How much does Mariah Carey make from “All I Want For Christmas Is You”?

“I don’t want much for Christmas / There’s only one thing I need / An answer to just one question / An estimate of Mariah Carey’s song royalties, please?”

No, my makeshift lyrics aren’t as catchy as the opening lines of Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the 1994 jingle that was virtually ubiquitous on the airwaves at Christmastime.

But they raise a question that penetrates the black box of music industry economics: How much money does the song make Carey, the song’s performer and so-called “Queen of Christmas,” every year?

Sales estimates from billboard I expect she may have earned $2.7 million to $3.3 million in 2022 from things like song downloads and on-demand streaming. Other potentially lucrative sources of income such as Christmas TV specials are excluded.

However, it is difficult to determine an exact amount, especially because the contract details between Carey, her music label and the song publishers are not public, experts said. The pop star’s publicist, Chris Chambers, did not respond to a request for comment about her royalties sent to his company, The Chamber Group.

“Whatever it is, it’s a lot of money,” said Natasha Chee, a music, entertainment and intellectual property attorney at the Donahue Fitzgerald law firm.

Spotify announced This month it was announced that the anthem became the first holiday song to reach more than 2 billion streams worldwide. According to Spotify, it has been the No. 1 song worldwide on Christmas Day every year since 2016.

The song’s popularity has only increased: According to Luminate, which tracks music industry data, the total number of U.S. audio streams rose to 249 million in 2023, up about 49% from 167 million in 2019.

(As of Dec. 12, the song’s total U.S. streams were down 8% this year compared to 2023, Billboard estimated. That’s partly a result of the shorter holiday caused by a late Thanksgiving, experts say.)

The song “is a money-making machine,” said George Howard, a professor at Berklee College of Music and former president of Rykodisc, an independent record label. “It’s a real phenomenon,” he said.

Howard, who also works as a music copyright valuation consultant, estimates that the chart-topper generates annual gross sales of $2 million to $4 million.

The firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, which specializes in music industry law, also estimates that the hit brings in $3.4 million annually.

The law firm estimates the song has generated about $103 million in revenue over its 30-year run. According to Manatt, founder of Billboard’s, the forecasts include global streaming and non-streaming revenue streams License calculator.

According to the calculator, the song’s two billion global Spotify streams alone brought in royalties of $9.8 million.

But Carey only receives a portion of that income.

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Music royalties differ from those for other works such as books or photography.

That’s because there are two different royalty streams – one for music composition and another for sound recordings, said Jordan Bromley, partner and head of Manatt Entertainment. Think of the former like the notes that are on your piano (the songwriting), and the latter like the recorded song you hear, he said.

Each has its own royalty structure. Royalties for musical compositions go to songwriters and publishers, while royalties for sound recordings are paid to song artists and their labels, Howard said.

Carey “owns the copyright to both the song and the sound recording, so she is paid by both parties,” Howard said.

“She gets her salary six days before Sunday,” he said.

A song’s authors and publishers – rather than its performers – receive royalties when a song is played in public spaces, such as on television and radio, or in restaurants and retail stores, experts say. The United States is one of the few countries that has such a rule, Howard said.

This means that Carey (and Afanasieff, her co-writer) will receive royalties if a cover version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” enters the public domain. Over 150 artists have covered the song, after to ASCAP, a performing rights organization.

Carey and Afanasieff shared their writing rights with publishers such as Universal Music, Sony Music and Kobalt Songs Music Publishing. after to ASCAP.

However, according to Bromley, recording songs generally brings in four to five times as much revenue as writing songs.

“If you’re a songwriter who doesn’t have any record income, it’s hard to make a living, even if you make hits,” he said.

The artist’s share of recording revenue relative to label revenue can vary greatly depending on the contract, ranging from 20 to 90 percent, Bromley said. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was released by Columbia Records, which is owned by Sony Music.

Afanasieff, Sony Music and Kobalt Songs Music Publishing did not respond to requests for comment. Universal Music Publishing Group declined to comment.

Copyright for works published after January 1, 1978 remains in principle intact for the author’s lifetime, plus 70 years after the author’s death, according to Chee by Donahue Fitzgerald.

For a joint work with two or more authors, such as “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the rule applies to the last surviving author.

That means Carey’s estate will likely reap royalties for decades until the song finally enters the public domain, she said. If that happens, the song would join the ranks of Christmas classics like “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which can generally be the case freely shared and adapted.