Listening To Music May Be Damaging Your Creativity (newatlas.com) 145
The results of a new study suggest that listening to music can significantly impair your ability to perform creative tasks. Whilst music was found to disrupt creative processes, ambient "library noise" was found to have no significant effect. From a report: The first experiment saw volunteers complete tasks while being played music with vocals that wouldn't mean anything to them -- for example, English-speaking listeners being played music with Spanish lyrics. In the second experiment, the participants were played instrumental music with no vocals, and in the third the volunteers were played music with familiar lyrics that they could understand. During the third experiment, the participants were also subjected to "library noise" conditions, which involved ambient noise such as unintelligible distant speech, photocopier noise, typing, and the rustling of papers.
The team discovered that creative performance dropped significantly when listening to music over the course of all three exercises, as compared to periods during which participants were allowed to complete the exercises without distraction. Even when participants declared that the music improved their overall mood, in the third exercise, it still impaired creativity.
The team discovered that creative performance dropped significantly when listening to music over the course of all three exercises, as compared to periods during which participants were allowed to complete the exercises without distraction. Even when participants declared that the music improved their overall mood, in the third exercise, it still impaired creativity.
In Other Words, Being Distracted... (Score:5, Insightful)
...impairs any intellectual endeavor.
Hell, even musicians have to dial back the "listening" part in order to concentrate on playing the part. If you get too caught up in the piece, you will miss entrances, etc.
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...impairs any intellectual endeavor.
Don't know about that. I used to do *hours* of Calculus homework while wearing headphones with the music cranked up -- to drown out other distractions, including too much quite (which is why I usually couldn't study in the library). Don't know if Calculus homework counts as "creativity" though ...
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Yes, there are situation where listening to music while working can be beneficial (*), but basically if you are listening, then part of your brain is on the music, an
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Weâ(TM)re trained from birth for words (Score:2)
Itâ(TM)s no surprise that we have our attention drawn out of us against our will to speech, since we are trained our entire lives to listen to speech. Guess what - music with words forces us to listen, where as music without words not so much. Big surprise that intellectuals once listened to classical music, it turns out that they were just not listening to words.
Poor study design (Score:2)
Alternate headline: Distractions are distracting (Score:5, Insightful)
Distractions are distracting and cause one to lose focus. The more distracting, the more you are distracted from the distractions.
Unfortunately, distractions that distract you from other distractions only further distract you.
Now back to my Ted Nugent....
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Music ain't just music. There is different kinds of music prime example, whistle whilst you work, that did not come from no where. So some music is distracting for different reasons, like it to much and your root taps with the beat, hinting at distraction, hate the music and youch it dominates your thoughts. It needs to be the right music and not just that, but also to suit the task at hand. Different kinds of music generate different psychological affects, so you need to attune the music with the task, ano
Incredibly bad study (Score:3)
The style of music will impact everyone differently.
The current mood of the person and the tasks to accomplish will also alter the impact of the music.
Simply going with "lyrics that can be understood, lyrics in another language and no lyrics at all" is an incredibly short-sighted choice of parameters for such a study.
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I think that work music is an incredibly personal choice. The music that makes me productive isn't necessarily the music that I really want to listen to. It tends to be electronic or classical, tends to have no or just simple lyrics, tends to be old and worn out. Just the old standbys.
It would be interesting to see how things change when the participants have to write code and listen to the music they think works best. How many lines of code were influenced by Prodigy Voodoo people after Hackers came o
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This is in direct conflict with the Mozart Effect (Which was brand new, very popular, and not yet debunked when I was in college). Although there are some studies out there that show children that learn to play a musical instruments at a young age have better coordination and pattern recognition later but that is simply because they practiced those skills while learning to play their instrument.
Bad? Says who? (Score:2)
Did you even read this study? Or are you some armchair pundit who just threw in your two cents? Because the study cited a previous study that already tried to assess music's impact on mood:
From the study: Ritter and Ferguson showed that a beneficial effect of music on creative task performance was limited to a comparison between a silent condition and a socalled “happy music” condition (Vivaldi's “Four Seasons”). Exposure to “calm music,” “sad music,” and
Re: Incredibly bad study (Score:2)
DontBeAMoran opined:
The style of music will impact everyone differently. The current mood of the person and the tasks to accomplish will also alter the impact of the music.
Simply going with "lyrics that can be understood, lyrics in another language and no lyrics at all" is an incredibly short-sighted choice of parameters for such a study.
Did you read the actual study [wiley.com], or just TFS's warmed-over rewrite of NewAtlas's almost-indistinguishable-from-the-original summary of the Lancaster University press release [lancaster.ac.uk] about it?
Because judging an experiment's design from a xerox of a xerox of a dumbed-down-in-the-first-place press release about it lends your critique something more than a little short of credibility.
Then again, this is Slashdot, so I'm going to go with Door # 2 ...
Re: Incredibly bad study (Score:2)
They didn't say it helped, they said it improved their mood. And you don't need couter studies to declare this to be not scientific.
What they tested:
Problems with this approach:
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Other problems here!
Re: Incredibly bad study (Score:2)
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usually a brief synopses.. cease fire stand down.. creation values us all the same? new duopoly math lends to; 2+1= 1 too many, for most of us unchosens? it's all batfarm now? creation (electricity goo & magnets, plus a special unvisible ingredient) provides more than enough of everything we need with no personal gain motive? no signup or subscription fees ever.. that's the spirit.. the hills are alive.. thanks again
Press 4 for English
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We really need a "-1 Batshit Crazy" mod.
Over what period of time... Other distractions? (Score:2)
With respect to duration, yes music is a distraction, but as work goes on does the impact to morale offset the distraction?
Also, if the music is serving to filter out other distractions (e.g. open landscape office area), is the music less distracting than office noice (conversations and such)?
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Yeeeup, exactly this! I'm a software engineer. Aint no way in hell are the creative problems I work on solvable in 30 minutes.
On a small scale, sure, music may help creativity on projects that can be solved quickly. But on larger and more lengthy projects? Music is a godsend. It helps keep the mind sane.
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For me, music will often help my productivity/creativity because it gives my brain a built-in distraction. So instead of deciding to check out Slashdot, Reddit, or some other Internet site "just for a minute", I'll just listen more to the lyrics when my brain needs a mini-break. I'm less likely to find myself having wasted three hours listening to music than browsing the web.
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For me, music will often help my productivity/creativity because it gives my brain a built-in distraction. So instead of deciding to check out Slashdot, Reddit, or some other Internet site "just for a minute", I'll just listen more to the lyrics when my brain needs a mini-break. I'm less likely to find myself having wasted three hours listening to music than browsing the web.
I agree with you. It helps me get in the zone. Without it my brain is a chaotic place.
The unfortunate thing is, the music that gets me in the zone today may stop doing it tomorrow. My brain stays chaotic instead of lining up. It could take a while to find the next one that works. Happily once it does I am a machine.
Not usually in the purpose of listening (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not usually in the purpose of listening (Score:5, Funny)
Fool! Everyone knows that an open plan office is the absolutely best for work productivity and creativity!
The mere fact that you're having to use music (which distracts you), to block out all the even MORE distracting noise.. is just you not being a team player. After all, walls and offices and space costs, you know.
And how dare you not want dogs to constantly visit you, bark, make noise, and generally add to the overall distraction! Clearly, if you don't want dogs around every second of every day, you must *hate* them.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Really!
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Same. Oddly the best music almost goes away itself and lets me completely focus. While it's on all the time, I'll find myself actually listening to it during a 'break' and realize that I've completely not heard the last 20 or 30 minutes.
Re: Not usually in the purpose of listening (Score:1)
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I can't write code without music. Ambient techno, in particular. Anything with lyrics doesn't work.
And it boggles my mind how much companies will pay me to write software, and then put me at a desk in open floor space where I can't concentrate.
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I find using intramental music works the best to keep focused. I know anything with lyrics engages my brain in a different way that makes it hard to concentrate on a task.
This is one of the big things for me. When I've heard the song enough times to memorize it, instrumental or lyrics (instrumental more so), it seems to just kind of put the listening type of my brain into a flow. This makes it easier to filter out the background noise and think about what I'm working on, not thinking about what someone just said. Maybe I'm just deluding myself but this has always worked best in the office, no music at home.
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Music from the 2000's definiately (Score:1, Troll)
Listen to music from the 1980's or 1970's. When artists were actually involved instead of just formulas. When there was no autotune so you actually had singers...
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Listen to music from the 1980's or 1970's. When artists were actually involved instead of just formulas. When there was no autotune so you actually had singers...
... and those kids should get off your lawn, amirite?
Re:Music from the 2000's definiately (Score:5, Funny)
Listen to music from the 1980's or 1970's. When artists were actually involved instead of just formulas. When there was no autotune so you actually had singers...
... and those kids should get off your lawn, amirite?
Yes ... yes they should :)
I'll be OK (Score:5, Funny)
I'm listening to rap, not music.
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Chip-hop is hip-hop music synthesized with simple square waves [youtube.com] in the style of 1980s home computers and game consoles.
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Well, after all.....
The words 'rap' and 'music' are mutually exclusive terms.
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Then you're not just losing creativity. You're losing IQ.
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The music isn't there to help me focus. ... The office is so quiet, it offers background noise and helps me make it through hours upon hours of work.
Some people would kill ... ermm, maybe rather not ... to have such a workplace.
One scenario is sorely missing (Score:5, Insightful)
That of the open plan office: People walking about, doors slamming every now and then, phones ringing and a constant buzz of people yakking. We should definitely test how this improves your concentration, since management thinks it must be the best kind of environment.
Re:One scenario is sorely missing (Score:4)
The big test is: Are management giving up their offices and going with the open office plan? Or do they say that this will help us and then walk back into their offices and close their doors?
Re:One scenario is sorely missing (Score:5, Funny)
To be honest, this headline was all I needed to justify banning headphones and music in my newly remodeled open office floorplan. I didn't even need to read the article. Of course, being that I'm a typical C-level executive, I have my own office and no distractions. My employees are just entitled millennials who need to get back to work and quit their bitching. /s
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Dear boss, I found something new
More of money, less of you.
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I truly wish I could put mod points on replies to my own comments. (+1, Funny)
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Dolly Parton? Johnny Paycheck? Kraftwerk?
Out with it, man!
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Out with what?
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Job perks can save you a LOT of money in the long run. We have a near-unlimited training fund, no restrictions on internet use, a very relaxed dress code (as long as it covers what I don't want to see on anyone but a person I love very much I'm happy), very flexible working hours (no meetings permitting) and a few things more.
The pay is quite a bit below market, and we still have zero problem getting talented people. At some point, money stops being interesting.
Re:One scenario is sorely missing (Score:4)
since management thinks it must be the best kind of environment
So why do the managers get their own offices? Following their arguments, they must not be performing as well. That star CEO your company hired should be sitting in the middle of the shop floor, with all the assembly-line workers yakking about football pools and whether Ford or Chevy make the shittiest pickup trucks.
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Funny enough, I kinda did do just that. Workers are a CISO's best sensor network, can't buy a better one.
One scenario is missing. The bullshit isn't. (Score:2)
Yeah, of course you did.
This was after you were in the Spetsnaz and before you were an astronaut, right?
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I was neither. I play Arma and KSP, but I doubt either counts.
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You can thank OSHA and the NFPA for your oppressive open floor plan.
If cubicle walls are greater than 4 feet high, all kinds of nasty regulatory requirements are triggered. You actually cannot install cubicles in older offices that haven't had their fire sprinkler density increased to compensate for the high walls blocking water travel.
Other new requirements are triggered when a person in the 10% percentile for height cannot make line of sight eye contact while standing to at least two exit signs from any h
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There are specific rules on density and on distances to obstructions, but 6 foot high cubicle partitions would not trigger changes to sprinkler head layout for a typical 8 foot high ceiling, and density requirements would not be affected at all, unless maybe the partitions were combustible. Density requirements are based on the occupancy and building construction classifications. Office space in non-combustible construction resul
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I'm glad I was born mostly deaf to turn off/down my hearing aid. Ahh, peace and quiet! I guess you could wear ear plugs. ;)
Derp alert (Score:1)
Bull and shit. Millennials, I don't care how many degrees you may have (modern degrees are nothing to brag about) - you, and your surveys are *not* smart. Quite the opposite of this is true, in fact. You know what killed your creativity, millies? Your parents and their helicoptering, and your mobile devices. You didn't form the neural pathways when you were children, and I honestly don't know if that can be corrected.
Connectivity is not Creativity (Score:4, Interesting)
They only gave one example of the article but I'm highly dubious of the ability to "measure creativity".
The example they gave - linking related words - does not to me seem a "creative" task, but more analytical.
I do think lyrics can be more distracting than music without though,
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Correct.
One of the most important elements in creative thinking is un-focusing. To the extent that you are focused on, for instance, a complex math problem, you are likely to become frustrated and fail to come to an ideal solution. The best thing you can do is to relax a while, think about something else, come back to the problem later. Relaxing with music might be ideal, depending upon your proclivities.
Salvador Dali, in his autobiography, stated that his best inspirations come to him when he first awakes
music is background noise (Score:4)
I use it to damp out all the noise the other monkeys make.
Distraction with a purpose (Score:2)
I have three different categories of things i listen to at work, music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Each of which works well for a certain task. If i'm doing som
Yeah - bullshit (Score:2)
For coding purposes the right music will get me into the zone and help me concentrate and bang out the logic.
When problem solving directly it CAN be a distraction but it can also help as the music can inspire other creative interpretations of the problem. This is similar to the shower effect where, after banging your head against a problem, the solution presents itself while you're
How would you know when you were done? (Score:5, Interesting)
A photography teacher I had in college held that the problem with creating artwork while listening to music was that when you are creating, you are creating until you feel good about the creation. if you are listening to music, it may make you feel good. How do you know when you're done?
over the years I've noticed that whenever I work (creatively) to music, when I look at the work later, it's always bad. working mechanically to music, (i.e. simply performing a process) it's different, because how you feel about the work is less important.
Results of a new study suggest: study is flawed (Score:2)
Amazing, making people listen to music NOT of their choosing results in distraction.
This is sooo far from science.Give them a nobel prize.
I mean Ig Nobel Prize, they earned it.
https://www.improbable.com/ig/... [improbable.com]
Interesting... (Score:1)
I'm going to call BS... (Score:2)
At least in part.
I've written some of my better code while listening to music.
I mean, sure, some of the variable names end up being whatever act I'm listening to, but as long as I'm consistent, that's fine.
I think it's mostly that I'm not paying full attention to it, but have it there to drown out the random inanities of my coworkers.
Subjective (Score:1)
It has to seem like background noise (Score:2)
When I worked in a cube I'd listen to music all the time just to filter out all of the conversations happening around me, but songs with lyrics wouldn't work. You've basically got to find something that you've heard so many time it's background noise. I know some people like techno for this type of thing. I'm a fan of most of the first Iron Man soundtrack.
It's a pick your poison situation. The only time I didn't have to have headphones to work in an office was when I was sitting next to a loud AC unit that
Analyzing the Study - Small Sample Size (Score:2)
This was of a small sample size of eighteen.
Even if this study ended up being 100% conclusive based on the samples, we are talking about eighteen people. If this were a clinical trial of a medication, you would be asked to replicate it another 100 times before going to market.
This is a nice start, basically "Further Research Needed to Confirm" should be put in the headline of this article.
Seems odd to me... (Score:2)
Nope (Score:2)
Tell Alexa to play "12 variations by Mozart" at bed time. Tell her to repeat/start over until you sleep.
I haven't played the piano so much ever after doing this.
It is a fantastic rendition of a classic song.
For the record, I hate Alexa and the Amazon devices, wasn't my decision. I roll with the changes.
To distracting? (Score:2)
I have John Cage's 4'33" playing on constant repeat.
Video game music can improve concentration (Score:5, Informative)
I work in a noisy environment (lots of people talking about interesting things that I'm not supposed to listen to), so noise-cancelling headphones are a godsend. They need some sound to work well, though.
After reading this article [popsci.com] I decided to try to listen to video game music while working instead of the usual classic concentration tracks. I do not need to be relaxed to work, on the contrary. After having tested video game music for a few weeks, I feel it makes a big positive difference.
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Some good game OSTs I listen to a lot: Aquaria, Borderlands (the first one), Bionic Commando (from the 360), NeoTokyo (game cancelled I think but OST is great), and Frozen Synapse.
Not a game, but the score to the 1981 Conan the Barbarian is amazing and one of my favorites. Make sure to find the 2 disc version with the complete score.
I also recommend 'Maim That Tune' by Fila Brazilla and 'In Sides' by Orbital.
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Argh! I have no mod points today. Someone please uprate this Anonymous Coward.
The the 1981 Conan the Barbarian soundtrack *is* amazing. I use this to help me concentrate at work all the time (It's the open bullpen office layout problem again). In fact, I'm playing it at work right now. I think it is perhaps Basil Pouldouris's finest work.
Flawed: They didn't test with familiar recordings (Score:2)
Sure enough, unfamiliar music is a distraction. Unfamiliar anything is a distraction.
OTOH familiar music doesn't demand your attention, but it does cover external noise and provides a rhythm to work by.
Most everyone I know who listens to music at work uses familiar playlists. Even letting YouTube, etc. chose the music will play familiar music.
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Agreed. I often listen to a small selection of songs at work, and I find that I don't even notice when one ends and another begins. It masks outside noise, which is more distracting.
I do think it has a negative effect on concentration, but less so that chatter.
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mileshigh opined:
Sure enough, unfamiliar music is a distraction. Unfamiliar anything is a distraction. OTOH familiar music doesn't demand your attention, but it does cover external noise and provides a rhythm to work by. Most everyone I know who listens to music at work uses familiar playlists. Even letting YouTube, etc. chose the music will play familiar music.
No studies of the effect on concentration of familiar vs unfamilar music have been done, afaik.
OTOH (and this is purely anecdotal, of course), as a writer who is also a musician, I can't listen to music of any kind when I'm writing. Familiar, unfamiliar, with lyrics or without, it distracts me to the point where I can't concentrate effectively, because the musical part of my brain keeps diverting my focus to elements of whatever I'm listening to (melody, counterpoint, individual instrumenta
Clicks Link... An Audio of this article is availab (Score:1)
WATCH OUT FOR THE FLOYD HOLES!! (Score:2)
Impairs not destroyed (Score:2)
Study showed an impairment of creativity DURING the process of listening, not afterwards.
At no point did they measure creativity after the music was done.
Journalists should be fired, and the editor demoted for making this stupid mistake.
Recreate this test... (Score:2)
Using the printer noise, keyboard click-clack, sneezing, coughing, chip bag rustling and incessant jibber-jabber in open plan offices. ...which ironically drives people to wear headphones.
commentsubject (Score:2)
>Damaging Your Creativity
>your ability to perform creative tasks
>creative performance dropped
Did not RTFA. Have no fucking idea what they're measuring. Especially since these differ.
If I'm a writer trying to pen a piece of fiction, you'd better believe a hit of emotional (positive, negative, etc) music will get me imagining better. This probably applies to many "creativity"-based efforts, everything from poets to an engineer down at Square One. Well, no, Zero really. When you're designing what to d
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Fridge thought: Get data versus the whitenoise baseline. Find what audio hurts the myriad metrics (creativity, focus, productivity, sheer thought) less than clutter and chatter, netting a net advantage (and more disdain for the headline).
Oh no! (Score:2)
My creativity is being stifled while I perform such tasks as driving home from work and gaming!
Well what did they expect? (Score:2)
I don't know why they chose a collection of Nickleback songs to play to the subjects - their brains probably leaked out of their ears before they even got started on the task.
I call B.S. (Score:1)
Small study (Score:2)
This makes complete sense to me. (Score:2)
This makes sense to me personally as well as scientifically. Personally I could never study with music or television on. And I really couldn't understand how others could. But certainly when I was in high school I had many friends who seemed to be able to do it. Not I. My mind always drifted over to the music — especially if it was catchy or there were vocals. But even Mozart or Bach would occasionally capture my attention. And, given this study, it makes sense that even when I was focused on what I w
with earphones (Score:1)