Almost a quarter of us listen to Christmas songs every day in December¹, but your festive playlist could be stressing out your pets.

Pet behavioural studies show that slow-tempo music (50 – 60 beats per minute) helps reduce stress in dogs², meaning high BPM Christmas music may have the opposite effect.

Music experts at Fanatix analysed 90 iconic Christmas hits to reveal which beloved festive songs are likely to leave your furry friends feeling frazzled.

Which Christmas songs are most stressful for your pets?

It’s not just humans who’ve had enough of Wham!

“Last Christmas” claims the title of the most stressful Christmas song for your pets, say Fanatix. The festive chart topper has a frantic BPM of 206, the highest of all. If you want a peaceful household this December, it’s best kept off the playlist.

In second place is “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens (203 BPM). Despite racking up millions of listens this year, this department store favourite might be driving your dogs up the wall. Tied with it is “Mele Kalikimaka” by The Andrews Sisters, also at 203 BPM.

Following in third place is the enduring holiday classic, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams (202 BPM). 

Ariana Grande’s hit “Santa Tell Me” ranks fourth, at 192 BPM. Rounding off the top five is Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s epic “Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24” at 186 BPM.

Which Christmas songs are most pet-friendly?

While no popular festive hits fall within the ideal 50-60 BPM range, some Christmas classics are far gentler on your pets’ nerves than others.

Methodology

Fanatix utilised information from the BBC and the National Library of Medicine, which suggests: Slow tempo (50-60 beats per minute or less), simple compositions with low or no percussive elements are best [for pets]. That combination has been shown to reduce cortisol levels (the hormone that indicates a stress response) in dogs.

They then scraped Spotify’s top Christmas playlist, “Christmas Hits”, which has more than 7 million saves and 90 songs. The BPM/tempo of each song in the playlist was analysed using Sortlee. The entire playlist was then ranked from highest to lowest BPM.

The songs with the highest BPM and tempo are least likely to be enjoyed by pets, so they were labelled most stressful.

Resources:

1. Ladbible | ‘Worst Christmas songs of all time’ have been revealed and the list will shock you ↩︎
2. BBC | Does music make animals calmer? ↩︎

Do you have a favourite song that your pet dislikes? Tell us about it below!