Listening
Lofi Christmas Music: Festive Beats for Wrapping, Studying and Cosy Days
Carols turned into soft beats, for wrapping presents, studying through December, cooking and slow winter afternoons. Where to find the best of it.
The best lofi Christmas music to start with is Lofi Girl's 24/7 Christmas radio on YouTube, Spotify's christmas lofi playlist, Lofi Girl's Christmas lofi playlist on Apple Music and the Sno-Fi album on Bandcamp. All four play carols and winter tunes as soft, slow beats, which makes them good daytime music for December. Below is what each one is like and which to play for wrapping presents, studying, cooking and slow afternoons.
What lofi Christmas music sounds like
It's ordinary lofi hip hop played with Christmas melodies. The beat stays relaxed and a little swung, the keys sound like they're playing through an old speaker, and there's often a layer of vinyl crackle underneath. The Christmas part comes from the melodies and the small touches: a carol on electric piano, bells over the drums, a snatch of a choir pitched down.
Two things set it apart from a normal Christmas album:
- It stays in the background. No big chorus, no key change, no one singing at you. You can work, read or talk over it.
- It keeps a beat. That's the difference from Christmas sleep music, which drops the drums for slow piano and music box. If you want carols for bedtime, my guide to Christmas sleeping music covers that.
Where to listen to lofi Christmas music
These four are where I'd start. Each one suits a slightly different way of listening. If you leave music on all afternoon, ads matter: Apple Music has none, and Spotify Premium and YouTube Premium remove them.
YouTube
YouTube is home to the big Christmas lofi streams that play around the clock, so you never have to pick the next track.
The one to know is Lofi Girl's christmas lofi music radio, which describes itself as a 24/7 Christmas lofi stream "to get festive to". The music is Lofi Girl's own festive beats, playing over an animated Christmas scene drawn by its studio, so you can leave it on a second screen or the TV while you get on with things. Searching "christmas lofi radio" or "christmas lofi live" turns up more streams from other channels.
Spotify
Spotify's own christmas lofi playlist is the easiest way in if you already use the app.
It holds 100 songs and runs about three and three quarter hours. Most tracks are around two minutes long, and carols you'll recognise, like In the Bleak Midwinter, sit next to original winter tracks like Snow Snow Snow by tonierki. Put it on shuffle and it feels festive without repeating itself.
Apple Music
On Apple Music, Lofi Girl's Christmas lofi playlist is the one to save.
Lofi Girl describes it as "Christmas lofi and cozy beats to get festive to". The tracks come from Lofi Girl's Christmas albums, one a year, so it's long enough for an afternoon of baking or wrapping without restarting it.
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is where you buy lofi Christmas albums straight from the people who make them, and keep the download.
A good example is Sno-Fi by L.Dre, which he describes as "a jazzy lofi hip-hop instrumental album inspired by the sounds of Christmas". It has 12 tracks, including White Christmas, Deck The Halls and Hot Cocoa, and runs just under 30 minutes, with a white vinyl edition alongside the digital album. Searching Bandcamp for "lofi christmas" or "christmas lofi" brings up more releases from independent producers.
Lofi Christmas music for every December job
Each of the four suits a different part of the day, mostly because of how long it runs.
| Pick | Where | How long it runs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lofi Girl's Christmas radio | YouTube | 24/7, it never stops | Studying and working |
| christmas lofi | Spotify | Short tracks, about two minutes each | Wrapping presents |
| Christmas lofi by Lofi Girl | Apple Music | Tracks from Lofi Girl's yearly Christmas albums | Cooking and baking |
| Sno-Fi by L.Dre | Bandcamp | 12 tracks, just under 30 minutes | A slow afternoon |
Here's what I'd put on for each job, and when to switch to something else.
- Wrapping presents: Spotify's christmas lofi on shuffle. The short tracks and familiar carols keep it festive while you work.
- Studying through December: Lofi Girl's Christmas radio. It never stops, so there's no playlist to manage, and the beat stays steady enough to fade into the background. For the rest of the year, my guide to lofi for studying has more.
- Cooking and baking: Lofi Girl's Apple Music playlist through a kitchen speaker. It's long enough to last through a long cook.
- A slow winter afternoon: Sno-Fi from start to finish. It's an album rather than a playlist, so it hangs together, and the jazzy keys suit a cup of tea and a book. If you like that sound, my lofi jazz guide has more in the same vein.
- Christmas Eve at bedtime: something without a beat. Switch to slow carols on piano and music box once it's time to sleep.
How to find more lofi Christmas music
When you want more than the four above, a few search habits help:
- Add a carol name to "lofi". "Silent Night lofi" or "Carol of the Bells lofi" finds single tracks and short mixes built around the tune you're after.
- Try "christmas chillhop". Chillhop is lofi's jazzier, brighter cousin. My chillhop beats guide explains the difference.
- Look for "radio" or "live" on YouTube. These are the streams that run all day, which suit studying and working.
- Follow the producers you like. When a track catches you on Spotify, open the artist's page and look for their other winter releases.
Make a festive lofi channel with Chillframe
If you're here as a creator, Christmas lofi is a lovely niche to be in. Listeners come looking for it every December, and Lofi Girl runs a dedicated 24/7 Christmas stream for them. A good festive upload can find new listeners every winter, not only the first one.
The playlists and streams above are for listening, though, so you can't put those tracks in your own video. My guide to copyright free lofi music for YouTube videos covers where to look if you'd rather source music yourself.
Chillframe gets round that by making the music. It makes original music fresh for each video, a winter scene to go with it and the finished video, then publishes it to your YouTube channel.
A Christmas Series works best beside your usual uploads, not in place of them. On the Creator plan you can run three Series, so the festive one sits alongside the rest. Set it up in November so it's ready for December. Describe a scene in plain words, like a snowy market stall at dusk under string lights, or start from a winter preset such as Snow Cabin or Campfire Night. Lite gives you a still scene, and Plus a gently moving one on the Creator, Pro and Max plans. Then pick the days and time for the season, maybe Friday to Sunday evenings on top of your weekday videos.
The first festive video waits for your approval. From there, Chillframe automatically makes and publishes the rest, fully hands-off through December.
One thing it doesn't do is broadcast a 24/7 stream like Lofi Girl's. Videos run up to 1 hour on every plan, and a Series fills the season with hour-long uploads instead.
Full commercial rights come with every plan, from the Starter plan at $19 a month, so the festive tracks are yours to use. My guide to starting a lofi YouTube channel covers the rest of the setup.
Lofi Christmas music FAQ
Is lofi Christmas music good for studying?
Yes, for most people. There are no lyrics to follow and the beat stays steady, so it fades into the background while you work. A 24/7 stream like Lofi Girl's Christmas radio is the easiest choice, because there's nothing to pick or skip.
Can I use lofi Christmas music in my own YouTube videos?
Not the tracks from these playlists, because streaming only covers your own listening. For a video you need music you made yourself, or music whose licence covers YouTube. Epidemic Sound, Uppbeat and Pixabay all have Christmas lofi collections aimed at creators, so read each one's terms before you publish.
Can I buy lofi Christmas music on vinyl?
Yes. Needlejuice Records sells A Chill Lo-Fi Christmas, 16 lo-fi Christmas tunes on white vinyl, and L.Dre's Sno-Fi has a white vinyl edition on Bandcamp. A record suits a slow afternoon, when you want an album that plays from start to finish.
How do I make a lofi Christmas channel that uploads every week?
Set up a Series in Chillframe. It makes fresh videos on a weekly cadence of 1 to 7 videos and publishes each one to your YouTube channel on the days and times you choose, once you've approved the first. The Starter plan runs one Series, the Creator plan three, and the Pro and Max plans as many as you like, so a Christmas Series can sit alongside your usual uploads.
