Copyright Shapes Holiday Music

Holiday musical canons aren’t just accidents of taste; they are produced and frozen by economic incentives (royalties, media eras) and distribution regimes that reward a few perennial standards. That lock‑in makes it harder for other holidays to develop comparable repertoires unless new institutional or platform conditions create repeat annual exposure and payday for creators. — If true, this reframes debates about cultural change and 'tradition' as questions about copyright, media gatekeeping, and platform incentives — areas that are already policy‑relevant.