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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.
With this in mind, experts at 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 actually help maintain focus.
Most Distracting Holiday Songs
| Rank | Song | Artist | BPM |
|
1 |
Mele Kalikimaka - Single Version |
Bing Crosby |
208 |
|
2 |
The Happiest Christmas Tree |
Nat King Cole |
206 |
|
3 |
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year |
Andy Williams |
202 |
|
4 |
Santa Tell Me |
Ariana Grande |
192 |
|
5 |
Caroling, Caroling |
Nat King Cole |
185 |
|
6 |
Christmas Dream |
Perry Como |
184 |
|
7 |
Please Come Home for Christmas - 2013 Remaster |
The Eagles |
183 |
|
8 |
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas |
Judy Garland |
181 |
|
9 |
Jingle Bells - Remastered 1999 |
Frank Sinatra |
175 |
|
10 |
Adeste Fideles |
Bing Crosby |
165 |
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
|
Rank |
Holiday Album |
Artist |
BPM |
|
1 |
Carol of the Bells |
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych |
47 |
|
2 |
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree |
Brenda Lee |
67 |
|
3 |
Silver Bells |
Bing Crosby |
71 |
|
4 |
Happy Holiday / The Holiday Season |
Andy Williams |
74 |
|
5 |
O Christmas Tree |
Tony Bennett |
74 |
|
6 |
Christmas Time Is Here |
Vince Guaraldi Trio |
75 |
|
7 |
The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) |
Nat King Cole |
79 |
|
8 |
The Christmas Waltz - Remastered 1999 |
Frank Sinatra |
80 |
|
9 |
The First Noël |
Andy Williams |
81 |
|
10 |
Linus And Lucy |
Vince Guaraldi Trio |
81 |
Most Distracting Holiday Albums
|
Rank |
Holiday Album |
Artist |
BPM |
|
1 |
The Ultimate Christmas Collection |
Reba McEntire |
158 |
|
2 |
Merry Christmas |
Mariah Carey |
133 |
|
3 |
Wrapped in Red |
Kelly Clarkson |
132 |
|
4 |
A Legendary Christmas |
John Legend |
131 |
|
5 |
Cher Christmas |
Cher |
129 |
|
6 |
A Holly Dolly Christmas |
Dolly Parton |
128 |
|
7 |
Sounds of the Season |
Taylor Swift |
127 |
|
8 |
A Very Trainor Christmas |
Meghan Trainor |
125 |
|
9 |
Everyday is Christmas |
Sia |
124 |
|
10 |
Under the Mistletoe |
Justin Bieber |
120 |
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
|
Rank |
Holiday Album |
Artist |
BPM |
|
1 |
Elvis’ Christmas Album |
Elvis Presley |
91 |
|
2 |
My Gift |
Carrie Underwood |
97 |
|
3 |
A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra |
Frank Sinatra |
103 |
|
4 |
Michael Buble Christmas |
Michael Buble |
104 |
|
5 |
You Make it Feel Like Christmas |
Gwen Stefani |
109 |
|
6 |
Santa Baby |
Alicia Keys |
110 |
|
7 |
Cheers, It's Christmas |
Blake Shelton |
111 |
|
8 |
A Very Backstreet Christmas |
Backstreet Boys |
112 |
|
9 |
The Best of Pentatonix Christmas |
Pentatonix |
113 |
|
10 |
Fruitcake |
Sabrina Carpenter |
118 |
Methodology
Workamajig analyzed the list of the most played holiday music according to Spotify's Christmas Classics playlist and Billboard's Top Holiday Albums to cover a range of well-known holiday music and albums. The beats per minute (BPM) of each song were then recorded, with songs being ranked from highest BPM to the lowest alongside the average BPM of each holiday album.
The basis of the study used findings from Spotify and Dr. Emma Gray of The British CBT and Counseling Service in London who discovered that songs with a BPM of 50-80 are linked to productivity and concentration.
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