Fact-Checked
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s Christmas time, and your customers are shopping for loved ones or stopping in your restaurant or bar to recharge for an afternoon of gift shopping.
Holiday music is essential for businesses that want to cultivate that Christmas season feeling. But to play the holiday songs your customers love, you need a commercial music license.
This guide is part of our seasonal music for business series, and it covers when to start, how each type of business should use holiday music, and which PROs license the top Christmas songs.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” are copyrighted songs. Playing them where customers or staff can hear is a public performance under U.S. copyright law.
Personal Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube accounts can’t be played in your business, even in December. Each one limits you to personal, noncommercial listening.
How Holiday Music for Business Helps Your Customers
Black Friday is over and holiday music tells customers the season has arrived. It sets a mood before anyone reads a sign or sees a sale tag.
The effect depends on fit. A 2005 study in the Journal of Business Research by Eric Spangenberg, Bianca Grohmann, and David Sprott tested Christmas music and a Christmas scent in a mock store. Shoppers rated the store best when the music and scent matched. Christmas music with no matching scent scored lower, and a Christmas scent paired with non-holiday music lowered ratings too.
The takeaway for small business owners: holiday music works best when the whole space matches it. Decor, lighting, and scent should tell the same story as your playlist.
Customers get three things from a well-planned holiday mix:
- A familiar, nostalgic sound that makes a shop or dining room feel welcoming.
- A clear signal that seasonal menus, gifts, or events are available.
- A calmer visit when the tempo fits the space. Slow songs encourage browsing, and faster songs keep a busy counter moving.
Tempo is the lever most owners miss. Our guide on how holiday background music affects retail sales covers the research on tempo and spending.
Make an informed choice! Compare music providers for your business on our Compare Page—free and simple.
Top Christmas Songs and the PROs That License Them
All the popular Christmas songs are licensed through a PRO. A PRO licenses only its own members’ shares of a song. The easiest way to play all of them legally is a commercial music provider that covers ASCAP, BMI, and the other PROs for its catalog.
| Song | Artist (year) | Songwriter(s) | PRO(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All I Want for Christmas Is You | Mariah Carey (1994) | Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff | ASCAP |
| Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree | Brenda Lee (1958) | Johnny Marks | ASCAP |
| Jingle Bell Rock | Bobby Helms (1957) | Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe | ASCAP |
| Last Christmas | Wham! (1984) | George Michael | ASCAP |
| It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year | Andy Williams (1963) | Edward Pola, George Wyle | ASCAP |
| A Holly Jolly Christmas | Burl Ives (1964) | Johnny Marks | ASCAP |
| Feliz Navidad | José Feliciano (1970) | José Feliciano | ASCAP |
| Underneath the Tree | Kelly Clarkson (2013) | Kelly Clarkson, Greg Kurstin | ASCAP |
| Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow | Vaughn Monroe (1945) | Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne | ASCAP |
| Winter Wonderland | Guy Lombardo (1934) | Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith | ASCAP |
| Sleigh Ride | The Ronettes (1963) | Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish | ASCAP |
| Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) | Darlene Love (1963) | Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector | BMI |
| Christmas Time Is Here | Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965) | Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson | BMI |
PRO data comes from ASCAP’s Top 25 Holiday Songs list and BMI’s Holiday Countdown features. Writer affiliations change over time, and BMI featured “All I Want for Christmas Is You” as a BMI song in 2013 before ASCAP listed both writers as members in 2020. Verify any song in ASCAP and BMI Songview before relying on a single license.
When to Start and Stop Christmas Music in Your Business
Most businesses start Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving, which falls on November 27 in 2026. Gift shops and seasonal retail can start earlier. Restaurants and salons should start later and play less.
| Business type | Start | Heaviest rotation | Switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gift, toy, and seasonal retail stores | Early to mid-November, light mix | Black Friday weekend and December weekends | Close on December 24 |
| Grocery and convenience stores | Day after Thanksgiving | December 15 to 24 | Open on December 26 |
| Cafes and coffee shops | Day after Thanksgiving, with your holiday drink menu | December weekday mornings and weekends | Open on December 26 |
| Restaurants | Early December, dinner only | Holiday party season, mid to late December | Open on December 26 |
| Bars | Week of December 7 | Holiday party nights and the weekend before Christmas | Close on December 24, then switch to New Year’s Eve |
| Salons, spas, and hotels | Early December | Instrumental and jazz versions only | Open on December 26 |
Restaurants get the least room. Diners notice holiday music that starts too early faster than shoppers do, so keep lunch on your normal mix.
If you serve customers from many faiths, run a winter holiday mix. Songs like “Let It Snow” and “Winter Wonderland” never mention Christmas. Load the December 26 switch into your scheduler now so nobody forgets.
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How to Use Holiday Music for Business by Type
| Business type | Start | Heaviest rotation | Switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gift, toy, and seasonal retail stores | Early to mid-November, light mix | Black Friday weekend and December weekends | Close on December 24 |
| Grocery and convenience stores | Day after Thanksgiving | December 15 to 24 | Open on December 26 |
| Cafes and coffee shops | Day after Thanksgiving, with your holiday drink menu | December weekday mornings and weekends | Open on December 26 |
| Restaurants | Early December, dinner only | Holiday party season, mid to late December | Open on December 26 |
| Bars | Week of December 7 | Holiday party nights and the weekend before Christmas | Close on December 24, then switch to New Year’s Eve |
| Salons, spas, and hotels | Early December | Instrumental and jazz versions only | Open on December 26 |
A licensed background music provider covers the songs played through its own player or app. You turn on a holiday playlist, and the provider handles the PRO fees for that overhead music. A PRO, or performing rights organization, collects fees when songs are played in public.
Playing a personal streaming account instead is an unlicensed public performance. Statutory damages under U.S. copyright law run from $750 to $30,000 per song, and up to $150,000 per song for willful infringement. Read about the fines businesses face for unlicensed music.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I play my personal Spotify or Apple Music Christmas playlist in my business?
A: No. Personal Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube accounts are limited to personal, noncommercial listening. Playing them for customers or staff is an unlicensed public performance, in December or any other month.
Q: Do I need a separate license to play Christmas music?
A: No. Christmas songs are licensed like any other song. The commercial license that covers your overhead music in June also covers it in December.
Q: Do I need both ASCAP and BMI to play Christmas music?
A: For a typical holiday playlist, yes. Of the 10 Christmas songs we checked, 8 have ASCAP writers and 2 have BMI writers. ASCAP and BMI show each PRO’s share of a song in Songview, a free search tool. A licensed background music provider covers these PROs for songs played through its own player.
Q: Are old Christmas carols free to play in a business?
A: No. Carols like “Silent Night” are in the public domain as compositions, but the recordings you play belong to labels, orchestras, and arrangers. Treat every recording as copyrighted.
Q: Does my background music plan cover a holiday DJ, live band, or karaoke night?
A: No. Background music plans cover overhead playback only. DJs, live bands, and karaoke need venue licenses from the PROs, and karaoke also needs a commercially licensed karaoke platform.
Q: When should my business start playing Christmas music?
A: Most businesses start the day after Thanksgiving, which is November 27 in 2026. Seasonal retail can start in early to mid-November. Restaurants should wait until early December and play holiday music at dinner only.
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By John Boyle
John is a music for business expert and the founder of MusicforBusinessFinder.com which has been featured on BigIdeasforSmallBusiness.com, Noobpreneur and YFS Magazine. He focuses on helping small business owners navigate the confusing world of commercial music licensing, improve sales, and protect their businesses. By providing clear, independent analysis of top audio platforms, he ensures owners can make informed choices with confidence. He also loves rooting for the Mariners and his daughter’s soccer team.