Is it Really Okay to Start Christmas Music in September?
In the Philippines, Christmas is not a date. It’s a feeling, and it starts when the first note of Jose Mari Chan plays.
Words Randolf Maala-Resueño
Art by Martina Reyes
September 19, 2025
It’s puto bumbong season again. That means parols in every Filipino foyer, the breezy Christmas amihan winds, and most importantly, the tunes of Christmas songs–all within the stroke of midnight of September 1st.
But why this early? The Filipino Christmas season is regarded to be the longest yuletide celebration around the globe, spanning the “Ber” months all through most of January. Mix that with the Pinoy inclination to anything melodical, you’ll have months of holiday-season-worthy playlists that will last you until the New Year’s.
With this, let’s talk about culture and why the Filipinos ring September sleigh bells like it's December.
What ‘early Christmas’ looks like
To be fair, autumnal holidays like Thanksgiving and Halloween leave the country’s latter months free of celebratory cheers aside from Undas or Day of the Dead on November 1 and 2. This chasm in the calendar, with a mostly Roman Catholic population, ushers in the Christmas spirit way before the yuletide.
Malls, brands, and even small retail shops lean big on this, with red-gold-green decorations, tree lightings, and early Christmas deals and promotions on full throttle months ahead. E-commerce “Ber” Month sale also flocks the Christmas deals, promoting 9.9, 10.10, and so on as drivers of early Xmas spending.
And in such public and commercial spaces, the magic of Christmas music never slips.
The tunes of early Christmas
According to Spotify, Filipino listeners dominate the early yuletide streaming, with a 2018 study noting a total of over 47 million minutes of listening time logged during the Ber months.
The earliest peaking surge of playlist shuffles caps on October 9, while overall holiday tunes consumption peaks on December 24. Nonetheless, Christmas-season listening for the Filipino diaspora unmistakably starts on September 1st, based on Everynoise, months ahead of the United States, Europe, and even other Asian markets.
Christmas staples like Maria Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (2.18 billion Spotify streams) and Wham’s “Last Christmas” (1.89 billion Spotify streams) dominate the early Christmas streaming spike. The long-enduring playability of Brenda Lee’s “Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree” and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” also stands the test of time, bringing yuletide cheers after decades of release.
Lest we forget, Filipino Christmas music will not be complete without Jose Mari Chan’s “Christmas in Our Hearts” and the Chan’s neverending ‘defrosting’ saga (along with Mariah).
With over 36 million streams on Spotify, its distinctive melody and timeless lyrics have become synonymous with the Filipino Christmas spirit. The song’s widespread presence on social media, along with Chan’s own influence, has firmly cemented this classic’s popularity months ahead of the holiday season.
But what drives the early streaming?
Somehow, it’s a form of nostalgic coping. The first notes of these tunes remind most Filipinos of their childhood, like traditional caroling from house to house and the nostalgic Christmas station IDs of different television networks.
It also eases us into the impending Christmas rush. For many, the earlier the start of prepping, the less anxiety when December comes. And by starting music early helps everyone mentally enter the season.
Young people, too, welcome the early start. TikTok trends, Instagram reels, and viral memes welcome September's yuletide breeze–online users posting videos of decorating trees, sharing playlists, or humming Christmas songs, resulting in an online echo chamber that heightens anticipation. Early Christmas streaming, Spotify or radio, has become a national, almost communal, experience.
So, when is ‘alright’ really?
For Filipinos, Christmas music isn’t bound to a calendar date; it's not just a background noise in malls or a playlist to set the mood for gift-wrapping. It is a cultural, melodic compass that signals belonging, hope, and togetherness.
From the moment you hear “Whenever I see boys and girls…” in September, Filipinos enter a collective state of anticipation riddled with memories of family, tradition, and faith. In this sense, Christmas music becomes “alright” not because it’s seasonally correct but taps into our anthropological necessities.
Critics may call it too early, too commercial, too repetitive. Yet, for millions of Filipinos, music is a seasonal anchor, where it turns the long wait into a shared ritual.
Whether you’re riding a jeepney in Tarlac, wandering through a mall in Cebu, or working as an OFW in Qatar, those first jingles in September whisper the same message: “You are part of something bigger, and Christmas is on its way.”
The answer is really quite simple: Christmas music is alright all year long. The Ber months simply permit everyone to play Mariah Carey a little louder. And in a world that could always use more joy, more light, and more reminders of home, who’s to say that’s ever too early?
