Stores are starting to play Christmas music earlier and earlier — here 

are the artists that rule the holiday season

Michael Bublé rules Christmas Getty/Vittorio Zunino Celotto

If you've already begun to hear Christmas music pop up in retail stores this year, you aren't alone.

The start date for Christmas music season has been pushed back over the years, according to Magnus Rydén, who heads up content for Spotify-backed Soundtrack Your Brand, a startup that provides music for businesses.

Rydén says a few years ago, the season began in earnest the first week of December, but now some businesses are rolling out the Christmas tunes even before Thanksgiving.

As to which artists rule Christmas, SYB looked at data from over 30 million song streams from six countries last year, and found that Michael Bublé was the undisputed winner. He was followed by Justin Bieber and Mary J. Blige, though old favorites Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby made the top bunch.

Grundberg says that while newer artists record Christmas music, producing an original Christmas hit that isn't a cover is extremely difficult. He considers the last big one to be Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which was released in 1994.