EpISODE 115 MUSIC AND PRODUCTIVITY

HOSTS- Jeremy Burns, Matthew Scott Phillips

 

TYPE- Special Topics

 

DURATION- 62:50

 

BUMPER MUSIC- "Work While You Whistle"  (Area 47 Music, featuring the amazing whistling talents of our own MIKE CUNLIFFE)

ANNOUNCER- Mike Cunliffe

Listen
DESCRIPTION

Does listening to music make you more productive? Does it elevate your mood and help you get through your chores. Many have asked this question. Many have researched the answer.

Let us discuss!

DOES MUSIC HELP US WORK BETTER? MUSIC WHILE YOU WORK PROGRAMME

-By June of 1940, roughly 10,000 British soldiers had been captured in Normandy by the German invasion. The British government utilized the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) to broadcast:“Music While You Work Programme”.

 

-Twice daily, they would play “upbeat” music on their live radio broadcasts over loud speaker to the factory workers.

 

-The morning broadcast was at 10:30a. The afternoon broadcast 3:00p. The music was upbeat, even tempo. The opening and closing theme was “Calling All Workers” by Eric Coates (b.1886, d.1957).

-Some factories reported increases in factory output by 12-15%.

 

-A poll in the UK in 2019 found that out of 2000 participants, 1000 claimed that they listened to music while they work. Of this 1000, 400 participants believed that it helped them get more work done.

DOES MUSIC MAKE YOU SMARTER? MOZART VS BEETHOVEN

-In the 90's, some claimed that listening to Mozart at an early age would make a child smarter. This was known as the "Mozart Effect". It's not that simple.

 

-In a 2015 study of mice and humans, playing Mozart’s K.448 increased the alpha band waves in the subjects prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain is associated with memory, cognition and problem solving.

 

-The same exposure to Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” showed no such increase. Mice who listened to K.448 (for 10 hours a day for 10 weeks) did better at complex maze navigation compared to those who had the same amount of exposure to Fur Elise.

 

-Some differences! K.448 is upbeat, busy and in a major key.  Fur Elise is slower and in a minor key.  L In most cases, listening to classical music can temporarily enhance you spatial and temporal reasoning…for about 15 min.

 

DOES MUSIC ELEVATE YOUR MOOD? DOPAMINE

-Activation theory was a response to the idea that with mundane and repetitive tasks, some might struggle to keep a consistent performance level. The idea is that people can benefit from mental stimulation when it comes to functioning efficiently.

 

-Listening to music you enjoy can increase dopamine levels. Dopamine stimulates the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain controls planning, organizing, inhibition control and attention. So the listener will feel more enjoyable, thereby performing better in the aforementioned activities.

 

-One problem that arises when trying to find the right genre is that music is such a personal thing.

WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SAY?

-In 1966, the Journal of Applied Psychology ran a study where they played music for employees at a skate board factory (ages 18-23) for a 5 week period. The focus was on 4 main genres: folk, pop, showtunes and dance music. There was also a control period when they listened to no music. The employees agreed that the music was a good thing and they felt like they accomplished more under it’s influence. However, the numbers showed no signs of increased efficiency or productivity.

 

-In 1972, Applied Ergonomics released a study where it was found that background music increased efficiency on repetitive tasks by 7.4%

 

-In 2016, Totaljobs ran a survey among 4500 respondents. 79% claimed that listening to music made them more productive. 48% claimed that music helped them focus better. 24% said it helped to drown out other external stimulus (background noises and conversations). 7% said that music helped to drown out internal stimulus such as irrelevant thoughts.

 

-In 2017, The Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition released a study that concluded that college students underperformed on certain cognitive tasks while listening to music. This is different than productivity.

PRODUCTIVITY

-Will Tottle, mental health expert, suggests that two main types of music are ideal for increasing productivity, classical music and nature sound scapes. This is, in part, due the the idea that there are no words to distract the listener. He also mentioned funk, video game music and movie music.

 

-Most studies seem to reveal that productivity can be increased when the listener enjoys the music they are hearing. This is widely credited to the increase of dopamine levels while listening. This renders positive effects on the parts of the brain that handle certain tasks.

 

-Again, this goes back to listener preference. If you don't enjoy the music, you don't get the dopamine.

 

-Music with lyrics is not recommended because it can distract one’s attention.

 

-Some music with really fast tempos can be a distraction. Similarly, music with really slow tempos can create a sedative effect on the listener.

SOURCES

MUSIC STUDENT 101

© 2017 EVERYTHING BURNS PRODUCTIONS, LLC