Music is in our DNA

There are three things that always get the conversation started at Douglas Scott – What music is best to be played on the radio, football and of course that old chestnut the temperature! When it comes to music and productivity we are pretty much sold on the idea. We have some long-standing traditions within the team that include 80’s Thursday, Happy House Monday’s and we enjoy nothing more than hearing those spurious requests each day when we place those deals. So I would say with confidence we are pretty sold on the idea of having a positive and enjoyable music hum while we get on with the serious business of recruiting!

Interestingly I read recently in a study of 2,000 respondents, that the rock band Queen ranked as the most recommended artist to listen to for maximum productivity, despite the pop genre coming out on top overall. Out of the top ten artists to listen to for productivity, pop artists including Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Pink, Abba and Adele made the list. Eminem (hip hop), Beethoven (classical) and Oasis (Britpop) also featured lower down in the top ten for aiding workplace productivity.

Music genres & productivity

Pop (58%), rock (47%) and dance music (42%) were revealed as the top three most popular music genres for increasing productivity when working from home. Indie music featured further down on the list with 29% listening to this genre, alongside Country (20%) and Jazz (13%). Elsewhere, the study found that pop music came out on top as the most productive genre per work task.

Whether staff are writing (35%), completing administrative work (31%) or reading (18%), pop music was revealed as the most popular for ultimate productivity.

“Many people find that listening to certain types of instrumental music can help them with their productivity levels."

“The music can function as a sort of ‘white noise’, cancelling out potentially distracting ambient noise", the psychologist added.

I know that many people comment on the music and the positive atmosphere when they join our team or when they visit our offices and I do think the relaxed feeling the music gives us enriches our day to day.