The Best Christmas Music For Content Creators 🧑‍🎄

Ah, Christmas. Is there anything better? 

Gathering around the fire, eating copious amounts of sweet treats, and listening to your favorite Christmas BANGERS. Who knew Mariah Carey could cook up such heat? 

Everyone who’s anyone likes Christmas; the faux-grinches can’t fool us. We all know it takes a special kind of discipline not to tap your toes along to the beat of your favorite Christmas songs after a few mulled wines.

But that’s what makes Christmas, isn’t it? All that fantastic music. People lap it up. Christmas spirit isn’t tangible; killer melodies are.

Yep, we know you content creators LOVE the holiday season. And what better way to get festive than to whack on the Christmas tunes. Take a little stroll with your good old pals over at Lickd to look at some of our top picks for the best Christmas music for content.

The benefits of using real Christmas music in festive content

While nothing beats a quick win, there are some real benefits to using classic Christmas music as opposed to the knock-off… ahem sorry I meant royalty-free Christmas music every creator can access. Feast your eyes on these festive fruits of Christmas music and content creation.

1. Emotional connection and nostalgia: Christmas music is often associated with feelings of joy, warmth and good vibes. It’s purpose-built to bring those nice fuzzy feelings rushing into your brain. Embedding it into your content can help create an emotional connection between the content and the audience, making them more receptive to your message and likely to revisit it.
   
2. Seasonal trends: Christmas is a widely celebrated holiday, which means if you use its music at the right time, it’ll help your content feel relevant and on-trend during the holiday season. It’ll probably mean you’ll get a lot more attention on a piece of content around November/December when people are trying to tap into the festive vibes and Grandad has popped on an ugly sweater.
   
3. Positive brand image: Incorporating Christmas music can help create a positive brand image. The holiday is often associated with generosity, goodwill, and spreading happiness, which is always a surefire way to grow your network. You never know; it could lead to a brand deal later down the road, too.
   
4. Increased sales: Businesses often use Christmas music in their ads to encourage holiday shopping and boost sales. The familiarity and positivity of the music can encourage shoppers to part with their hard-earned cash. This may or may not be super relevant to you as a content creator, but if you’re considering trying to sell any merch, maybe Christmas is a good time to start.
   
5. Cultural relevance: Especially in the West, Christmas music is a MAJOR part of the cultural fabric of many societies. Immersive content with a clear Christmas theme can help you connect with a broader audience than you’re already hitting.
   
6. Enhancing storytelling: Christmas music can elevate the storytelling aspect of your content, helping you keep your audience engaged as you share stories related to the holiday season, family, giving, or other themes associated with St Nick and his reindeer.
   

We know it’s easy to get carried away with Christmas cheer, the bright lights and the delicious cookies. With this being said, while festive music can be a valuable tool in content creation, you’ve got to use it thoughtfully, effectively and in a way that aligns with your values as an artiste.

Satisfied? Let’s clean the snow off of your camera and get rolling.

Why is mainstream Christmas music better than festive stock music?

Let’s put it this way: could you tell us your favorite royalty-free Christmas song? Probably not. But I’m sure you could tell us your favorite Christmas song! (Perhaps after much deliberation).

It’s a simple fact: mainstream music hits a lot harder. 

Those recognisable melodies can unlock memories from decades back, under the Christmas tree with a hot cup of cocoa. We’re no psychologists, but triggering nostalgic memories in people unlocks a whole bunch of endorphins to make them feel good. And what do people do when they feel good? They share that happiness (i.e. your YouTube video, reel or TikTok) with others. Hello, views and engagement!

Another delicious ingredient that makes these tracks oh-so-sweet is that they’re often expertly produced, whereas stock music can sometimes be a little basic and unmistakably lower quality (don’t even get us started on AI music)

In short, play Christmas music in your content if you’re looking for nostalgia, recognition, high quality, and, most importantly, music that people love. Use it wisely, and you’ll see a nifty increase in your engagement over the festive period.

Our top tips on how to use Christmas music in content

So, now we’ve told you why you should use classic songs, it’s about time we told you how. Here are a few top tips for how and when to use Christmas bangers in your content.

(While you’re here, you might need some tools to help your craft. Check out our 25 must-have content creator tools.)

Editing and timing

Using these tunes effectively is all about how you cut it during production; you’ve got to consider carefully when to have the tunes present, whether you want them to act as a backing track or a focal point of the content.

Look around for inspiration

Think about your favorite Christmas movies, how they make you feel and how the music affects you. You know the closing scene in every Christmas movie EVER where the music kicks in during a heartfelt moment? Think about that.

Control the volume

You don’t need any DJ decks to mix the music well with your content. Read the room, and don’t have your tunes blasting if it doesn’t make sense for it to be doing so.

Set the mood

Using music effectively is all about reading the atmosphere of a piece of content and matching it. If it’s an uplifting scene, get everyone’s toes tapping with an upbeat track. If it’s a heart-to-heart moment, get Michael Bublé on the phone.

Try out different styles

You never know what tracks are going to work best until you try them. Give a few different songs a go and see what works best.

Avoid copyright infringements

If you’re using classic Christmas tracks, you’ll likely need to have licensing for them to avoid copyright claims and getting your content demonetized. That’s where we come in. We’ve made pre-agreed licensing deals with the music industry so all you have to do is click a few buttons. Oh and did we mention licenses for tracks start from only $8? A far cry from the thousands you’d pay for traditional music licensing. Hey, we’re Lickd and we’re here to make mainstream music accessible to content creators. Learn more about how it works here.

The 10 best Christmas songs for content

Okay, now it’s time to get stuck in. The turkey is out of the oven, the roast vegetables are piping hot, and grandma’s just turned up. Now, It’s time for us to turn up. Here are some of the best Christmas songs sure to make your content festive-funky-fresh and full of holiday spirit.

Brenda Lee – Rocking’ Around The Christmas Tree

This retro Christmas classic swooped right past Maria Carey to No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in time for Christmas in 2023. It’ll immediately get you into the Christmas spirit and it’s my personal go-to song when we start decorating the Christmas tree. 

Sia – Snowman

This viral modern Christmas song is one you’ll probably recognize from that TikTok trend in 2022 where everyone tried to sing the entire chorus on one breath. Did you know that this track comes from an entire Christmas album from Sia? You may recognise a few of the others as well such as ‘Santa’s Coming For Us’.

The Pogues, Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale of New York

Did you know that in the UK, this is the most-played non-carol Christmas song of the 21st century? This track has won countless awards and in the UK is often cited as the best Christmas song of all time. It’s a brilliant, honest recount of life, love and Christmas. It also has a special place in our hearts this year as we mourn the loss of its incredible singer, Shane MacGowan.

Chris Rea – Driving home for Christmas

With a voice like carbonated tarmac, Chris Rea became a global icon with this crooning hit. It’s chill, sophisticated and hopeful, like your wonderful self. Plus, it’s screaming out to be soundtracked on a video where you’re driving to your friends or family for Christmas.

Coldplay – Christmas Lights

This holiday song from the famous British rock band perfectly captures the bittersweet emotions of Christmas. It was even named one of the best Christmas songs of the 21st century by the major US national newspaper, Cleveland.

Brett Eldredge, Meghan Trainor – Baby It’s Cold Outside

Whether you’re a fan of this song or not (we know, we know, it’s a little controversial) you can’t deny it’s a Christmas classic full of jazzy warmth. It’s been covered by so many great artists as well, and we have a few versions at Lickd. This one is a modern take from Brett Eldredge and Meghan Trainor.

Kylie Minogue – Santa Baby

This flirty Christmas classic could add a playful and cheeky tone to your videos this holiday season. Who else wishes Santa would bring them a yacht and some Tiffany’s jewelry? 

The Pretenders – 2000 Miles

This one is so good that some people don’t even know it’s a Christmas song. Classy, thoughtful, and hipster as hell. Who needs jingle bells? This is one for the free-thinkers.

Mud – Lonely This Christmas

If you’re feeling a little low this holiday season, this heartfelt holiday ballad may be for you. The song conveys longing and nostalgia, echoing the slightly more melancholic side of the season. 

Cliff Richard – Mistletoe and Wine

This song encapsulates the joyous spirit of Christmas, celebrating the warmth of the season with family, love, and simple pleasures. If you want something that you can play nicely in the background and not distract too much from your video, then this is a go-to.

Greg Lake – I Believe in Father Christmas

Fun fact, Lake actually wrote this as an objection to the commercialism of Christmas. He was concerned that the true spirit of Christmas was being lost in the marketing of the holiday. Ironic? Maybe. A great song? Definitely.

 

Plus, all of these tracks are available on Lickd, meaning they could be in your next Christmas video within just a few clicks!

 

While we’ve recounted some of our favorites, don’t be disheartened if you haven’t spotted your favorite track in this blog. There’s a shedload of popular Christmas background music to choose from.

Where to download Christmas music for content

Christmas is all about giving, right? Well, there’s no greater time for us to announce our gift to the world of content: music licensing for the best Christmas songs around.

For too long the Golden Rule for content creators has been that copyrighted music is a hard no if you’re monetizing videos. But that sucks, right? So, we spun up the tech and signed licensing deals with all the big labels to change all that. It’s a pretty sweet deal – you get to use tracks from major artists in your videos, the artists get their dues, you cash in on ad revenue and we squash any copyright claims that may rear their ugly little heads. 🏆 Literally everyone wins 🏆

And if you’d really rather stick to royalty-free Christmas soundalikes, we have those too – with unlimited downloads included as part of a Lickd subscription.

If you’re interested in leveling up your content, having unique Christmas music in your videos, and not worrying about having to negotiate a license agreement, sign up to Lickd today and get a 2-week free trial to our subscription and 25% off your first mainstream music license.

 

FAQs

What are the most popular royalty-free Christmas songs

There are some great Christmas songs available in the public domain, with popular hits, including the likes of Jingle Bells, Silent Night and Deck the Halls being at the top of the podium.

What is royalty-free music?

The definition of royalty-free music is music you can use within your content without paying royalties to artists or their representatives whenever it is played or used.

Where can I find royalty-free Christmas music for YouTube?

When you’re trying to find the best music for video content, whether it’s classic tunes of old, royalty-free Christmas instrumental music or anything in between, be sure to check out Lickd to help you get around any licensing issues.