Students split on when the Christmas music season should start

As soon as the first snowflakes begin to fall in Syracuse, the sound of Christmas classics isn’t far behind. For many students, the transition from fall to winter doesn’t truly begin until Christmas music slips back into their playlists.

An Orange Pulse survey asked how students feel about the holiday music or if they feed into the debate on when to start listening. The survey found that students are sharply divided on when the holiday soundtrack should officially begin.

Senior Kate Caruth said she usually starts listening to Christmas music when it starts snowing. As a Syracuse native, this time for her is usually late November.

“It doesn’t feel like Christmas until after Thanksgiving is over,” said Caruth.

Caruth said it’s appropriate for everyone to listen to Christmas music after Thanksgiving for this reason, around the same time she herself said she starts listening.

Many respondents to the survey shared this same mindset. People who typically started listening to Christmas music around the end of November also answered they felt this was the appropriate time for others to start streaming. The only deviation from this pattern was that more people answered that it’s appropriate to listen to Christmas music year-round than those who actually listen year-round themselves.

When it comes to the specific songs Caruth listens to, she said she mainly sticks to the classics.

“The classics just give you that nostalgic feeling, you know what I mean,” said Caruth. “I think [modern Christmas music] is fun to listen to, but it doesn’t give the same emotions. I feel like it’s a lot of covers.”

Caruth admits she starts listening to pop Christmas music before the classics, because it usually comes on the radio before she starts purposefully listening by herself. 

“Pop music is fun, but the classic Christmas music just makes it feel like Christmas,” said Caruth. 

She said she sees the argument over when in the year to start listening to Christmas music as purely based on personal preference.

“I guess if you like the music you can listen to it whenever,” said Caruth. “But I feel like other people are like, no you should only listen to it strictly during Christmas.”

One of these people is senior Abby Walsh, who studies wildlife science at SUNY-ESF. 

“I feel like it’s rude and disrespectful on Thanksgiving to start listening to another holiday’s music before the holiday has even passed,” said Walsh.

Walsh said it’s appropriate for people to start listening to Christmas music on Dec. 1, but she doesn’t listen to it at all.

“People who don’t listen to it think it’s so annoying and obnoxious, like myself,” said Walsh.

She said the rest of her family begins listening to Christmas music right after Halloween, specifically her mom. This overexposure caused her to grow to hate the genre as a whole.

“I would be like, it’s time not yet, calm down,” said Walsh. “It made me angry so I just stopped listening to it altogether.”

However, Walsh’s own distaste towards Christmas music doesn’t stop her from understanding why other people like it.

“I think it makes them happy,” said Walsh. “I feel like everyone has good memories about Christmas, so the music might make them feel a little nostalgic and excited for the future.”

Photo by Alexander Calabrese

In Syracuse, it typically starts snowing in mid-November, leading many students to starting listening to Christmas music.

Even though Walsh doesn’t listen to festive music, she has good memories of the season itself. She said the holiday brings together members of her family she doesn’t get to see very often, especially on Christmas Day, which is the one time a year she gets to see all of her cousins on her dad’s side.

Walsh thinks the debate over when to start listening to Christmas music boils down to one thing: people just have to fight about something.

“They need a reason to be mad at one another,” said Walsh. “People that like it, it makes them happy. When someone makes fun of something that makes you happy, I’m sure it doesn’t feel particularly great.”

She isn’t the only one who thinks the debate of when to start listening to Christmas music is unnecessary. Seven other respondents said people needing to argue was the main reason for the rift.

The most common answer on why the debate exists is that people should let every holiday towards the end of the year have its own time. Respondents said not waiting for the other holidays to end was disrespectful and that they don’t want to hear it months before the actual holiday. One respondent even said, “Thanksgiving is easily the best holiday. Stop erasing it.”

Christmas music goes beyond the holiday itself. Senior Meira Liebman doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but still said the music puts a smile on her face.

“As a Jewish person, I feel happy that other people are happy about it being Christmas,” said Liebman. “And their good mood reflects on me.”

While 86.7% of respondents to the Orange Pulse survey said they celebrate Christmas, 92% answered they listen to Christmas music, meaning Liebman is not the only one in this boat.

In a deeper breakdown, juniors were most likely to say they didn’t listen to Christmas music, while Sophomores had the highest percentage of students who did. Only one international student who responded said they did not listen to Christmas music, despite being a part of three others who also did not celebrate the holiday.

Other than Liebman’s personal love for the season, she thinks capitalism and consumerism play a role in when and if people start listening to Christmas music, even if they don’t celebrate Christmas.

“I hear it in the grocery store or when Mariah Carey’s TikToks come up on my feed,” said Liebman. “I think you’ll hear it in any mall this time of year, I’m sure.”

Liebman started listening to Christmas music right after Thanksgiving. She said this is the correct time to begin listening because it’s when people start to prepare for the holidays. When she thought of Christmas music, it reminded her of the snow. Liebman said it would be strange to play Christmas music when it wasn’t snowing or at least cold out.

In addition to larger factors, local events tend to signal the start of the Christmas season. The lighting of the downtown Christmas tree happened on Nov. 28 this year. This date falls after Thanksgiving, but prior to the Dec. 1 start date for Christmas music many students chose.

Holidays at Hendricks was an event on campus where students performed various Christmas hymns and songs. The full concert included an orchestra and a choir for spectators to enjoy.

Photo by Jessica Nester

The Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra, Hendricks Chapel Choir and Syracuse University Singers all performed at Holidays at Hendricks on December 7.

Liebman thinks Christmas music should be confined to the season and not listened to year-round.

“If I heard someone listening to Christmas music in January or February, I would think they were sad,” said Liebman. “I guess I understand Christmas in July, but I think in January and February, I’m like, why are you doing that?”

Whether students queue the classics when the first snowflake hits the ground or avoid the genre altogether, the Christmas music debate is deeper than just a soundtrack. While disagreements over the right time to start listening continue, many students agree that the music begins a season defined by nostalgia, connection and holiday cheer.