The perfect time to start listening to Christmas music, according to science
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, and everyone wondered as Christmas time loomed, when can we listen to some festive tunes? There are Spotify playlists for every occasion, Christmas-themed music for every persuasion, and thumb hangs over play as the sleigh bells compel you, so when should you press it? Keep reading, we’ll tell you…
Yes, it’s that time of year once again—the strange limbo between Halloween and December, where no one quite knows whether they’re allowed to start celebrating Christmas or not. The music and decorations in shops feel like a strange elephant in the room. We all see them, but we worry how excited we’re allowed to be upon seeing them.
You tend to have two camps when it comes to celebrating Christmas. One is littered with scrooges, those who roll their eyes at the sight of anything holiday-related prior to December 1st. To them, the idea of discussing and celebrating the festive season before the month in which it takes place borders on blasphemy.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are those whose entire year revolves around the holiday period. Cold weather? Darker nights? Icy roads? It’s all part of the occasion, one that is filled with hot chocolate, mulled wine, overindulging, and Christmas movies.
Regardless of your opinion on the holiday, we all eventually give in to Christmas time. There is something inescapable about the season that means, at one point or another, we become excited about eating, drinking and being merry. One of the facilitating factors around Christmas that helps many people get into the swing of things is Christmas music. Something about the sleigh bells, upbeat melody, and jolly themes triggers an emotion that excites us for the festivities.
Because of the undeniable impact that Christmas music can have, depending on your attitude towards the holiday, some people embrace listening to holiday music early, whereas others shy away from it. It can be challenging to work out when the right time to start listening to Christmas music is. Realistically, you’re a human; you have free will, do whatever makes you happy. However, what does science suggest?
What’s interesting is that analytics and individual comments contradict one another. Spotify confirmed that it saw a spike in Christmas music around November 13th. This gives people time to take down their Halloween decorations and adjust for a few weeks before diving headfirst into Christmas music. There is also a small spike on November 1st, which will undoubtedly result from retailers and Christmas fanatics getting into the swing of things early.
While stats tell us one thing, surveys tell us something else. A study carried out by Stylist found that 64% of individuals didn’t think you should listen to Christmas music until December. The majority of people believed November was too early to start listening to any form of festive tunes.
What this implies is that a lot of people view Christmas music as a guilty pleasure. In the same way, there are some songs that we love but don’t confess to loving; science tells us that we listen to Christmas music early but lie about it. With this kind of attitude, the right time to listen to Christmas music is whenever you want to without shame. Chances are, most people are lying to you about listening to it anyway, so just go full steam ahead.
