Charlotte found this well written article by Liam Ward-Proud on how music can boost productivity. While he touches on some of the familiar issues (de-bunking the Mozart effect & quoting Teresa Lesiuk) he did have a figure that blew me away.
Seems that a study from Sheffield University puts the number of people listening to music at work at 77%. That's amazing! As Liam suggests, and as we predicted eight years ago, the accessibility of portable players and new digital distribution platforms have made it super easy for people to access music - everywhere and anywhere.
It's interesting to see how the whole idea of music in the workplace has become accepted as normal. What's fun to watch now is how different people and companies will tell you that it's their music that can help you best.
I think I'm with Liam on this one, what's best for you is totally subjective and driven by how that music makes you feel. Just because there's research that instrumental music is best for some knowledge workers doesn't mean it's best for all of them.
I know for me when I'm writing I need instrumental music - but when I'm researching it can be anything from Rastaman Vibrations through to Easy Star All-Stars Dub Side of the Moon - I like to groove when I read!
If you're part of the 23% that doesn't listen to music at work, read Liam's article on How Music Can Boost Productivity - it's a good introduction!
Image Credit: Music to Work or Study By - epiclectic - Flickr
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