I actually would program or design or write with Spotify playing in the background, the rhythm helps me focus. The problem would be that I'm singing along and suddenly there's a verse I don't catch that totally throws me off until I google the lyrics. Interestingly, that's what prompted me to make my first open-source library last year, I made it for myself but now it's got ~41k downloads so I think others might go something similar too.

Have you tried white noise, like Noisli or Coffitivity?

In today's work life it's getting harder and harder to find a place where you can work in total silence unfortunately so good noise-cancelling headphones and white noise can be a solution for some who finds music disturbing.

I can play with music but only if there is no "lyric" in it.
Once I hear a lyric, I lose the focus completely.

I sometimes zone in better with music (w/ lyrics) and some other times in total silence.

I have two colleagues that barely listen to music when coding, instead just deals with the background noise.

But I learnt to code in a call centre, which had about 50+ people in the office, so you can imagine how loud it could get. I really struggle without music because of that, which can be a hinderance at times!

The only music I can have playing is jazz, and it's the only time I listen to jazz. Go figure.

I have a pet theory that ADHD and some ADD kids, especially untreated, use the music as a minimal distraction.

I need a certain amount of distraction to ignore so that I can remain focused. I'll be looking for stimulation from the street or something silly if I am not actively ignoring something.

I used to always code with music in my ears as a way of controlling the environment. It's better to have the same songs in your ears than people randomly talking. Your brain then filters what it becomes used to, whereas people talking (in a small office) is usually quite obtrusive.

As a musician, my ears and brain is wired to always listen for fine details in sound, whether I want it to or not. That's when well known music helps.

But these days I only listen to music when I'm doing coding tasks that have become second nature. Like from muscle memory or the subconscious.

When learning new concepts I keep the music to a minimum.

Sometimes I like it really quiet. Sometimes I like to play EDM and affects my coding speed to go faster. It actually really depends on how you actually deal with focus and what is actually happening in your head. I prefer to listen to music so that no one can bother me of what i am doing as I really hate being interrupted while I am in a middle of something.

At the moment I am listening some middle-east pop music :-) Just before that it was '80s disco.

To me music is like "mental cooling fluid" (that is how I feel it, actually). Without music I get tired fast. And it must be fast and rhythmic music like disco, trance, r'n'r from 50-60, italo disco. Soft stuff like relaxing, jazz or classical does not work.

Do not ask why...

I can’t imagine working without listening to music. My favorite genres are rap and rock.

These days, ironically enough, I’ve been listening to italian music(Francesco Renga, Ligabue - might sound familiar to you!);

I don’t know how this affects my productivity though. It’s been going well this way!