An epic snowball fight, powered by streaming
In 2008, Mariah Carey nabbed her 18th number one single on the Billboard Hot 100— “Touch My Body”—and broke the record for most number one singles by a solo artist. And, for a good decade, it looked as though that would be where she peaked. But then, the rules changed.
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As early as 2007, Billboard—the US music trade magazine and charting service— experimented with incorporating streaming data into the way it tabulated the best-performing songs in the US market, which had heretofore been based mostly on sales of copies of physical recordings. It would take a while for streaming to really usurp music sales as a metric: In 2018, Billboard adjusted how much weight streams are given to their calculations. The following year, Mariah Carey nabbed her 19th number one with a song that came out 25 years prior: “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Thanks to the new rules, the song broke the record for the longest climb to number one in Billboard history—until that record was broken again this year, by something even older.
You will get a sentimental feeling… when you read.
By the digits
14: Position at which Brenda Lee’s “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree” originally peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960
19: The amount of number one hits Mariah Carey has on the Hot 100—the most of any solo artist
30 million: The number of active users Spotify had by its fifth birthday in 2013; now it has half a billion
$0.003-0.005: Roughly the sum an artist is paid every time their song streams on Spotify, and bands with multiple members, well…
65: Number of years it took Brenda Lee’s Christmas classic to top the Hot 100—the longest in history
3: Times Quartz has obsessed about “All I Want for Christmas” before (here’s the third one, which about sums it all up)
The battle for the Christmas throne
2023 was the first year since Mariah Carey’s runaway Christmas charting success that she had a real challenger for the top spot: one Brenda Lee, who broke onto the music scene in 1957 at age 12. Her song “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” has peaked at number two—behind “All I Want For Christmas Is You”—every year since 2019, most likely helped along by its starring role in another Christmas classic of another streaming genre, Home Alone.
This year, however, Lee made a real, concerted effort to get her track to the top of the chart. She gave formal interviews in publications like The New York Times, and she filmed a music video for the song, which helped boost streaming numbers via YouTube (that counts!). She even had her own stan Twitter account (Brenda Lee Charts) touting the singer’s achievement and playfully (?) sparring with Carey’s “lambs.” The gambit worked, and in the chart dated December 9, 2023, Lee finally returned to the number one spot for the first time since 1960.
It was a short reign; Carey returned to the number one spot just one week later. But it all shows that even as successful as Carey may be, the charts are still a game of thrones, and the nature of streaming means that winter can always be coming for the artist on top. Who are the contenders to watch next year? Beneath Lee and Carey on the Hot 100 are Bobby Helms’s “Jingle Bell Rock” and Wham!’s “Last Christmas.” Watch your backs, Brenda and Mariah.
Pop quiz
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Mariah Carey may have the most Hot 100 number one hits of any soloist, but which group holds that honor (and surpasses her)?
The BeatlesBTSU2One Direction
Hum your way to the bottom for the answer.
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The Quartz Obsession podcast is back for Season 6!
❄️ In Streaming music: Tracking success, Drew Gillis takes host Thomas Germain into the magical land of the music industry during the streaming era— where there’s a Christmas queen whose throne is anything but secure and entire digital villages of musical artists who have to construct toys instead of tunes in order to make a living.
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Brief history
1944: Brenda Lee is born
1958: “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree” is released
1960: Brenda Lee nabs her first number one on the Hot 100, with “I’m Sorry”
1969: Mariah Cary is born (although this famously won’t be confirmed until decades later)
1990: Carey nabs her first number one hit, “Vision Of Love”
1994: Mariah Carey releases “All I Want For Christmas Is You” — it was ineligible to chart on the Hot 100 at the time
2008: Spotify is born
2018: The Billboard Hot 100 modifies its rules for the inclusion of streaming songs
2019: “All I Want For Christmas Is You” tops the Hot 100 for the first time
2023: “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” tops the Hot 100 for the first time
Fun fact!
With Brenda Lee’s 2023 chart-topper, she officially dethroned Cher as the oldest artist to ever top the Billboard Hot 100.
Watch this!
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65 years after its initial release, Brenda Lee finally recorded a music video for her perennial holiday song to help get it to number one.
Take me down this 🐰 hole!
As the music industry has shifted away from sales and toward streaming, artists are making less money from their music. Taylor Swift, for example, was Spotify’s top artist of the year, and made $100 million from the platform. That may sound like a lot, but that figure comes from over 26 billion streams, according to People. And most artists aren’t Taylor Swift; an individual stream on Spotify may earn up to $0.005, and only about 0.2% of the artists with music on Spotify pass a $50,000 threshold.
Even big stars are looking for other methods to make money besides music. Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Ariana Grande all launched makeup lines in the past few years, while Beyoncé, Kanye West, and Drake have all launched clothing brands. Even if the artist isn’t actually generating as much income as they’d want from their music, having a popular song keeps them front of mind. Perhaps Brenda Lee will launch a line of shawls in the coming months—best to strike while the iron is hot!
Poll
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The streaming gods grant you one wish: to delete a holiday song from existence. Which do you choose?
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” — Band Aid“Mistletoe” — Justin Bieber“Happy Xmas (War is Over)” — John Lennon
Tell us what you’d do with this kind of power by taking our 1-question, 30-second survey!
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🤔 What did you think of today’s email?
💡 What should we obsess over next?
Today’s email was written by Drew Gillis, news editor at the A.V. Club, (thrilled someone is finally listening to his opinions on Mariah Carey) and edited by Susan Howson (will always sneak in Beatles trivia, but would be OK with never hearing John’s contribution to the holiday canon ever again).
The answer to the pop quiz is, of course, A. The Beatles, who have the most number one hits (20) on the Billboard Hot 100 of any artist, solo or group.
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