At King of Prussia, Cherry Hill, and other Philly-area malls, holiday music starts weeks before Thanksgiving
November is the right time for some Philly-area establishments to get in the spirit of the season with holiday music.
The age-old holiday debate reemerges around this time every year.
How early is too early to start listening to Christmas music? Should Thanksgiving arrive before Santa Claus comes to town over your Bluetooth speakers?
For some Philly-area establishments, November is the right time to rock the night (and day) away to “All I Want for Christmas for You,” “Sleigh Ride,” and other holiday earworms. In fact, the music has been merry for weeks now inside eight of the region’s malls.
At King of Prussia, festive tunes joined the rotation the day after Halloween.
“We started playing holiday music on Nov. 1, but we do a phased approach where we start with a mix of contemporary non-holiday music and holiday music, and ultimately switch it to all holiday music before Black Friday,” said Todd Putt, King of Prussia Mall’s director of marketing and business development.
In recent years, retailers nationwide have been leaning into holiday music as early as late October, as their executives try to make customers as jolly as possible.
While some shoppers are turned off by holiday music, especially if it’s on too early for their liking, there are indications that others are hungrier than ever for it this year.
Spotify released its holiday singles collection in mid-October, a month earlier than usual, a move the music-streaming service said was in response to an uptick in demand from early holiday listeners. By mid-November, Spotify’s “Christmas Hits” playlist hit no. 1, garnering nearly twice as many streams as it had at the same time last year, the company told Axios.
In the Philadelphia region, mall executives said they turned on the holiday music around the same time that they have in recent years.
The Philadelphia Premium Outlets, off Route 422 near Pottstown, got into the spirit on Nov. 7, and holiday jingles started playing between Nov. 9 and 16 at PREIT malls — Cherry Hill, Exton Square, Moorestown, Plymouth Meeting, Springfield, and Willow Grove Park.
Of the latter six, “each mall times its kickoff perfectly to align with the season’s spirit, just as the decorations go up or when Santa makes his grand entrance,” said Lisa Wolstromer, Cherry Hill Mall’s senior marketing director.
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For Philadelphians who like to tune into local radio for their holiday tunes, stations take a variety of approaches.
On 102.9 WMGK, class-rock Christmas songs will start to be mixed in the Monday after Thanksgiving, first with one song every four hours, according to program director and midday host Eric Johnson. The frequency of Christmas songs increases as the holiday approaches, up to about two songs every hour.
B101, which calls itself “Philly’s Official Christmas Music Station,” has been playing all Christmas music all the time since Nov. 14. It has flipped the switch — this year with the help of former Eagle Jason Kelce — around the same time since it started playing Christmas music 21 years ago.
“Playing Christmas music is a beloved tradition on B101,” said Bonnie Hoffman, regional marketing and promotions director for parent company Audacy, noting that 1.6 million listeners tune in during the holiday season, up from 1 million during a non-holiday month.