Tired of actually working for a living? (Sick of hearing Mariah’s All I Want For Christmas?) Maybe you just want to find a way to earn a little extra passive income this holiday season? Next time you have a few hours free, sit down and write a Christmas classic. Easy, right? Hey, just listen to the lyrics –how hard could it be? (I’m looking at you, Ariana Grande?) There’s a fortune out there up for grabs, kids. For inspiration, here are the top selling Holiday songs of last year and of all-time;
Top Earning Christmas Songs of 2013:
#1. Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody (1973) $840,000
#2. The Pogues – Fairytale of New York (1987) $630,000
#3. Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas Is You (1994) $570,000
#4. Wham! – Last Christmas (1984) $500,000
#5. Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas (1984) $130,000
Top Earning Christmas Songs of All-Time:
#4. Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime (1979). Est. earnings: $15 million
McCartney was careful to write, produce and perform all aspects of Wonderful Christmastime and today it earns him $400-600 thousand dollars in royalties EVERY YEAR.
#3. Mel Torme – The Christmas Song (1944). Est. earnings: $19 million
You probably know this song by its opening line “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”. Ironically, Torme is Jewish and wrote the music at 19. It has since been covered by literally hundreds of artists including Michael Buble, Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, NSYNC and many more. Despite having written more than 250 songs during his career, The Christmas Song was by far Mel’s biggest financial success. He often called it “my annuity”.
#2. Haven Gillespie & Fred J Coots – Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1934). Est. earnings: $25 million
The day after the song debuted, over 100,000 people ordered copies of the sheet music. 400,000 copies had sold within a few months. The song has been covered by a everybody including Justin Bieber, Bruce Springsteen and Mariah Carey.
#1. Irving Berlin – White Christmas (1940). Est. earnings: $36 million
No song captures the heart of the holidays like “White Christmas”, ironic considering that it was written by a Jewish immigrant from Russia. Bing Crosby‘s version is by far the most famous but countless other artists have recorded the song. With over 100 million copies sold worldwide to date, The Guinness Book of World Records recently named “White Christmas” the bestselling single of all time. (via Celebrity Net Worth)
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