Some Holiday Shoppers, Retail Workers Say They're Sick Of Christmas Carols

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Christmas music might make some people smile, but not everyone agrees.

"It's everywhere. I mean, even just walking down the streets, the stores will be sort of piping it outside," Tony Sachs told CBS2's Vanessa Murdock.

He said he can't avoid it, and it's already lost its novelty.

"If I hear 'Last Christmas' by Wham! again, I'm going to kill somebody," he told Murdock.

"I think it gets people in the holiday spirit," said Hillary Fabien, singing her favorite carol "Sleigh Ride."

To find out how shoppers and retail workers really feel about Christmas songs played in stores, Soundtrack Your Brand surveyed 2,000 people. Fifty-six percent of shoppers like it, while 17 percent dislike.

The primary reason for going Grinch on the good vibrations is that it's just too repetitive.

But that's not the case for John Soroka, owner of Delphinium Home in Hell's Kitchen. He works hard to curate his carols.

"It's music we like to. We're the ones that have to hear it nine hours a day every day for the next 30 days," he said.

Twenty-five percent of workers say too much Christmas music makes them feel less festive.

"I used to work in retail and you got sick of hearing it," one woman said.

"I'm not surprised. Anybody in retail gets saddened by anything," said Katharyn Henson, of More and More Antiques, admitting it all makes her smile.

Soundtrack Your Brand told CBS2 more research on the topic is likely. Until then, the company suggests retailers might consider scaling back to one Christmas song per 10 minutes, saying that any more might annoy customers.