Seasonal soundtracks: 150+ Christmas and holiday-themed playlists to fuel your December

We all celebrate the holidays in different ways.

Whether you're enjoying a family craft night, baking an unfathomable amount of carb-loaded baked goods or frantically wrapping gifts at 1 a.m. on Christmas, the chances are pretty good you'll want festive music to bob your head to, belt out or ignore.

Look no further. Here are a few dozen options, with links to 100 more.

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Pandora

Pandora offers a well-rounded list of 68 holiday playlists, from a few dozen Christmas mixes to Kwanzaa Celebration, Hanukkah and Hanukkah for Kids.

Its most popular Christmas playlists are:

• Christmas

• Today's Christmas

• Christmas Traditional

• Classical Christmas

• R&B and Pop Holidays

• Holiday Hits,

• Rockin Holidays

• Family Christmas

But the wide variety also includes Christian contemporary, Navidad Latina, smooth jazz, Caribbean and bluegrass. Pandora also offers task-orientated playlists, from cooking, to cleaning, to working out.

Among the new additions this year are Sleepy Christmas, featuring soothing instrumentals, and Tiki Christmas, with both originals and island-inspired versions of classic Christmas songs.

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Apple Music

Apple Music's holiday playlist section includes 56 total options, including the latest version of its annual Carols Covered mix and an updated list of Christmas essentials.

Apple also features 14 Hanukkah playlists an albums, among them heavy metal band Gods of Fire's "Hanukkah Gone Metal."

Here's a smattering of other options:

• Holiday Cocktail Party

• Silent Night

• Classical Christmas Hits

• Alternative Holiday

• After Dinner Nap

• All I want for Christmas is Pop

In addition to curated playlists, Apple Music also offers the latest holiday albums. Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys and Lindsey Sterling are among the artists with new releases in 2022.

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Spotify

The green dot also offers a lot of variety, from Hip-Hop Christmas to indie rock holiday covers.

Here is a sampling:

• Happy Holidays

• New Music Holiday

• Christmas classics

• Christmas Pop

• Country Christmas

• Contemporary Christmas

• Christmas Hits

• Mellow Christmas

• Christmas Jazz

• Christmas Carols

• Feliz Navidad

• Christmas Coffeehouse

• Kwanzaa Habari Gani

• Family Christmas Party

• Gospel Christmas

• Rock Christmas

• Snow Globe

In addition to the Spotify-curated lists, there are hundreds of user-created mixes. Including mine.

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SiriusXM radio

Subscribers to SiriusXM satellite radio have a few options while driving:

• Holly (channel 104)

• Holiday Traditions (channel 71)

• Hallmark Channel Radio (channel 105)

• Holiday Soul (channel 49, beginning Dec. 7)

• Country Christmas (channel 55)

• Christmas Spirit (channel 63, beginning Dec. 7)

• Acoustic Christmas (channel 6, Dec. 24-26)

• New Year's Nation (channel 104, beginning Dec. 28)

The SiriusXM online app includes 16 additional streaming-only options, including hip-hop, Christian, rock and jazz.

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Rory Appleton is the pop culture reporter at IndyStar. Contact him at 317-552-9044 and rappleton@indystar.com, or follow him on Twitter at @RoryDoesPhonics.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 150+ Christmas and holiday playlists to soundtrack your December