| Thursday 18 December 2003 |
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Christmas albums make money
Christmas albums usually sell a small fraction of the artist's latest studio album - Ashanti's Christmas has sold only 37,000 copies, compared to 1.2 million of her Chapter II - but the potential to strike gold is there. Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas, for instance, has sold more than 4 million copies. Boyz II Men's Christmas Interpretations is almost double-platinum.
Worldwide, Destiny's Child have sold more than a million copies of 8 Days of Christmas. And because the album featured originals and reworkings of traditional songs, the group made more from publishing royalties than it would've with a Christmas album of just straight covers.
"And the beauty of a Christmas album is it becomes annuity income for years to come," Knowles said. "It gives you visibility in the marketplace with re-serviced videos and Christmas TV specials where you can promote your Christmas album. The other great revenue streams for Christmas albums are putting some of those songs on other Christmas compilations, as well as licensing to film and TV." (MTV)
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