It's Smart To 'Listen At Work'

A new survey from Sonos shows that listening to music at work can make you more productive.

For The Brilliant Sound Survey, Sonos and its team of researchers had 12,000 listeners in 12 countries around the world answer some online questions about music. Among the participants, 74% said listening to music helps reduce stress, while 39% said that while they were listening to their favorite tune they felt no stress at all.

In the survey, 52% of respondents said they’re happier when listening to a favorite song (the other 48% were listening to Ed Sheeran), while 58% said that music helps boost their mood at work. That’s an important detail when you consider that, in a separate study, almost half of Americans admitted to crying in the workplace. Meanwhile, if your office has a coffeemaker, consider asking them to swap it for a jukebox, because 73% of respondents said listening to music helps them get more done than drinking coffee.

If that’s not enough reason to convince your accountant to let you expense your Spotify membership, a whopping 76% of survey respondents said that listening to music helps them produce their best work. “Generally, music can have a strong stimulating effect that makes us alert and focused,” says Daniel Müllensiefen, a professor of music psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London.