WHEN The Darkness released Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End), they didn’t expected it to become a seasonal staple.
But despite its prominence on perennial playlists, the amount the song’s writers make from it might come as somewhat of a surprise.
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The Christmas classic made an estimated £1million in its first month of salesCredit: Rex Features
Lead singer Justin Hawkins appeared on The Masked Singer in 2021Credit: Eroteme
The tongue-in-cheek rock anthem, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, shot to number two in the UK singles chart.
It narrowly missed out on the Christmas number one spot to Michael Andrews and Gary Jules’ cover of Tears For Fears’ 1982 single Mad World.
More than two decades later, the track still returns to festive playlists every December — but frontman Justin Hawkins has admitted it doesn’t bring the fortune fans might assume.
Back in December 2003, the single made an estimated £1million in its first month as sales of physical CDs peaked and The Darkness were at the height of their fame.
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Their debut album Permission to Land spent four weeks at number one, selling 1.5million copies.
Hawkins and his bandmates were suddenly among Britain’s most recognisable rock stars.
Yet Hawkins has said that streaming transformed the economics of festive royalties.
In 2018, he exclusively told The Sun: “You don’t make as much from that as you might imagine.
“If we’d released it in the 1980s, we could have made an awful lot of money.
“It does sneak back into the charts a lot – especially now they are structured around streaming, but you don’t see much cash from that.”
The singer explained that Christmas royalties depend heavily on publishing deals and sync fees, rather than on plays alone.
He said: “The way the royalties work is you have a deal with a publisher and they give you a portal where you see where the money comes from.
“If somebody uses your song in say, a movie, then you get a bump of cash.
“There really are so few hard copy sales these days that royalties from that are extremely small.”
Instead of revelling in his riches, the frontman said he simply splashes out by upgrading his groceries when he hears it.
Ah yes, I will buy the Tesco Finest range instead of economy
Justin Hawkins
He continued: “When you can hear our Christmas song from mid-November I do hear the sound of a small pound coin entering a piggy bank in my head.
“Then I think, ‘Ah yes, I will buy the Tesco Finest range instead of economy’.”
Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End) sold 385,000 copies in the UK during the 2003 festive season alone.
It has gone on to rack up tens of millions of views and streams worldwide – it has over 46million on Spotify alone.
While those numbers sound huge, modern artists earn only fractions of a pence per stream.
The Christmas song has over 46million streams on Spotify aloneCredit: Getty
The song was written by Hawkins and his bandmates Frankie Poullain, Ed Graham and Dan Hawkins, so the royalties would also be shared between them.
In 2023, to mark the 20th birthday of their festive classic The Darkness recorded a newer version for BBC Radio Two.
Hawkins added: “If I’m back in the UK around this time of year and shopping at the Tesco near my mum’s I hear it in the aisles and I’m surprised at how good it still sounds.
“When people just call it our ‘Christmas song’ I find it a bit rude as if you liked it you’d know the title.”
For a track written in a single day and recorded in just a week, it has outlasted many hits.
Even if it doesn’t deliver life-changing royalties, it remains a defining moment in The Darkness’ story.
The top five earning Christmas songs are:
- Slade, Merry Christmas Everybody – Annual royalties: £1million. Total since release: £50million.
- The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, Fairytale of New York – Annual royalties: £400,000. Total since release: £14.4million.
- Mariah Carey, All I Want for Christmas is You – Annual royalties: £400,000. Total since release: £11.6million.
- Wizzard, I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day – Annual royalties: £180,000. Total since release: £9million.
- Chris Rea, Driving Home for Christmas – Annual royalties: £200,000. Total since release: £7million.
