How Your Favorite Holiday Songs Affect Productivity and Mood

A scientific study revealed that songs with beats per minute (BPMs) paced at 50-80 are best for productivity, helping you to become calm, and alert and increase concentration. What about holiday songs?

Workamajig, a project management software company for creative teams, have analyzed the BPM of the most played holiday songs and albums to determine those that are the most distracting and which can help maintain focus.

Most Distracting Holiday Songs

Christmas music has been widely covered by artists of all genres for generations. Some songs date as far back as the mid-19th century, like "Silent Night," "O Holy Night," "The First Noel," "Jingle Bells," and "O Christmas Tree." In modern times, pop singers have blessed the radio waves with their renditions of holiday classics and carols. Some artists have dedicated entire albums to Christmas, sharing their joy for the holiday. Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and The Beach Boys came out with Christmas albums in the 50s and 60s. Fast-forward to 1994, and Mariah Carey became the self-proclaimed "Queen of Christmas" with her album Merry Christmas -- the first of two Christmas albums. Her smash hit, "All I Want For Christmas is You," has earned her between $600,000 to $1 million each December in royalties. However, Carey has been sued several times over the "Queen of Christmas" title.

In the 2000s, it seemed like every pop star wanted to emulate Carey's Christmas success by releasing Christmas albums of their own. NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Christina Aguilera, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Josh Groban, and Taylor Swift all released holiday albums. By the 2010's, even more pop artists released Christmas albums: Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande (she released two), Kylie Minogue, Michael Bublé, Sia, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson, and Gwen Stefani. In recent years, the Backstreet Boys, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, and Cher all came out with new Christmas albums, some for the first time ever. Programming dedicated to the holiday often features Christmas specials featuring these pop stars, showcasing their unique renditions of the seasonal favorites. In 2023, Mariah Carey reunited with Ariana Grande, and Jennifer Hudson reunited for a live performance of their 2020 holiday collaboration, "Oh, Santa!" for Carey's Christmas tour stop in New York City.

Take a look below at our top seven picks of the best pop Christmas song covers:

Clarkson's jazzy 2015 cover of the 1957 Elvis Presley original is both sad and cheery. She can sing any genre, as she's proved time and again during her "Kellyoke" segments on her talk show. But this genre of blues and jazz suits her voice so beautifully.

Cher's first-ever Christmas album is such a joyous way to ring in the holiday cheer. Her strong voice is an instant mood-booster as the Goddess of Pop belts a rock and roll rendition of the 1958 Chuck Berry original. Cher's entire Christmas album is filled with a little something for everyone and a holly jolly addition to any Christmas playlist.

In 2010, the Australian singer-songwriter dropped a hot rendition of "Santa Baby." Originally sung by Eartha Kitt in 1953, this song is the only Christmas song of its kind that can be described as sexy, and Minogue's version is the best cover out there, staying true to the seduction of the original.

The self-proclaimed "Queen of Christmas" has  a lot of other Christmas songs, other than "All I Want For Christmas." This is a re-recording of a cover of "Silent Night" that she did in the '90s, which was done for her first Christmas album in 1994. Her soulful rendition might make you tear up.

In December 2018, Cyrus had an explosive collaboration with British producer Mark Ronson. The two connected for Ronson's song "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart." In this amazing live updated performance of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 original, Miley and Mark included Sean Ono Lennon on guitar and backup vocals.

As part of the deluxe version of Legend's holiday album, A Legendary Christmas, the talented musician offered his cover of Donny Hathaway's 1970 version. We love how Legend's soulful singing goes toe-to-toe with the soul star. The song has since become a modern Christmas standard, with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers reporting that it was the 30th most-performed holiday song of all time..

You can't have a best-of pop covers list with one of the biggest powerhouse pop singers, Christina Aguilera! It was a hard choice narrowing down X-Tina's best cover, but we decided on her rendition of the 1943 original. She was joined by R&B legend Brian McKnight for a breathtaking performance that is sure to give you chills.

Christmas music has been widely covered by artists of all genres for generations. Some songs date as far back as the mid-19th century, like "Silent Night," "O Holy Night," "The First Noel," "Jingle Bells," and "O Christmas Tree." In modern times, pop singers have blessed the radio waves with their renditions of holiday classics and carols. Some artists have dedicated entire albums to Christmas, sharing their joy for the holiday. Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and The Beach Boys came out with Christmas albums in the 50s and 60s. Fast-forward to 1994, and Mariah Carey became the self-proclaimed "Queen of Christmas" with her album Merry Christmas -- the first of two Christmas albums. Her smash hit, "All I Want For Christmas is You," has earned her between $600,000 to $1 million each December in royalties. However, Carey has been sued several times over the "Queen of Christmas" title.

In the 2000s, it seemed like every pop star wanted to emulate Carey's Christmas success by releasing Christmas albums of their own. NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Christina Aguilera, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Josh Groban, and Taylor Swift all released holiday albums. By the 2010's, even more pop artists released Christmas albums: Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande (she released two), Kylie Minogue, Michael Bublé, Sia, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson, and Gwen Stefani. In recent years, the Backstreet Boys, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, and Cher all came out with new Christmas albums, some for the first time ever. Programming dedicated to the holiday often features Christmas specials featuring these pop stars, showcasing their unique renditions of the seasonal favorites. In 2023, Mariah Carey reunited with Ariana Grande, and Jennifer Hudson reunited for a live performance of their 2020 holiday collaboration, "Oh, Santa!" for Carey's Christmas tour stop in New York City.

Take a look below at our top seven picks of the best pop Christmas song covers:

Clarkson's jazzy 2015 cover of the 1957 Elvis Presley original is both sad and cheery. She can sing any genre, as she's proved time and again during her "Kellyoke" segments on her talk show. But this genre of blues and jazz suits her voice so beautifully.

Cher's first-ever Christmas album is such a joyous way to ring in the holiday cheer. Her strong voice is an instant mood-booster as the Goddess of Pop belts a rock and roll rendition of the 1958 Chuck Berry original. Cher's entire Christmas album is filled with a little something for everyone and a holly jolly addition to any Christmas playlist.

In 2010, the Australian singer-songwriter dropped a hot rendition of "Santa Baby." Originally sung by Eartha Kitt in 1953, this song is the only Christmas song of its kind that can be described as sexy, and Minogue's version is the best cover out there, staying true to the seduction of the original.

The self-proclaimed "Queen of Christmas" has  a lot of other Christmas songs, other than "All I Want For Christmas." This is a re-recording of a cover of "Silent Night" that she did in the '90s, which was done for her first Christmas album in 1994. Her soulful rendition might make you tear up.

In December 2018, Cyrus had an explosive collaboration with British producer Mark Ronson. The two connected for Ronson's song "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart." In this amazing live updated performance of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 original, Miley and Mark included Sean Ono Lennon on guitar and backup vocals.

As part of the deluxe version of Legend's holiday album, A Legendary Christmas, the talented musician offered his cover of Donny Hathaway's 1970 version. We love how Legend's soulful singing goes toe-to-toe with the soul star. The song has since become a modern Christmas standard, with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers reporting that it was the 30th most-performed holiday song of all time..

You can't have a best-of pop covers list with one of the biggest powerhouse pop singers, Christina Aguilera! It was a hard choice narrowing down X-Tina's best cover, but we decided on her rendition of the 1943 original. She was joined by R&B legend Brian McKnight for a breathtaking performance that is sure to give you chills.

Surprisingly, the top two most played holiday songs on Spotify, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” and Whams! “Last Christmas” leaned more towards being more distracting with 150 BPM and 108 BPM, respectively.

Michael Buble’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”, Spotify’s third most-played holiday song, is a bit more on the productive side with 95 beats per minute.

Best Holiday Songs for Productivity

Most Distracting Holiday Albums

Reba dubbed the Queen of country holiday album leans highly on the distracting side sitting in at 158 BPM and Cher's holiday album debut has an average of 129 BPM making these albums more suitable for the office holiday party rather than a day full of work.

Elvis’ Christmas Album sits at 91 BPM making the king of blues Christmas album in terms of productivity much more suitable for the office radio station.

Best Holiday Albums for Productivity