Should I listen to music while coding?

when I code and I know what I am doing I listen to fast paced music, I prefer music without vocals mostly I listen to fast Hardgroove Techno.

When I am thinking about a problem and trying to get a solution I listen to slower paced coding music (you can find them on youtube). Or just silence. As you mentioned noise cancelling headphones are good, even without any audio, just silence.

But once I have a solution or a specific todo, I go to turbo mode with techno ;)

Here has been my process thus far in regards to music choices while coding.

If I am doing tasks I do frequently, I can listen to any kind of music and be productive. But if I am grokking something rather complex, I will opt for instrumental music. I really like Rachmaninoff and Debussy. I also like vaporwave and dreamwave in these situations as well. Shameless plug If youre asking, "Whats vaporwave/dreamwave?" here is a dreamwave album I released with a friend last year:

ttime.bandcamp.com

There are also moments where I appreciate silence, but its not always an option. With the pandemic my girlfriend is often working from home in the same house as me and a lot of her work is doing zoom calls with clients and verbally walking them through things.

I've been listening to music while working since the '90s. Heavy metal music.

If there's no music, I freak out. I'm also treated to construction noises, street noises (a**holes with aftermarket mufflers, emergency vehicles (fire station AND hospital nearby), barking dogs, etc. "Silence" is not a thing here. I also cannot wear headphones if there's nothing coming out of them just for the sake of trying to block external noises. I never even liked headphones. A major advantage since the apocalypse began is that I'm home and don't need to use headphones.

Some of my most productive algorithms work in university was done while listening to Motörhead.

There's no link to that article you mentioned, but I can say this:

Not everyone is the same.

Well it depends on the mode

In creative mode, I solve complex issues that require all my focus. I shut down my music and give all my brain can give, but I can't maintain this state for 30+ minutes

In productive mode, where I code large chunks using techniques I already master. I don't need that much focus and I love having minimal techno/trance in the background, that's necessary for me to enter the flow state and stay there for hours

This is personal. I'm getting into the 'zone' more easily by listening to music without vocals. Especially music (sets) I've already heard 10 times plus. If the song/set is new or including vocals, it does distract me indeed. Like

Cool that you had handwritten lyrics! Most of the songs I listened to were in English which isn't my native language so listening what was said came at a later age :P.

During coding songs with lyrics and sudden noises (AC/DC :P) are distracting. But what helps me concentrate more are more monotonous (in a good way) albums. Such as for example "Tripping with Nils Frahm".

Also what is interesting is the research that shows: "A moderate level of ambient noise is conducive to creative cognition."

It's from the website coffitivity which has options to set background noise just as if you are in a cafe.

Thanks for this post.
When you are in a noisy environment it is true you can become less and less productive.
I used to do programming around 4h am when everyone is sleeping and the world around is quiet and I solve problem quicker, with more efficiency at this time.

But we can admit that people are little bit different, that can happen a background-music help someone else be productive 😉. But in my case I think it's quiet environment, like that I can put all my focus on the problem.

Agreed!

Some people spend years coding to music to then realise how much productivity they have irrecoverably lost.

Ambient instrumental music, however, can be OK for some people, but nothing that grabs attention.

Yay music. I love music. I play it, I feel it, I breath it. But sometimes music makes me less productive. For instance, anything with words or instrumentals from my favorite songs, I cannot listen to and code, because my mind focuses on words and familiar melodies. I have found instrumental movie sound tracks to be my bread and butter when I need to focus coding for hours at a time (or 25 mins at a time if I remember to turn on my pomello timer ha!). Here are some of my favorites: Tron Legacy by Daft Punk, Interstellar Movie Soundtrack and Social Network Movie soundtrack.

Since I started working from home I've stopped listening to music, but it was an invaluable tool when I need to concentrate with coworkers around. Also, I found that if I was really concentrating on the problem the music would "disappear" when I got into flow.

I have tried coding with melody heavy music in the background, but that didn't work for me. I would always focus more on the music than on the coding. Now I'm listening to lofi. The steady beat keeps me focused whilst not being a distraction. The music blends into the background and sometimes I don't even realize that it is even there.

Hey , at least for me , I work better when I listen to chill music either indie or just acoustic , it helps calm me down and for me personally I am very productive when I’m very calm . So I guess that’s why indie and acoustic music helps boost my productivity .

I have different playlists for different coding situations. For the stuff that I could do in my sleep, I definitely jam out. For more intense work, something like Brain Food on Spotify or some binaural beats is better, lofi is also a huge go-to for me.

Music is only needed, for me, when noise from collegues is worse than vocals from songs

For me it's classical for thinking stuff, death metal for rote stuff and The Cure for debugging. ;) I know some people who blast their music while coding, but I just can't do that. It has to be very low volume, but I like it better than silence. YMMV.