Do radio stations play the Christmas music people want to listen to?

This project investigates whether radio stations align their Christmas music selections with listener preferences. Utilizing the Spotify API, Billboard data from 1958 to 2017, and alternative radio data, I aimed to compare the popularity of Christmas songs across platforms. Initially, I analyzed the top Christmas songs using Spotify's popularity scores, identifying key tracks such as "Jingle Bell Rock" and "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Despite encountering challenges with the radio API, I discovered that the top five songs on Billboard and a New York classic radio station shared three common tracks.

To further explore the characteristics of popular Christmas songs, I examined audio features such as energy, valence, and acousticness. My analysis revealed no definitive template for a successful Christmas song, as popular tracks exhibited diverse musical traits. Additionally, I found that many iconic Christmas songs originated in the 1960s, with many still appearing on contemporary charts. This project concludes that radio stations and Spotify listeners often agree on popular selections, while the musical features of these songs vary widely. Future work will focus on integrating additional APIs to analyze monthly listener data across platforms, enhancing the understanding of listener trends in Christmas music.