December is looming. Tesco have brought out their festive meal deal options, the tree is up outside Cardiff Castle and every shop has begun to play those same old Christmas tunes. But when is the right time to start playing Christmas music? We asked some of our contributors one of the most controversial Christmas questions. Time to pick a side.
By Phoebe Williams 
An opinion I have found very unpopular in my 21 years is I am adamant Christmas music can be played as early as November- for me, as soon as my birthday has been and gone (admittedly, I may even be more excited about Christmas than my birthday). December 25th is the next festivity to look forward to and I find the build-up to Christmas is what creates the excitement and joy- so why not start celebrating as early as possible? In contrast to many of my fellow consumers, I love to hear Christmas songs playing in the shops from early November- what better way to kick off the Christmas season than blasting Wham!ÔÇÖs classic ÔÇÿLast ChristmasÔÇÖ through the speakers! The song that brings me ultimate comfort during Christmas time is Frank SinatraÔÇÖs ÔÇÿHave Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasÔÇÖ; it sparks a cosiness within me, and I canÔÇÖt help but smile every time itÔÇÖs played. Despite the sad reality many parents and friends have brought down upon us all, Father Christmas is in fact not real, I must admit that during any good Christmas song I feel myself drift back to my childhood and once again can be convinced that the fat old man in the red suit will bring me gifts on Christmas!
By Niamh Newman
This might lose me a few friends, but I honestly listen to Christmas music all year long! The holiday season is my favourite time of year, so putting some festive hits on during other months to make me more excited for the Christmas period is a great way to ensure that my mood is lifted. I associate the time with a lot of comfort and happiness, so listening to Christmas music to remind me of these emotions has quite often helped me get over a bad mood or feel motivated to finish a long essay. A lot of Christmas songs are also generally good music, performed by famous artists like Michael Bubl├® and becoming classics around the world for their catchiness and feel-good factor. I know that IÔÇÖm in the minority with this opinion, but IÔÇÖll continue to ask Alexa to play Mariah Carey in July if I want to!
By Holly Chapman
To me, Christmas is the season I look forward to the most. The Christmas markets, the mulled wine, the lights and the music. In my opinion, I will happily listen to Christmas music as soon as November hits. When the clock ticks a minute past midnight on the 1st of November, the season has begun. The pumpkins get thrown away, the scary decorations put back into the attic, and the festivities begin. The Michael Bubl├¿ CD is defrosted and his album is played in every shop by the time the Christmas markets roll around mid-November. Justin BieberÔÇÖs ÔÇÿMistletoeÔÇÖ has to be a favourite of mine; itÔÇÖs a pop classic with a perfect representation of the season. The sparkle of the lights combined with the whistling of music becomes the perfect and most powerful duo running until the 25th of December. The joy Christmas brings starts with the jingling bells from the music and the magical lyrics of cheer, as it proves to be the most wonderful time of the year.
By Siân Jones
I for one am vehemently against Christmas music pre-December 1st. Since birth, IÔÇÖve been plagued by some superstitious premonition of pre-December-Christmas-music-bad-luck. It has systematically hotwired my brain to reject all notions of Christmas until the beginning of December and old habits die hardÔǪ or in this case, donÔÇÖt die at all. Listening to Christmas music in November feels sacrilegious; it physically prevents me from enjoying Bubl├® and Mariah Carey. Scrolling through TikTok, Facebook and Instagram at this time of the year feels like a literal minefield. I hear a Christmas song and force it out of my psyche before it can lodge itself irrevocably into my brain for the remainder of the day for some (admittedly unreasonable) fear that it will ruin my upcoming Christmastime joy. IÔÇÖm so preoccupied with avoiding Christmas songs that IÔÇÖm probably thinking about the jingles more than those outliers of tradition who can listen to Christmas music at any time of the year. Maybe itÔÇÖs the anticipation that builds from holding myself back for 11 months to finally be able to listen on December 1st that causes me to inflict this torture upon myself. I donÔÇÖt know, really. Either way, those lawless criminals who laugh in the face of tradition and smugly smile in rejection of superstition while listening unabashedly to Mariah Carey in June are enough to give me the heebie-jeebies.
And for those of you who constitute the perennial Christmas music listeners: You won, Jane. Enjoy Mariah Carey, I hope it makes you very happy. Dear Lord, what a sad little life Jane. YouÔÇÖve ruined my Christmas, completely, so you could have the pre-December Christmas music, and I hope now you can spend Christmas on lessons in grace and decorum. Because you have all grace of a reversing sleigh with no reindeer on.
Edited by Rubie Barker