The 15 School Days of Christmas: Classic songs beat new music at Christmas

Teens across the world love Christmas, with the music being one of the most beloved parts of the season. 

However, the numerous attempts by artists in recent years to create their own holiday hit have failed miserably. Most teens have ignored the holiday releases of current stars and have continued to listen to the classic Christmas songs. 

For example, “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby was released in 1942 and is one of the most popular songs every Christmas season. The hit is also estimated to be the best selling single of all time, with around 50 million purchases worldwide. 

In addition, the holiday classic “Jingle Bells” was written in 1857 and is considered by many to be the most popular Christmas song ever. 

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, released in 1934, is another classic song that is often played during the Christmas season by many teenagers. These songs have been played for well over 50 years each, but still remain popular.

The continued success of these songs is an example of teenagers viewing older music or clothes as vintage. Although the style of some of these songs is not what most kids would usually listen to, the nostalgia brought by the music causes these Christmas songs to remain popular. 

On the other hand, most of the recent holiday releases have not been able to reach the same level of success. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” is one of the few exceptions, with the song becoming the most streamed holiday song worldwide.

Since that song’s release in 1994, other artists have tried their hand at Christmas music, but none have taken off despite the artist’s popularity. 

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber are two of the most popular artists from the past decade. Both have created holiday songs, with Ariana releasing “Santa Tell Me” and Justin releasing “Mistletoe.”

Although these songs did relatively well in stores and are still streamed, they did not do nearly as well as most of the classics. 

Older holiday hits may not be the style of the usual popular songs in 2020, but the added nostalgia causes teens to continue to listen. 

Christmas is a holiday based upon traditions, with the annual decorating of the tree and the exchange of presents. Therefore, most teens listen to the songs they grew up around rather than the new releases of their favorite artists.