\u201d on how often you\u2019re going to play them. Some of the options might include<\/p>\n