Santa Claus wearing sunglasses dancing outdoors at North Pole in snowfall. He is celebrating Christmas after hard work
Every December, music professionals everywhere do the unthinkable: They take time off.
With Thanksgiving behind us and a seemingly endless amount of ‘best of’ lists making the rounds online, 2019 is coming to an end. Soon there will be holiday shows, an appearance from Santa, holiday sales, and one or two crazy reunion gigs that happen just before the ball drop at midnight on January 1, 2020. A new decade will then begin, and what comes next is anyone’s guess.
December is a strange time for music professionals, but a good one as well. Every year, from the third week of December through the first or second week of January, the industry experiences what many people call ‘the industry slowdown.’ During this time, offices close, unimportant emails are ignored, and professionals everywhere do the one thing they rarely do: They take time off.
Yes, the industry slowdown is an unspoken agreement amongst the biggest names in music that provides space for reflection and relaxation before another busy year begins. It is a cherished tradition that continues in the digital age despite consumers’ constant demand for fresh content and ideas. We at Haulix take it very seriously, and many of our peers do as well. We’ll let Music Biz host James Shotwell explain the rest:
Holiday songs in the public domain offer a low-cost option for artists hoping to leverage the gift-giving season for extra exposure.
The topic of cover songs can be a tricky one. Not everyone loves them, but every year a number of artists new and old rise to the top of their respective music scenes by adding their own take to an already well-known song. The problem with covers as far as young artists and groups are concerned usually involves royalties and whether or not they can afford to market their recording beyond streams and videos. Today we’re going to look at holiday covers, and how you can leverage royalty-free songs to reach new listeners who otherwise may have never discovered your music.
You may or may not be aware of the term ‘public domain,’ but it refers to works whose intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. In other words, works that are unavailable for private ownership or are otherwise available for public use. You do not need mechanical licenses to sell your version of these works, but certain arrangements me be copyrighted (do your own research).
Here is a list of holiday songs currently in the public domain:
“Angels We Have Heard On High”
“Auld Lang Syne”
“Away In The Manger”
“Deck The Halls”
“The First Noel”
“Go Tell It On The Mountain”
“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
“Hark, The Herald Angels Sing”
“I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day”
“I Saw Three Ships”
“It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”
“Jingle Bells”
“Joy To The World”
“Come All Ye Faithful”
“O Holy Night”
“O Little Town Of Bethlehem”
“Silent Night”
“There’s a Song In The Air”
“Toyland”
“The Twelve Days of Christmas”
“Up On The Housetop”
“We Three Kings”
“We Wish You A Merry Christmas”
“What Child Is This?“
Many classic Christmas songs that are presumed to be in the public domain are in fact copyrighted, so make sure to double-check your sources before deciding a track is public domain. PDInfo Online (www.pdinfo.com) is a good starting point if the liner notes and copyright information are unavailable. Here are just a few notable songs that would require a mechanical license:
Christmas Songs NOT in the public domain…
“Winter Wonderland” (Written by: Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith)
“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells)
“Sleigh Ride” (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish)
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin)
“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” (Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie)
“White Christmas” (Irving Berlin)
“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne)
“Jingle Bell Rock” (Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe)
“Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” (Johnny Marks)
“Little Drummer Boy” (Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone)
“It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” (Edward Pola, George Wyle)
“I’ll Be Home For Christmas” (Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram)
“Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” (Johnny Marks)
“Silver Bells” (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans)
“Feliz Navidad” (Jose Feliciano)
“Frosty The Snowman” (Steve Nelson, Walter E. Rollins)
“A Holly Jolly Christmas” (Johnny Marks)
“Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)” (Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman)
“Carol Of The Bells” (Peter J. Wilhousky, Mykola Leontovich)
There is no question that some of the songs mentioned above have been reinterpreted by so many artists that putting an original spin on proceedings seems impossible, but it’s often the most challenging of endeavors that prove to be the most fruitful. By taking a holiday classic like the ones above and making it your own you’re further engaging already devoted followers while simultaneously creating an amazing opportunity to reach new fans. The holiday season generates a large amount of sales and internet searches for seasonal music, and with proper tagging your efforts will reach countless new listeners who could very quickly be converted into fans.
You don’t need to believe in Santa to shower the people who support you with love and music this holiday season. The latest Music Biz can help.
The holiday season is upon us. Even if the snow has yet to fall in your area, there are signs of Christmas and Thanksgiving in every department store in North America. Other holidays are present as well, of course, and the marketing machine promoting the impending arrival of those special days is already in full effect. There may be two months left in 2019 as we post this, but we might as well be preparing for the start of 2020.
You may not believe in Santa Claus. You may not celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving at all, but we can all agree the reason for the holiday season is good. Holidays exist to remind us what matters most in life. They are special days where we set aside the grind of work to focus on the people who love and support us, as well as those we love and support.
Fans love and support you, so why wouldn’t you include them in your holiday plans? You don’t have to spend a bunch of money remind your audience that you appreciate their work, but you do need to lift them up. Here are some ideas:
1. Free Music
There is an old adage about the best course in life often being the most obvious one, and that is very much the case with this suggestion. Your fans support you all year long in hopes that you will both come to their town and continue to release music that touches their lives. Though you are unable to be everywhere at once on Christmas, you can make your music available for anyone who has yet to add it to their personal collection. Whether you choose to make a song, album, or even your entire catalog available as a free download, you should see a rise in engagement as a result. People who have been waiting to buy your album when they see you live won’t be able to resist the free download, and there is a high likelihood they will recommend your friends take advantage of the offer as well.
2. Record and release a holiday cover (maybe give it away as well)
The world has heard countless covers of holiday classics, but the world has yet to listen to your take on great seasonal staples, and that is why you can still use them to give back to fans this Christmas. I know my favorite Christmas covers are those performed by my favorite bands, and I’m willing to bet the same can be said for most music fans. Record a holiday cover, be it in a studio or in your own home, and share it with fans in the days leading up to December 25. You can even take things one step further and ask fans about their favorite holiday songs in advance, that way your cover will have an even higher likelihood of being shared by your followers.
3. Surprise your fans with free stuff (no contest necessary)
Everyone is thinking of others during the holiday season, or at least they should be, so many fans may not have money to buy the limited edition winter merch items you have available in your online store. To show fans you understand their dilemma, consider offering a give away where you send a prize pack including numerous merch items, as well as items not available in your store (handwritten lyrics, drum head, etc.) to one lucky fan. Don’t make it a contest and don’t ask for contact information in exchange for consideration. Simply pick a fan, or four, and send them a present. With any luck, the fan(s) will share their surprise with the world, and you will earn brownie points for being one of the more thoughtful artists in music today.
4. Stream an acoustic performance from your home/studio/van/bus/basement
There are few things music fans love more than seeing their favorite artists playing bare-boned versions of their favorite songs. Since there is no way everyone who follows you could attend a single performance, especially one planned close to Christmas, make the event special by broadcasting your set on one or more of the popular live streaming services that have risen to prominence over the last year. If those services require you to charge consumers, like with StageIt, then you should also consider giving all the money earned to charity. This way, fans feel like they are giving back by tuning in, and you walk away having established yourself as an artist who hasn’t lost sight of the problems that exist outside your immediate surroundings. Win-Win.
5. Holiday scavenger hunt
This idea has become increasingly popular in the age of IG and Snapchat stories. The setup is relatively straightforward: In the hours before an event or while traveling to a new city, musicians leave merchandise/gifts for fans in public spaces. Clues on where the items can be found are then posted to feeds, which fans can then respond to as they begin their hunt. These activities encourage engagement and help bring fans together in the real world. As people converge on the location of whatever you’ve hidden they encounter others who follow your music. This can lead to community building, which in turn helps you.
6. Give the gift of other artists’ music via playlists
Mixtapes are dead. The once popular way to share your favorite music with others has gone the way of the dinosaurs, and in its play we have playlists. Many artists already maintain playlists on services such as Spotify and Apple Music, but the holiday season presents a unique opportunity to further connect with your audience through a well-curated playlist that takes the holidays or end of the year roundups. Select one song from all your favorite albums from the last 12 months. Gather your holiday favorites. Heck, put together a compilation of songs from artists who you wish to tour with after the new year. Create something that is personal to you and fans will feel more connected to your efforts as a result.
If you are reading this post then there is a fairly good chance you are feeling more than a little bored. Maybe you’re a blogger with no new stories to publish, or perhaps you run an indie label where business has slowed in the days since Christmas. Whatever the case, you still have several days until the industry is back in full swing, if not longer. Some industry businesses do not return to a regular work schedule until the week after New Year’s Day, which for 2018 means January 8.
While we admire and applaud your dedication to the craft we also feel it is our duty to tell you that no one person has to be on top of everything all the time. In fact, sometimes it makes no sense to try and do so. The music business is a demanding place where most professionals, meaning those paid and those working for free alike, put in long hours to help those they believe in getting ahead. The daily grind can be killer on even the most dedicated souls, but for two to three weeks every year, there is a lull that almost everyone has agreed to maintain. It is a safe place where people can exhale and stretch and return calls to the family that they have been putting off since before the leaves began to change. That period is the one we are in right now, and it stretches from the days before Christmas until after the start of the new year.
You can work as much as you want during this time, but unless someone is telling you to complete a certain task (or tasks) we encourage you to disconnect. Yes, the company that exists entirely online and relies on clicks to keep the doors open is encouraging you to disconnect from the very thing that keeps its lights on. Some may say such comments are an exercise in self-destruction, but we tend to disagree. We see how much time people put into their work, both on the label side and on that odd the media, which means we also appreciate how much (most) people need a break. They deserve one, in fact.
Those who find the most success in life often cite their breaks or vacations as one of the reasons they perform so well. These people subscribe to the law of diminishing returns, which states that there is a point at which the level of profits or benefits gained is less than the amount of money or energy invested. In simpler terms, just because you work nonstop does not mean your success is also unending. You may succeed for a while, but at some point, you will no longer be able to do whatever it is you do as well as you did when you first started. The reason for this is fairly simple: You are a not a machine. You are not programmed to do one task over and over until you break down and/or are replaced by a superior machine. You are a human in need of food, exercise, and – above all else – rest.
So as you stare at this post and continue clicking over to the tabs containing your various social media feeds we encourage you to consider taking a step back, even if just for one day. Turn off your notifications, leave your inbox unread, and instead spend time doing something solely because it sounds good to you. It can be anything, from time with family and friends, to reading a book, binging a new series on Netflix, or finally learning how to make that pineapple upside down cake you’ve been talking about for months. Choose anything that interests you, just as long as you cannot turn it into work. You want to get music business as far from your mind as possible. Not music, mind you, but the music business. Don’t write content. Don’t draft content. Don’t even think of things as potentially becoming content. Just focus on being present in your individual life and reconnect with the person you are away from the internet. After all, that person – the one you are when existing outside the grind of the industry – is the one who started you on this journey in this business. If you lose that part of you there is no getting it back. As Against Me once sang, “Don’t lose touch.”
