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Effects of listening 🎧 to music while coding

michTheBrandofficial on October 08, 2023

"Do you listen to music 🎵 while coding?" I was asked this question recently by a friend of mine. Well, I do it a lot, even though it is a bad hab...
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sarthology profile image
Sarthak Sharma

Definitely, if something that hasn’t Changed about how I code, it’s playing music before writing the first line of code.

And soundtracks are my personal favourite.

Long time ago, I even created a github repo for collections of soundtracks and a lot of people collaborated with their recommendations.

github.com/sarthology/ProjectSound...

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bbkr profile image
Paweł bbkr Pabian

I've tried Lo-Fi once and immediately disliked it. I cannot listen to music as background noise, my brain tries to process it too much. And with Lo-Fi this was even more occupying, as I unintentionaly tried to constantly denoise it. So my case is against your thesis :)

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Noah Jackson

I think it can work for some people. I really enjoy lofi music when I code. Anything that is repetitive, low bpm, and has no lyrics tends to help me focus better.

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

Same as me. I always go for low BPM songs

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

Well, not everybody would like exactly the same thing.

Then, what genre do you listen to?

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overFlow

When I'm learning.NO!
When I'm working ....it might make me head bop too much!!!
But to psyche myself out before i get to work ....its cool!!

It also depends. I listen to lyrics automatically. So i will easily be distracted.

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pavelee profile image
Paweł Ciosek

Highly recommend Intense studying from Spotify. Helps to stay focus 🧘 during coding 👨‍💻

spotify.link/0kWmAo6dJDb

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

Whoa. I will surely check it out

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Thomas Bnt ☕

Oh? Undefined link :(

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pavelee profile image
Paweł Ciosek
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jd2r profile image
DR

I'm a big lo-fi fan when it comes to doing things I need to concentrate on. I feel like other genres (with probably the exception of jazz) are things that you listen to when you're doing something less requiring of mental power, like exercise.

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

Yeah. It's exactly when I do my workouts that I play high BPM music

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raibtoffoletto profile image
Raí B. Toffoletto

I can only listen to podcasts while coding.

I'm a trained classical musician first, so any kind of music will grab 90% of my attention... it's a problem also when I'm talking to people, it's super hard to concentrate on what are they saying....

So my advice is to find the right music for you. Music do influence you physically and mentally, like EDM is probably not a good idea for when you are debugging something hard...

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rasheedmozaffar profile image
Rasheed K Mozaffar

I think the choice of music depends on the task at hand, I agree with you on Lo-fi music as it's really helpful for solid concentration whereby heavy songs with lyrics can be sorta overwhelming, but for some tasks when the work is like crystal clear and you know exactly what you're doing without having to go back and forth in your mind trying to figure out a solution, then some heavy songs can make up a great ambience for such fun and enjoyable work sessions!

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abdallaamin

when i need to focus on a heavy coding session with too much logic implementation or on a tight deadline What works best for me is ASMR .as it may sound funny but it just put me in the mood to focus like no other. I listen to different stuff recently alot of rap and r&p on a chill coding sessions when working on ui only or on a side projects .

Also recently discovered a new fav genera which is an extension to lofi . So if u are a fan of the cyberpunk game vibes ( futuristic retro wave and synth lofi ) Give it a try you will enjoy it guaranteed

Cyberpunk lofi
spotify.link/8j5NCAAqQDb

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soulfiremage profile image
Richard Griffiths

I do not believe, in the slightest, that it's universally a bad habit actually. Sure, it may not work for many, but I find that I can stay deep in the zone with very complex sql queries whilst listening to things like Halo theme tunes or similar stuff. God of war was another.

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Ingo Steinke, web developer

What's Lo-fi? Something like white noise?

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

“Lo-fi” is short for “low fidelity,” and initially referred to a low-quality recording with audible imperfections, such as background noise or performance mistakes, recorded with inexpensive equipment

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Imam Ali Mustofa

I am doing Coding while dancing with music that I hated so much!

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

You are dancing while coding? Or you used to do before? Please explain.

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darkterminal profile image
Imam Ali Mustofa

Like someone coding while walking on a treadmill. I did it while swaying and thinking about the storyline I wanted to write.

BTW the comment before is a metaphor! 🔥

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial • Edited

😅 I didn't even know

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

What genre of music do you listen to while coding?

I would love to know 😊.

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syeo66 profile image
Red Ochsenbein (he/him)

Oddly enough I love to listen to really heavy stuff for coding. Like Deathcore (Lorna Shore, Mental Cruelty, etc) or similar things. I guess my brain is just weird.

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

😂😂 wow. This is my first time hearing of thie

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angelotheman profile image
Angel Oduro-Temeng Twumasi

Jazz songs are mostly the go to for me

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

Jazz. That's nice. Mine is Lo Fi music. So relaxing

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Flávia

Normally I listen instrumental jazz and bossa nova

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Michael Kochell

Some of my favorite music to listen to while coding is chillwave e.g. Hotel Pools, or stoner rock e.g. Causa Sui. Both lower bpm and no lyrics makes it so you can listen either actively or passively.

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hasanelsherbiny profile image
Hasan Elsherbiny

this is a good point of view, i quite agree with it

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

I am glad to hear that 😊

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sreno77 profile image
Scott Reno

There are playlists designed for coding that I listen to on Spotify. I would never listen to them in my "normal" life but lo fi beats seem to help me concentrate while coding

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elvisd profile image
Elvis-Dodti

Try songs from succession studios.
Dark orchestral

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Teo Quaresma • Edited

I think every student knows Lo-Fi.
I discovered that it also works when listening to Nordic or Native American folk music (instrumental).

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

That genre is a go-to for every student 😂

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m_boosiri profile image
mboosiri

Instrumental 🎹 🎸 🎻 covers are quite effective!

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

I really enjoy them. Especially anime theme song covers

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khiman profile image
Khiman Louer

Well and here I am finding myself most productive listening to Trance/Goa mixes...

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Pavan Hutagi

Same here 👾
I find myself deeply focused listening to trance and techno. These days I’m hooked to dub techno while coding 🤖

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jules0707

I tried plain guitar and nature recordings...rain, river, waves etc.

, best for me is outdoor bone fire cracking in the night... very relaxing!
youtu.be/NUKKzdVy0EI?si=opUD1vh37l...

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dariushalipour profile image
Dariush Alipour

fwiw, I think what overloads sensory systems are surprises. If I only listen to the songs I already heard hundred times it won't have any detrimental effect to my main focus.

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jr_shittu profile image
Blackie

Better Listen to NF instead of Lo-Fi

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

😂😂 I don't seem to resonate with his songs

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djobzy profile image
jean

yeeah

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Joao Oliveira

Recently I started listen lo-fi, and my productivity increased, I think that not the concern about try understanding the music is help in the concentration and help to enter in a flow state

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

It helps you enter the flow state mainly because it has no lyrics (not all ). Keep it up Joao

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Sloan the DEV Moderator

Hi! #discuss posts should be questions designed to elicit community responses. Since this is more of a blog post than a question, please consider removing the #discuss tag. Thanks!

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Keith Solomon

I can’t deal with quiet when I’m trying to focus. For me, it’s usually stuff I’ve listened to thousands of times…I know what it is, I know it’s there, but it doesn’t require any mental capacity.

It’s usually late 80’s/early 90’s metal when I need to drown out the silence (and drown out the noise of the office).

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Oscar

I'd recommend classical music actually. Personally, Lo-fi normally has too much going on, and I tend to focus on the music itself too much. Classical just sounds like a blur of sounds to me, which makes it easier to focus on what I need to focus on.

Additionally, it makes you feel like you're in a montage, which is kinda fun.

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Jessica Alder

For those who get distracted by music, Spotify has a brown noise playlist that is great with a pair of noise cancelling headphones. It is my go to when the neighbors dog won't stop barking for 5 hours.

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cuikho210

Whenever I listen to music while coding, I often get distracted and focus on the music instead of the code. So instead, I listen to ASMR with noise-cancelling headphones. It helps me focus and avoid distractions from the environment without making me as distracted as when I listen to music

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Michael Head

I code with the Blues. On Spotify, I play Blues Classics, Chicago Blues, or Blues Standards.

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Jonny Eom

I don't listen to music often. if I do it's either classical piano or movie soundtracks.
My favorite being

  • Tron Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk
  • Lord of the Rings Soundtrack
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James Wilkinson • Edited

"even though it is a bad habit."

...since when is listening to music a bad habit? :o

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michthebrandofficial profile image
michTheBrandofficial

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