New year, same age-old not-so-jolly debate: when is it acceptable to start listening to holiday music? Is November too early to start listening to holiday tracks? What about the day after Thanksgiving?
Hold on. If the Target in Tenleytown has swapped the Halloween displays for Christmas tree Pillsbury cookies and chocolate gold coins for Hanukkah, it should be acceptable to start blasting holiday music then, right?
The pros and cons of listening to holiday music too early or too late are evenly matched. Some wish to pack as much holiday music listening into November and December as they possibly can without ruining their Spotify Wrapped.
According to Spotify’s listener data and song tracking, people in the United States start listening to holiday music on or around Nov. 13, with Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” being the most popular. No surprise there, she’s the queen of Christmas for a reason.
Although there are many eager early holiday music listeners, there are also people who kick, scream and dread listening to the same batch of holiday songs every year, and quickly get sick of them before the holiday season properly starts.
American University’s campus is typically buzzing around Halloween, but once October comes to an end, there’s a near month-long holiday drought until Thanksgiving break and more importantly, winter break.
For students who want to flaunt their holiday cheer via dorm decorations and listening to music on campus, there’s only about a week and a half of time on campus this year to do that between the two breaks.
So as a student, it unarguably makes sense to start listening to holiday music as early as Nov. 1, along with the early holiday music listeners. However, the more popular student opinion is to wait a little bit later.
In an interview with The Eagle about when holiday music listening should start, School of Communication sophomore Arati Periyannan said “Two opinions here: One is the weekend after Thanksgiving, and then another would be the first time it snows. But I’m also from California and it doesn’t snow at all.”
Another AU sophomore, Emma O’Hara, from the School of Public Affairs and School of Education, said “I would say after Thanksgiving, but I feel like December is when it’s really acceptable.”
The holiday music debate is solved then! After Thanksgiving is most acceptable! Students are free to enjoy their favorite holiday hits as soon as they step back on campus after Thanksgiving break or when their parents ship their winter coats to campus for the first D.C. snow.
Although the holiday music genre may be decidedly limited in terms of its song catalog, there’s a version of each iconic song for everyone, no matter what holiday they celebrate.
A more recent trend in the holiday music genre is successful pop songs getting “holiday versions” or “holiday makeovers,” like Sabrina Carpenter's “Nonsense Christmas” for example.
Featuring added sound effects, lyric changes and instrumentals such as sleigh bells or chimes, these pop songs given holiday makeovers may suit those who dread hearing iterations of holly and jolly every December.
AU students had other holiday music recommendations for those looking for a traditional holiday music alternative.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Sophie Carter said “Personally I’m a big fan of Lo-fi beats. There’s always themed playlists out there so there’s a lot of Lo-fi Christmas music I like to study to during finals.”
Despite division over when holiday music listening should start, one thing most music listeners can agree on is when holiday music listening should end.
“I worked in retail during the holiday season, so a lot of Christmas music isn’t my favorite. I would say after New Year’s is the cutoff. When it’s still festive it’s fine but after New Year’s I’m like nope, we’re done,” said Carter.
No matter when you start listening to holiday music, after Halloween, the weekend after Thanksgiving or after the first snow, just now as soon as it strikes midnight on Dec. 31, holiday songs should go right back into the freezer to hibernate until next year.
This article was edited by Jessica Ackerman, Marina Zaczkiewicz. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Emma Brown and Ariana Kavoossi.
