Mariah Carey Reportedly Still Earns Millions Annually for ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’
During the Christmas season, you can count on hearing Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” on rotation. The song has become one of the signature Christmas songs in history. And decades later, Carey continues to earn millions of dollars each year from the song’s success, making it the most profitable Christmas single in music history.
Mariah Carey released the song in 1994
Unlike other acts, the “queen of Christmas” didn’t wait until she was a decade into her career to release a holiday album. Carey released her first Christmas album, Merry Christmas, in 1994, with the lead single being “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” The song was an instant hit.
In a Billboard interview celebrating the song’s 20th anniversary, Carey admitted she thought the song would flop. “Nooo, [I didn’t think it would be a big hit],” she said at the time. “20 years ago, Christmas music and Christmas albums by artists weren’t the big deal that they are today. Back then, you didn’t have a lot of artists with Christmas albums; It wasn’t a known science at all back then, and there was nobody who did new, big Christmas songs.”
Luckily, she was wrong. The album was the second best-selling holiday album that year, selling over 1.8 million copies. Other popular singles from the album include her rendition of “Joy To The World,” “O Holy Night,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” / “Gloria (In Excelsis Deo),” and a remake of Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
She still reportedly earns millions each year from the single
Billboard recently reported on Carey’s earnings from 2021 for the song. Per the report, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” generated 200 million on-demand audio streams, 48,000 downloads, 52.5 million video streams, and 24 million programmed streams in the U.S. alone. In total, that earned Carey and her label Sony Music $1.36 million.
Carey also has publishing rights to the song, though she’s currently in a legal battle with a singer and songwriter who is claiming copyright infringement. The publishing earned Carey an additional $378,000.
Global streams for the song tallied to an estimated 823 million, with 94,000 total downloads. Carey and the co-writer earned an estimated $4.5 million, plus $1.66 million in publishing royalties, totaling $6.16 million in total revenue. After fees are deducted, it came down to an estimated $415,000.
In total, Billboard speculates that Carey made around $2 million off the song in 2021. The number doesn’t include any paid TV appearances or specials during the holiday season. Estimates for 2022 are not yet in, but considering the song reached No. 1 on the charts again, and Carey had a series of Christmas concerts, she may earn much more.
The song has broken Billboard records and made history
As of 2022, the song has sold over 12 million copies, making it the biggest-selling Christmas single of all time, and the only one to reach Diamond status. Each year, it hits No. 1 on the Billboard Charts and increases in streaming and downloads. Carey performed the song for the first time at the 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, closing out the show alongside Santa Claus. Her 11-year-old twins also made a surprise appearance.
