How Music Affects Your Brain (Plus 11 Artists To Listen To At Work)
By: Kayla R. Minguez
Tags: Work, Life Lessons, Careers, Music, Creativity

How music affects your brain and mood at work

For the most part, research suggests that listening to music can improve our efficiency, creativity and happiness in terms of work-related tasks.

However, there are stipulations to these benefits. For example, studies seem to agree that listening to music with lyrics is distracting for most people. Therefore, it’s often recommended that we avoid listening to music featuring lyrics when working on tasks that require intense focus or the learning of new information.

In contrast, listening to music with lyrics may actually help people working on repetitive or mundane tasks, perhaps because the distracting nature of lyrical music can provide a kind of relief from the monotony of boring work.

For a greater understanding of how music affects work, here are just a few of the many studies conducted on workplace productivity and music in recent years:

In 1972, a study published in Applied Ergonomics suggested that people doing repetitive tasks worked more efficiently when background music was played.

In 1994, The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study showing that surgeon accuracy and efficiency improved when surgeons worked with music playing. Music selected by the participants had the best results and, even when working with music selected by researchers, the surgeons performed better than those who worked with no music at all.

A 1999 study in the journal of Neuroscience and behavioral physiology showed that playing classical or rock music allowed study participants to identify numbers more quickly and accurately.

In 2005, research from the journal of Psychology of Music showed that software developers experienced more positive moods, better quality of work and improved efficiency when listening to music. The study also notes a learning curve for participants using music to alter their moods.

These examples are merely a snapshot of the research that has been conducted on music’s affects on employees, but we can already start to see the benefits music has on work.

Ambient noise may also help

To some extent, one can argue that music is a form of ambient noise. Some musical genres, especially, ask us to consider this comparison: stomp music, industrial music or, as the name suggests, ambient music all incorporate elements of traditionally non-musical sounds with a musical component or structure.

Research suggests that ambient noise, or ambient music as we may prefer to think about it here, could be the best kind of music for work productivity.

A 2006 study from the journal of Ergonomics found continuous noise to be the least annoying background noise, while distinguishable speech was “the most disturbing, most disadvantageous and least pleasant environment” for participants. The study also included a “masked speech” variable, which proved to be the most effective means of arousing participants’ mental states, while (somewhat surprisingly) continuous noise was the least effective.

In 2012, The Journal of Consumer Research published a study investigating the effects of ambient noise on creativity. The study suggested that creative processes improved when participants listened to ambient noise at a moderate volume — about 70 decibels, approximately the volume of a vacuum cleaner. The study also found that creativity suffered in the presence of high-volume ambient noise — about 85 decibels, slightly louder than a garbage disposal.

Additionally, research in 2015 from the The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America found that using natural sounds like a flowing stream was an effective way to improve employees’ productivity and moods in the workplace.

Considering the studies above, it seems that ambient music has the potential to improve our moods and productivity much like other forms of music. However, for music to really improve your productivity at work, you’ll likely need to alternate between periods of no music and periods of different kinds of music.

We can recall that, when learning new information, music without lyrics is preferable to lyrical music. However, if we complete this task at work and need to switch to a more repetitive, well-known task, we may benefit emotionally and productively from listening to music with lyrics. And, depending on the complexity of the task, we’ll likely encounter instances throughout the day when we need to ditch our headphones altogether and simply focus on what’s in front of us.

That said, finding the right kind of music can be challenging at times. This is part of the learning curve mentioned in the Psychology of Music research above. Clicking around to find the right artist can certainly detract from workplace productivity but, once you know what works for you, music can become a tool for near-instant concentration.

Need a place to start? Below are some music suggestions for your work day.

11 Artists To Listen To At Work

Keeping the changing needs of most daily schedules in mind, I’ve picked out a few artists that focus on lyrics and others that are more ambient. Some are more upbeat while others are mellow.

All are available for free on YouTube, Spotify or SoundCloud.

1. Akiko Kiyama

Lyrics: Rare

Genres: Electronic, Industrial

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube| Website

2. Pixl

Lyrics: Sometimes

Genres: Electronic, Dubstep

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube| Website

3. Bassnectar

Lyrics: Often

Genres: Dubstep, Electronic

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube| Website

4. Balmorhea

Lyrics: Sometimes

Genres: Classical, Post-rock, Pop

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube| Website

5. The Echelon Effect

Lyrics: Rare

Genres: Ambient, Soundscape, Post-rock

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube| Website

6. Wynton Marsalis

Lyrics: Rare

Genres: Jazz, Classical, Orchestral

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube| Website

7. Wess Meets West

Lyrics: Rare

Genres: Soundscape, Post-rock, Electronic

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube| Website

8. DeVotchKa

Lyrics: Often

Genres: Indie folk, Indie rock

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube| Website

9. Color Theory

Lyrics: Often

Genres: Synthpop, Electronic

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube | Website

10. Crystal Castles

Lyrics: Sometimes

Genres: Electronic, Experimental, Noise

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube | Website

11. Andhim

Lyrics: Sometimes

Genres: House, Electronic

Links: Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube | Website