Recently, sudden severe cold snaps and heavy snowfall have brought a full-blown winter atmosphere, causing winter seasonal songs to surge simultaneously across music charts, streaming platforms, and social media metrics. Analysis suggests these weather changes directly influence music consumption behaviour.
EXO's ‘The First Snow’, established as a quintessential winter seasonal song, was originally included in their 2013 winter special album ‘December Miracle’. It has consistently re-entered the upper echelons of major music charts every December, cementing its status as a staple on "official winter playlists". Particularly in 2023, the SNS-originated "First Snow Challenge" went viral, significantly increasing its appeal among younger demographics. This trend has continued into last year and this year, further expanding the song's mass appeal.
Amidst this trend, ‘The First Snow’ entered the TOP5 on Melon's daily chart on the 4th of this month, when snow fell nationwide, proving its enduring strength once more. Notably, compared to before the snowfall, its ranking surged over 21 places in just one week, showing a clear upward trajectory. A similar upward trend was observed on other major music platforms including Genie and FLO, alongside Melon, with real-time streaming usage also recorded as having increased significantly.
Mariah Carey's global steady seller Christmas song ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ also re-entered the daily chart's top 50, coinciding with the year-end season. This track not only climbed the music charts but also saw double-digit growth in daily views for its official YouTube music video over the past week, reaffirming its status as the official global winter season song.
Ariana Grande's ‘Santa Tell Me’ and IU's ‘Merry Christmas Ahead’ also simultaneously entered the music chart TOP100. Particularly on short-form platforms, these tracks are being widely used as background music alongside Christmas-themed videos, rapidly increasing mentions and search volumes on social media.
Indeed, search term trends on major portals and music services show keywords like "first snow", "Christmas songs", and "winter song playlists" climbing to top positions, indicating seasonal content consumption is now in full swing. Furthermore, seasonal song challenge videos are spreading rapidly, particularly on TikTok and Instagram Reels, accelerating the influx of younger users.
An industry insider commented, "This year's unusually early and severe cold snap and heavy snowfall rapidly evoked a winter mood. Combined with the spread of social media challenges and short-form content, consumption of seasonal songs has concentrated within a short period." They analysed, "The defining feature is that not only the music charts, but streaming, video platforms, and search trends are all moving simultaneously."
