A Love Of Christmas Carols

A survey of over 1,000 people found that the majority of Australians (78%) enjoy listening to Christmas songs in the lead up to Christmas. The two most common reasons why, was that it put people in the mood for Christmas (51%) and that it reminded them of happy times (42%).

So what makes Christmas music a mood-booster and nostalgia-conjurer?

According to Professor at Macquarie University and Audiology Expert, Catherine McMahon: "Sensory pathways, such as those we use to hear music, work hand in hand with our cognitive pathways that control things like our memory, so it's unsurprising that the majority of Australians have a positive response to Christmas music.

For many, the Christmas season's festive sounds and smells are so deeply embedded in our long term memory that they are instantly recognisable and have the ability to transport us back to memories and emotions from times gone past, often involuntarily. This means that Christmas music can often lift your mood or bring back memories without you even noticing!"

When it comes to our preferred festive tunes, traditional Christmas carols (31%) took the top spot, followed by old Christmas classics (27%) and modern Christmas songs (21%).

The likely reason for this, Catherine McMahon said, is "similar to the nursery rhymes that we grow up with, traditional Christmas carols are highly familiar for a lot of people - something that transcends your usual music taste or preferred genre. The collective memory of the tunes and lyrics and its ability to unite people, is something a lot of people treasure."

Additional key findings from Sony's survey:
• Decking the Halls - The most popular time to listen to Christmas music is when carrying out festive activities, such as decorating the tree or wrapping gifts (51%). Followed by listening to Christmas music to lift your mood (30%), when entertaining guests (28%) or when travelling home for Christmas (23%).
• A Trip Down Memory Lane - Those 65+ are most reminded of happy times when they hear Christmas music (53%) and love the traditional Christmas carols (46%) compared to 27% of Millenials.
• Bah Humbug - Millennials (17%) are the most likely to deliberately play Christmas music to be annoying

For the Christmas music lovers who wish to block out the hustle and bustle and enjoy their favourite holiday tunes in peace, look no further than the Sony WF-1000XM3 wireless and noise cancelling in-ear headphones. The perfect Christmas present for either yourself or a loved one this year, they are jam packed with advanced technology, including industry-leading noise cancelling, high-quality audio, access to your smartphone voice assistant and quick-attention mode which allows you to easily converse without needing to remove the headphones from your ears.

What's more, with up to six hours of battery life between charges, and a compact charging-case capable of charging the headphones on the go for up to 24 hours of music, you never have to be without your tunes.

The Sony WF-1000XM3 headphones are available to purchase from www.sony.com.au for SRP$399.95.

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