Jose Mari Chan claims spot as PH’s top holiday artist on Spotify

Photo from Jose Mari Chan/Facebook

As soon as the “ber” months roll in in the Philippines, the voices of Filipino Christmas icons Jose Mari Chan and Mariah Carey resonate through the speakers of every household. And that unmistakably signals one thing—it’s the Christmas season!

With just five days until Christmas day, Spotify has unveiled this year’s top trending holiday music in the country, featuring none other than Chan claiming the top spot in the nation’s holiday music category.

Surpassing international pop sensation Ariana Grande, the Filipino singer-entrepreneur emerged as the preferred artist among Spotify users, securing the throne as the nation’s favorite holiday crooner.

The streaming service’s data for the year highlighted Chan’s overwhelming popularity during this season, positioning him ahead of global singers like Carey and Michael Buble, who secured the third and fourth positions, respectively.

While Chan reigns supreme as the top holiday artist in the archipelago, his legendary holiday anthem, “Christmas in our Hearts,” released on Nov. 17, 1990, did not clinch the number one spot for the list of top Christmas tracks—it settled for fourth place.

It goes to none other than Carey’s perennial favorite, “All I Want for Christmas is You,” experiencing a surge in streams, courtesy of her Filipino lambs. The song suddenly accumulated over 316,000 streams on Spotify on Sept. 1, marking a 75 percent increase compared to the same day in 2022.

With that surge continuing until December, it claims the title of this year’s top holiday track in the country, closely followed by Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” and the timeless “Last Christmas” by Wham!. Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” rounded out the top five.

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According to the streaming platform, there has been a significant 1,400 percent surge in holiday playlist creation by listeners worldwide since the beginning of November.