[2] Record labels earn as much as forty per cent of their annual sales during the festive season.
[9] Speaking in 2009, music retailer Geoff Bonouvrie remarked: "The whole psychology of buying changes around Christmas.
Between 1986 and 2012, 23 of the 27 Christmas number one albums were featured in the top three of their respective year-end bestsellers chart.
Betting shops in the UK often run books regarding which albums will be at number one for Christmas.
For example, in 2010, British bookmakers William Hill and Ladbrokes both issued odds of 2/5 on for Take That to top the album chart at Christmas.
[11][12] At the time, these were the lowest odds William Hill had ever offered for a prediction on the Christmas number-one album.
[14] The following year, Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé topped the chart at Christmas.