Music vs Podcasts while coding? Any recommendations?

I like Rainwave - it's all video game music, mostly instrumental. I started listening to it just because I enjoy game soundtracks, but I've also read that this type of music can help improve focus since it's often composed to help the player engage with and focus on the task at hand in a game.

I really love brain.fm for ethereal background music, chillhop, and sometimes podcasts about coding like CodeNewbie.

I also listen to a lot of audiobooks - right now I'm listening to Everything is Horrible and Wonderful by Stephanie Wittels Wachs, and it's great.

I like to listen to smooth jazz music like Jazz Vibes or Deep Focus. I do agree with vocals or podcasts that can be a bit distracting while I'm coding.

I tried that previously and I feel horrible after each day as I'm splitting my focus to listen to the podcast and coding which can be frustrating when your coding.

I'm usually on Spotify when I'm coding. I prefer podcasts when I travel (I have a 4 hour trip everyday to get to the office) so in that time I'm on CodeNewbie or if I feel tired developer tea makes it.

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
open.spotify.com/album/4ROfp3chvmH...
(mainly) Instrumental (not distracting the 'words' part of my brain). Very loud (drowns out noisy co-workers).

It depends on the day.

I always need to have something in my ears, but sometimes I can't handle people talking or certain kinds of music.

I can always get down with lo-fi music though. I keep this YouTube channel on a tab as a just in case.

Podcasts divide my attention too much--I save them for my commute on the train when I want to pay no attention to the rest of the world. For coding, I often listen to heavy metal. Banging away at my keyboard to the rhythm of the music feels pretty good.

Anything Nightcore or 'TechStep'. Like any other genre they have spectrum of terrible to excellent examples.

Here's a cool crowd sourced list of the best music to program to: github.com/Burnett2k/Programming-M...

If I'm really trying to focus I need something without words. I've found the Interstellar soundtrack to be a great option. Slightly epic score, so it makes you feel badass :)