It’s no secret that the future of the music industry is in question. As the suits debate piracy, delivery systems and lost revenue, the business has broken into a struggling major label cartel and an even less financially sound indie sector. But what does this have to do with Christmas music? This recession hasn’t quelled anybody’s greed and this year’s batch of holiday releases is the best reflection of everything that’s wrong with music today.

For eight years I have been reviewing holiday music, and each new year has brought with it fewer and fewer releases worth talking about. It usually breaks down like this — a handful of classic reissues, a few new compilations, a handful of major-label heavyweights tackling holiday tunes, a slightly smaller group of indie kids doing the same thing and then a few albums that are so goofy that they become great, or so bad that they’re worth a spin just for a laugh.

This year the focus seems to be on musical dinosaurs making a last-ditch effort to grab some cash before the people who are actually still buying their albums die of old age. This means new holiday fare from old fogeys, almost all of which are passionless, awkward and ultimately unsatisfying, unless you are a hardcore fan of the artist in question. Sting’s If on a Winter’s Night (UMG) is positively dour; Barry Manilow’s ego has him singing three-part harmonies with himself on In the Swing of Christmas (Jive/Sony); Neil Diamond pillages his previous holiday album for material, and his one original on A Cherry Cherry Christmas (Sony) is shockingly bad; and Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart (Sony) is oddly forgettable for such an icon.

The female vocalists fare a little better. Ima’s vocals on Christmas (Divine Angel) are pretty enough; the female vocal ensemble Aliqua veer between beautiful and creepy on All I Want (Nettwerk); and Tori Amos’s usual style is strangely suited to holiday fare, making Midwinter Graces (Universal) one of the best of the bunch.

With obvious cash grabs from country rockers Rascall Flatts, Idol runner-up David Archuleta and the country crooner Johnny Reid hitting shelves, there is little out there to surprise. There’s another Very Special Christmas (A&M) compilation this year, bringing the grand total to seven. Halford 3, featuring Rob Halford from Judas Priest, gives some traditional numbers a decidedly metallic flavour on Winter Songs (Metal God), and it sounds exactly like you would expect. Even Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas (Cartoon Network) by the irreverent and animated Aqua Teen Hunger Force is uninspired.

It’s not surprising, then, that the best “new” holiday music out there is best downloaded track by track. “The Blizzard” by Camera Obscura isn’t that festive but it is pretty, Lady Gaga’s “Christmas Tree” featuring Space Cowboy is charmingly ludicrous and Winnipeg’s Paper Moon’s eerie rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is sweet without being too cute.

As it stands, the quality of this year’s holiday releases is so low that the best album of the season is a 46-year-old reissue. With The Ronettes, The Crystals and Darlene Love (not to mention a sleighful of bells contributing to Phil Spector’s wall-of-sound production), A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector (EMI) has always been a tough album to top, but its vintage tones and bombastic delivery come closer to generating a genuine holiday feeling than anything else out there.

Call me a traditionalist or call me a Scrooge, but as usual all I really want for Christmas is a holiday album that can transcend genre and help me make some festive holiday memories of my own, but unfortunately this year, I don’t think Santa is going to come through.