The holidays aren't for everybody.
Known in the media world as the "Christmas Creep," Christmas advertisements emerge quietly in October and are sometimes in full force by the time Halloween costumes are tucked away. The music industry is no different. "The straight answer is the physical market," RCA Records co-president John Fleckenstein told Billboard. "Christmas albums tend to be multigenerational, and thus, they skew very heavily on the physical side." If big market stores like Target and Walmart want the albums to take off in time for the Holidays, October is the month to stock up.
But thanks to streaming, the demand for Christmas music has exploded even more, breeding some shuddering renditions as a result. It began this year with John Legend and Kelly Clarkson's gauche attempt to revitalize "Baby, It's Cold Outside" for the MeToo era. "It's your body and your choice," Legend sings.
While Christmas music may be well-intentioned, the era of streaming has produced some uncomfortable and unnecessary Christmas music. Here are the strangest holiday albums to emerge so far in 2019.
Robbie Williams, Christmas Present
As part of a 2-disc set, each disk will be titled "Christmas Past" and "Christmas Future" (get it?). The "ambitious" double album will feature guest appearances from Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams, among others. The cover art and first single alone guarantee that the awkward British boomer will continue to be an awkward British Boomer. Let's now revisit the stiff misogyny that was the "Millenium" music video.
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