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When you want to get in the holiday mood, try listening to music. Music may make you merrier, lifting your spirits so you can share the joy of the season with others.
Tech makes finding and listening to music easier. You can find endless sources for holiday songs to hear your favorites and discover new music.
Whether you’re having a holiday party, trimming the tree, baking cookies or wrapping gifts, holiday music can add a festive tone.
Check out these ways to listen to holiday music around the world.
Apple Music
Apple Music started in the summer so this is the first year you can use it to listen to holiday music. Apple Music has over 30 million songs and is available in over 100 countries all over the world.
Search for “holiday music” to find playlists such as Trimming the Tree and Country Holiday. You can also listen to stations such as Swingin’ Holiday and Latin Holiday.
Ask voice assistant Siri to “Play holiday music” to open the Music app on your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV and find holiday playlists and stations.
Have an Android phone? The Apple Music app is available in the Google Play store, though voice commands are not available on the Android app.
You can also listen to Apple Music on your computer using iTunes and on an Apple TV.
Apple Music is free for the first three months and a paid subscription is available after that.
Amazon Prime Music
Members of Amazon Prime get the benefit of Prime Music you can play on your computer, phone, tablet, Amazon Echo, or Fire TV. Prime Music is currently has over 1,000,000 songs available but is US-only.
Discover playlists such as New Christmas Favorites, Hipster Holidays and Home for the Holidays. Check out Holiday Playlist page on Prime music to find more playlists.
Prime Music is included free with a Prime membership from Amazon.
Google Play Music
Use Google Play Music to get you in the holiday mood. Go to the Google Play Music Holiday Music page or use your Google Play Music app and search for “holiday music.”
Discover stations such as A Merry and Bright Christmas Party, Classic Christmas Hits, Christmas in the 90’s and Hanukkah for Kids.
Google Play Music is available free with advertisements or without advertisements if you have a paid subscription. You can listen to over 30 million songs on Google Play Music in 58 countries. The service is available on your computer and using apps on your Android phone and iPhone.
Live 365
Live 365 is a free global Internet radio service you can listen to on your computer or mobile device. Check out both Christmas and Hanukkah stations on their Seasonal/Holiday Stations page.
You can find 158 Christmas music stations, such as Contemporary Christmas, Christmas Breezes and Classical Christmas. You can also listen to Cornucopia of Chrismukkah if you want to blend the holidays.
Live 365 is free and available around the world. A premium membership is available that gives you access to more channels and lets you listen without commercials.
Spotify
Spotify is filled with holiday music. You can enjoy playlists on Spotify by searching for “holiday music.”
Find playlists such as Merry Christmas: The Best Holiday Music, Pure Christmas Music and Pure Holiday Music.
You can also check out Spotify’s Year in Music 2015, to learn which artist was streamed the most (Drake), who had the most streams in a single day (Justin Bieber), and the Most Streamed Song of 2015: Lean On (ft. MØ and DJ Snake) by Major Lazer.
You can also listen to the Top 100 Tracks of 2015 Global to hear the most popular songs around the world from this year on Spotify.
You can listen to Spotify using apps on your iPhone or Android phone and on your computer using the Spotify website or you can download the Spotify player.
Spotify is available in 64 countries around the world.
Pandora
Choose from dozens of holiday stations on Pandora radio, including Family Christmas, Christian Contemporary Holidays, Tropical Holidays, Hanukkah, and more.
Create your own holiday station by searching for your favorite holiday song and creating your own station. Vote thumbs up for songs you like and thumbs down for the ones you don’t so Pandora can learn your musical tastes.
Pandora is available on your computer and with apps for your phone, tablet and Amazon Echo.
TuneIn Radio
Listen to radio stations from around the world with TuneIn Radio. You can hear stations from all seven continents, including Antarctica.
You can also listen to Christmas stations such as Classical Holiday, North Pole Live and Christmas Radio.
TuneIn Radio is available on your computer and using free apps:
TuneIn Radio is free and a premium subscription is available in the US, UK and Canada with additional stations and commercial-free listening.
YouTube
YouTube can be an endless source of holiday music. Search for Holiday Music to find videos such as:
and
Enjoy the comfort of a virtual fireplace with this holiday video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfSB9Q8Phz8
Your Thoughts
Do you enjoy listening to holiday tunes? What are some of your favorite holiday tunes? What do you use to listen to holiday music? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Hi Carolyn,
That was so lovely – brought back good old memories 🙂
Yes, I think we all love listening to the holiday tunes, the good old numbers, a few mentioned in the post, and can find them in so many places. I honestly didn’t know there were SO many sites for it, so this sure is going to be a post to bookmark and come back to each year.
I did know about Google play music, and of course YouTube and a few radio stations we have our end. Other than that, we have a few old songs stored from the good old record players my parents had, and I’ve always loved those.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful resource with us. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, That’s great you still have vinyl records! I bet those bring back a lot of memories from past years. Isn’t it amazing how quickly music can bring back memories?
Yes, there are plenty of ways to listen to holiday music and many of them are free. I hope you enjoy these music sources, Harleena.
Carolyn,
What a Wonder-ful gift! Have yourself a very merry Christmas.
Thank you, Anneliz. I’m so glad you enjoyed this article. Thanks for taking the time to let us know.
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas too!
I don’t have a heck of a lot of time to go searching and setting things up…but these were great tips, as always, and am listening to an instantly set up Amazon holiday play list now as I type. It’s great! Thanks, as always, ever so helpful:)! XOXOX
Hi Carol, You’re right, it’s much better to listen to music when you don’t have to worry about setting up a playlist. These sources do the work for you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this article and found it helpful. Thanks so much for adding to the conversation.
Great list of resources for holiday music! I did not know that Amazon prime had a music section, that’s awesome!
Hi Mike, Yes, if you’re an Amazon Prime member you should check out Prime Music, even after the holidays. It’s a great way to listen to ad-free streaming music without paying extra for it.
My favorite music app is Songza which I stream through a Sonos 5 player. I like Songza primarily because of it’s unique Concierge section which provides a variety of suggested playlists based upon your feedback to various songs. It plays a continual loop with no commercials.
Last night I re-read your “Warm Up to a Virtual Fireplace” post https://wonderoftech.com/warm-up-to-a-virtual-fireplace/ , put the recommended 3 hour virtual fireplace on YouTube, cranked up Christmas Classics on Songza while festively decorating the house and tree. Sweet!!
Hi Cho Cho, What a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays. Yes, my virtual fireplace article still gets a lot of visitors, especially during the holiday.
Merry Christmas, Cho Cho!
Hi Carolyn Nicander Mohr, I liked these collection you tried to say about. This way you made me happy and free because I have no time to search for most good players.
So great list of music players for holiday. By the way this was my first visit on your blog via Google. Liked also your blog theme and your awesome writing style. So attractive, going to bookmark to make blogging relationship in future. Keep it up.
Hello Purushottam, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I am so glad that Google led you to The Wonder of Tech and that you like what you found here. These sources for music can be useful long after the holidays are over.
Thanks for your visit and your lovely comment, Purushottam.