Don’t Leave It Too Late to Get Your Christmas Release on Santa’s Nice (Airplay) List

Every year it seems to happen a little earlier. It’s October and you pop into the shops, and suddenly, there it is: the first glimmer of tinsel, the faint sound of Mariah Carey’s iconic Christmas tune drifts from the speakers, and Advent calendars and festive food is literally everywhere you look. Soon, every shop you go into will be flooded with matching Christmas outfits for the whole family (including your furry family members). In the car on your way home, festive adverts are sneaking onto the radio. Let’s be honest, we know that most people will just roll their eyes and say, ‘It’s too soon to be thinking about Christmas’, but those of us in the music and radio industry know the truth: Christmas starts much earlier than you’d think! And if you’re an artist releasing a festive track this year, now is exactly the right time to start your radio promotion.

Many artists make the mistake of waiting until December to begin promoting their festive track, assuming that’s when radio stations start thinking about their Holiday programming. But by then, radio programmers and music directors have already been planning their festive programming for weeks or even months. If you want your new Christmas song to make it onto Santa’s Nice (Airplay) List, you need to start radio promotion now. Artists who wait until December to promote their Christmas releases will miss the opportunity to get them on air.

Your Window for Christmas Airplay Is Now, Not December

Aside from a few niche stations that play Christmas music all year round, you only have a short window of opportunity to get your festive tracks in front of music directors and secure valuable radio airplay. Most mainstream stations begin adding Christmas songs to their playlists in late October and November, but once the holidays have passed, those tracks completely disappear from playlists. Understandably, after December 25th, Christmas music airplay drops significantly, and by January it’s almost completely gone.

There are exceptions, of course, such as in Spain and Latin American countries where Three Kings Day is celebrated on January 6th, or in Russia, Serbia, Ethiopia, and Egypt, where Christmas falls on January 7th. But for most of the world, the window for Christmas airplay ends in December. So, to make it onto those festive playlists, radio promotion should start well before the season peaks.

Everyone wants their Christmas release played on the radio, but timing is important

Every year, more artists release new Christmas tracks or cover holiday songs, putting their own spin on the classic songs that we all know and love. These tracks come from independent musicians, hoping to make an impact through seasonal airplay, as well as big-name and more-established artists aiming for festive chart attention. There’s a lot of competition for airplay for festive tracks, so the timing of your radio promotion can make or break whether your song gets picked up by music directors and radio programmers.

Over the festive period, consistent radio airplay puts your music in front of a wider audience, and helps you to gain traction and momentum. By promoting your track early, you give audiences the chance to hear it repeatedly all through November and December, increasing the chances that it can become part of the soundtrack of the festive season, instead of getting lost in last-minute submissions.

Why you can't wait until December to promote your Christmas Music

Generally, radio stations start programming their Christmas content months in advance. Through our relationships with music directors and radio programmers, we hear first-hand that many stations begin creating their festive adverts, jingles, and seasonal promotional campaigns, as early as October / November, ready to launch by the end of November. By this stage, music directors are already finalising their Christmas playlists and confirming advertising partnerships for the festive season. Once those playlists are locked in, it can be difficult to get new music added. Airplay slots fill up quickly, and programmers tend to stick with songs they’ve already tested and approved in advance.

By December, radio stations are already deep into their festive schedules, with their playlists, advertising, and programming locked in. Promoting your song now gives programmers time to review and schedule it before those lists are finalised, increasing your chance of getting valuable airplay during the busiest listening period of the year.

Make sure that your Christmas release is on Santa’s Nice (Airplay) List!

If you’re sitting on an awesome new Christmas release and want radio airplay, you need to contact iPluggers today. Many of the radio stations that have signed up to iPluggers have told us that they want to receive new Christmas and Holiday music from us. This means that your new festive track will be delivered directly to music directors, music programmers and DJs that have signed up to receive new festive releases There are more than 35,000 radio stations across the world that are connected to iPluggers, so make sure your song is heard this festive season and let us get your Christmas release the airplay that it deserves.