We all could name at least 5 Christmas songs off the top of our heads but…what about Thanksgiving music?
Turkey Baby
Please sing this in your head to the tune of “Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt:
Turkey baby, just slip some gravy onto my plate for me.
Been an awful long year.
Turkey baby, so hurry get into my belly.
Okay so I made that one up. I hope you got as much enjoyment out of reading it as I did in creating it!
But why can’t we think of a single Thanksgiving song?! Well I’m here to tell ‘ya: there’s no money in it. Thanksgiving is a time of giving the gift of gratefulness, not the time of giving actual gifts, like during Christmas.
Retail stores love Christmas because that’s when they get TONS of revenue.
It’s All About the $$$
Have you noticed that stores, radios, social media platforms, and about every other place that music can be played/advertised starts playing Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving (and sometimes even before)?
Any time that I run to Target or Hobby Lobby (my two most frequented stores) during the holiday season, I’m almost always bound to buy something Christmas-related. Why? Well for one, the stuff is everywhere! And for two, it’s that dog-gone Christmas music playing in the background!
Did you know that background music playing in stores influences shoppers’ buying behavior? This study showed that the atmosphere of a store, which includes the scents, products displayed, and music playing, can cause shoppers to either stay longer and purchase more, or leave quicker and purchase less.
And you guessed it! Having Christmas music playing in a store boosts people’s moods and causes them to want to buy more products, especially Christmas products!
So now that we know that Christmas music encourages shoppers to buy more, let’s revisit why there isn’t a demand for Thanksgiving music.
Oh Turkey Leg, Oh Turkey Leg
As I mentioned before, Thanksgiving is a time of gathering together, eating yummy food, and reminiscing on things we’re grateful for. It is not a time of lavishing each other in gifts…and big businesses know that. So, there isn’t a demand to create Thanksgiving music to blare in stores because there isn’t much for people to buy anyway.
Other than the fact that there’s no money in Thanksgiving music, what would people even write about? Separatists leaving England? Colonialism? Turkey Legs?
Christmas has been so romanticized that there’s a million things to sing about, from finding your soul mate to beautiful lights on the tree. Thanksgiving on the other hand - it’d be a bit more difficult to dedicate an entire song to the beauty of a Turkey Leg. But it might be fun to see someone try. ;)
So yes, it is true that there is little to no Thanksgiving music on the market. However, if you look hard enough, you may find a gem.
Check out this new Thanksgiving song that Ben Rector just released! Thank you, Ben, for creating a beautiful song to get us into the Thanksgiving spirit this year.
-Maddie Harper, Marketing Manager at Vibe Music Academy
