Streaming of a White Christmas: Music

① It seems ubiquitous during December, but the appeal of festive music varies significantly by geography.

② Music lovers in Sweden and Norway listen to festive tunes most often (one track in six), according to data on last year's pre-Christmas listening habits from Spotify, a streaming service.

③ Yet in Brazil—a country with a comparable proportion of Christians—just one song in 150 was Christmas-themed over the same period.

④ Listening habits also vary between American states, though to a smaller degree.

⑤ Why?

⑥ Christmas listening seems to be most prevalent in countries with the fewest daylight hours and the wettest weather.

⑦ Across our sample of 25 countries in the northern hemisphere, every additional hour of darkness is correlated with a three-percentage-point increase in the consumption of festive music.

⑧ In America, states that are more pious have a greater propensity to listen to Christmas-themed music.

⑨ Colder weather and snowfall also produce bumps in festive streaming—and associated royalties for musicians.

▍普通生詞

ubiquitous /ju:?b?kw?t?s/: adj. 無所不在的

festive tune /tju:n/: 節日音樂

track /trak/: n. 曲目

northern hemisphere /?h?m?sf??/: 北半球

consumption /k?n?s?m(p)?(?)n/: n. 消費

pious /?p???s/: adj. 虔誠的；敬神的

propensity /pr??p?ns?ti/: n. 傾向；偏好

royalty /?r???lti/: n. 版稅

▍需要注意的搭配

the appeal of: (某事某物的) 吸引力，感染力

Christmas-themed: (以) 圣誕 (為) 主題的

consumption of /k?n?s?m(p)?(?)n/?: (對某物的) 消費

greater propensity /pr??p?ns?ti/: 更大的傾向

royalties for sb. /?r???lt?s/: 某人所收到的版稅

▍描寫圖表的高頻表達

vary significantly by (geography) /s?ɡ?n?f?k(?)ntli/: (地域)間差別極大

pre-Christmas: 圣誕前的

yet: adv. 然而

with a comparable proportion of /?k?mp(?)r?b(?)l/: 有著與之相當比例的……

over the same period: 在同一段時期內

prevalent /?pr?v(?)l(?)nt/: adj. 流行的；普遍的

across the sample of: 在 (某物的) 樣本 (范圍) 里

every additional: 每增加一個……

be correlated with /?k?r?leit?d/: 與……相關聯的

percentage point: 百分點

produce bumps /b?mp/: 制造高峰

associated /??s????e?t?d/: adj. 伴隨著的