How to Get Your Christmas Song on the Radio

To get a Christmas song on the radio, submit a broadcast-ready track to program directors mid-October. Stations start to plan holiday programming in October. They will start mixing Christmas music into rotation in mid-November. And most have their seasonal playlists set by Thanksgiving. Holiday airplay goes to whoever showed up at the right time in October/Novmeber with a mastered MP3, clean metadata, and a pitch a programmer can act on in thirty seconds. But the best pitch arriving mid-December is too late.

Here's what happens when during the season:

The Christmas radio calendar

Holiday radio runs on an inofficial schedule. This is it:

There's two things to take away: December is Christmas music season for listeners, not for you as an artist. For artists the season is September and October. There is no January for Holiday music, so whatever you fail to land by early December will most likely have to wait in line for almost a year.

When to release a Christmas song

The best time to release a Christmas song is late October to the first week of November. That timing puts your song into stores and streaming just as holiday listening starts climbing after Halloween, while leaving it fresh for the November playlist adds. It also means the song has to be finished and mastered by early October, and submitted to radio around the same time. Radio stations do not need your song publicly released to consider it. But they needs time to program it.

If your song has been out for a year or more, that is fine. Christmas radio likes to replay proven songs. A track that got spins last December will be easier to place this December, not a harder. It can pay off to re-pitch it every fall.

Which stations actually play independent Christmas music

Aim your effort where the door is open:

• Independent, community, and college radio. The most realistic targets. Many run holiday specials and actively look for original seasonal music, because everyone else is sending them the same classics.
• Internet and streaming radio. Holiday-format internet stations program far more tracks than a terrestrial rotation and add music deep into the season.
• Specialty and local shows on commercial stations. The station's main rotation may be untouchable. The Sunday-night local show or the holiday special often is not.
• AC (adult contemporary) stations that go all-Christmas. The famous November format flip, and the hardest target, since the rotation is mostly established classics. Even these stations slot a handful of new songs each year, and someone has to be that handful.

A hundred small stations that might say yes beat one major that never answers. Holiday airplay is a volume game across many small doors, which is why submitting broadly matters more here than in almost any other niche.

Build a compelling music press kit

Program directors skip anything that is too much extra work. So add everything they need to your MusicSubmit campaign. Your submission package should contain:

1. Broadcast-quality audio. Mastered MP3 (192 kbps minimum). Never an unmastered mix, never a low-bitrate MP3 as the primary file.
2. Complete metadata. Song title, artist name, running time, and ideally an ISRC code. Without it, spins cannot be tracked or paid.
3. Artist info. Who you are, what the song is, one photo, contact info, links. This reference card info is important - but MusicSubmit allows you to add a full bio too.
4. A radio edit if needed. Under ~3:30 is safe for rotation. If your album version runs five minutes, cut an edit before anyone asks.
5. The 30-second pitch. One or two sentences naming the genre and the hook: "An original swing-era Christmas song with live horns, think Ella Fitzgerald at an office party." The programmer is filling a format slot, so describe the slot you fill. This goes into your Description.

Register with a PRO first — airplay pays

Radio spins generate performance royalties, but only if the song is registered with a performing rights organization (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC in the US; PRS, GEMA, SOCAN, etc. elsewhere). Register the composition before the airplay campaign starts. A Christmas song is the best case for this: if it lands, it re-earns every December, and holiday classics are among the most durable royalty earners in music.

Submitting your music: manually or on auto-pilot

Manual: build a list of stations that fit your genre, find each one's submission process (submission page, music director email, or a "no unsolicited music" wall), and pitch them one by one in early October. It works and it's free, but it's also slow. Expect hours per batch and single-digit response rates. Follow up once, politely, after two weeks.

Automated: use a submission service to reach many stations at once. MusicSubmit submits your Christmas song to radio stations, blogs, and playlist curators automatically. The recipients are selected from a large database based on whether they play holiday music. You will see who responded and who approved your song for their outlet. This lets you reach hundreds of people in a short amount of time.

The two options can be combined: you can use a service for breadth, and hand-pitch the handful of stations you care about the most.

After the season: keep the song alive

On December 26 the Holiday song audience disappears and basically sleeps until the next year. Time to look back:

• Log what happened. Which stations played it, which playlists added it, who responded. That list is next year's warm-outreach list.
• Re-pitch every fall. Established holiday songs get easier to place each year. An independent artists' best-earning track could be a Christmas song from five years ago that they consistently re-promote every October.
• Consider a fresh asset each year. A new mix, a duet version, a live video, anything that gives programmers a reason to say yes again.

Frequently asked questions

When should I release a Christmas song?

Late October to early November. That catches the post-Halloween rise in holiday listening while staying fresh for radio and playlist adds. Master and distribute by early October, then submit to radio in parallel.

How early do radio stations plan Christmas programming?

Stations begin selecting holiday music in October, and most flip to seasonal rotation between early and late November. By Thanksgiving, holiday playlists are largely locked. So the best time to submit is mid-October to early November. Later can work, too.

Do radio stations play new Christmas songs by independent artists?

Yes. Independent, community, college, and internet stations are the most receptive, and even all-Christmas commercial stations add a few new songs each season. Original songs stand out because most submissions are covers of the same classics.

Can I promote the same Christmas song every year?

Yes. Many artists do exactly that. Holiday demand resets every November, and prior-year airplay makes a song easier to place, not harder. Re-pitch it each fall, ideally with something new attached (a new version, video, or milestone).

Is it worth releasing a Christmas song in December?

For this season, you'll need to be lucky. Programming is mostly locked. But release it anyway if it is ready, let it pick up whatever late streaming it can, and run a full campaign starting the following year.