what's on your work music playlist?

What’s on your work music playlist?

Listening to music at work helps me to focus and find my groove. In this post, I’ll share some of my favorite music genres, artists, songs, and sounds to listen to at work. What’s on your work music playlist?

Concentration. Productivity. Relaxation. Creativity. No matter why you listen at work, you are sure to find something new to like below.

Click on a subhead to go there:

Female vocal trance
Ambient/electronic
Indie rock
Rock music
Goth pop/electronic
Metal/industrial music
Classical music
Video game soundtracks
Binaural beats
Online background noise machines
Music streaming apps for Android and iPhone


Female vocal trance

Energetic. Emotive. Uplifting. Female vocal trance is the one music genre I can listen to almost anytime. When I want to be swept up into a shimmering kaleidoscope of electronic euphoria, I go to YouTube and pick a playlist, and I’m set for hours.

Ambient/electronic

More subdued than electronic trance and often hauntingly beautiful, ambient/electronic music provides a lush and luxurious soundscape to work in. Here are a few of my favorite ambient/electronic music artists:

Conjure One

Conjure One is a Canadian electronic music project headed by Rhys Fulber, a musician better known for his work in the bands Front Line Assembly and Delerium (we’ll talk about this band again in a minute).

Below: Conjure One’s “Kill the Fear” featuring Hannah Ray.

Below: Conjure One’s gorgeous “Center of the Sun” featuring the amazing Poe of “Haunted” fame.

Delerium

Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient electronic music duo formed in 1987. The band is best known for its worldwide hit, “Silence.”

Below: The original version of the track “Silence” featuring Sarah McLachlan, one of my all-time favorite female music artists.

The Starseeds

The German dynamic duo of Regina Dannhof and Alex McGowan released two albums before sadly calling it quits. My wife and I first heard their dreamy ambient techno music many years ago as it washed over us inside the giant Dome Theater at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

Below: The Starseeds album, Parallel Life.

Indie rock

I include this category solely for the purpose of introducing you to Ladyhawke, a New Zealand-born singer/songwriter whose sweet synth-pop sound is pure ear candy.

Below: Ladyhawke’s “A Love Song.”

Rock music

Rock isn’t dead — it’s alive and kicking ass on my playlist every day.

Them Evils

Hailing from Huntington Beach, California, Them Evils‘ sound has been described as “classic rock, modern roll.” One of my favorite discoveries of the past year.

Below: Them Evils’ “Got Me Rockin’.”

Dirty Honey

Formed in 2017, Los Angeles-based Dirty Honey takes its influences from 70s and 80s rock bands such as Aerosmith and Guns ‘n’ Roses.

Below: Dirty Honey’s “Rolling 7s.”

The Standstills

This Canadian rock duo from Oshawa, Ontario have been described as “The White Stripes body slammed by Queens Of The Stone Age,” and I love ’em.

Below: The Standstills‘ “Orleans.” I can’t help but smile at how much fun Renee looks to be having as she whales on those drums.

Dorothy

Female-fronted band Dorothy formed in Los Angeles in 2014. Equal parts sex, whisky, soaring vocals and bruising power chords, the band’s 2016 debut album, RockIsDead, proved it was anything but.

Below: “Down to the Bottom” from Dorothy’s RockIsDead.

Goth pop/electronic

Night Club

Dark synth-pop duo Mark Brooks and Emily Kavanaugh started Night Club in 2012. Describing the band’s melodic yet subversive sound, Kavanaugh once said, “If Depeche Mode [BLEEP]-ed Britney Spears and had a baby who hung out in dark corners of seedy clubs, then that baby would be us.”

Below: Night Club’s pounding but infectious and danceable “Bad Girl.”

Metal/industrial music

Dance With The Dead

Yet another dangerous duo, Dance With The Dead has been described as “a vibrant blend of metal and synths inspired by 80’s John Carpenter horror.” Or, as one YouTube commenter wrote, “DANCE WITH THE DEAD IS JUST THAT PERFECT MUSIC FOR THE GYM, WORKING AROUND THE HOUSE, OR TRAVELING THROUGH SPACE WITH CATS HAVING A PIZZA PARTY.”

Yup. It’s just like that.

Below: Dance With The Dead’s third full-length album, The Shape.

Classical music

Researchers have long claimed that listening to classical music enhances brain activity and can help improve productivity. At the very least, it’s relaxing.

Below: Johann Sebastian Bach Study Music Playlist.

Video game soundtracks

Really? Yes, really. More than just providing atmosphere, video game music is written to help players focus their attention and solve puzzles. Don’t worry, video game soundtracks have come a long way. They’re not just beeps and boops anymore; many are full-on symphony orchestras.

Below: A Spotify playlist of popular video game music.

Binaural beats

Want to “tune” your brain for productivity or relaxation? Try listening to binaural beats.

Binaural beats are two (slightly different) sound frequencies played at the same time, one in each ear. Instead of processing the two tones separately, our brains create the perception of a single new frequency tone.

Research shows that listening to binaural beats slows down brainwave activity. Benefits range from reduced stress and anxiety to increased relaxation and creativity. Binaural beats in the lower frequencies (14 to 30 Hz) are said to boost productivity by improving concentration and memory.

Grab a pair of headphones and search YouTube for “binaural beats.”

Online background noise machines

Billed as “the ultimate noise (masking) machine,” myNoise offers background sounds and interactive soundscapes for work, sleep, meditation, inspiration, anti-depression, and more. Want to mask your tinnitus? Put the baby to sleep? Transport yourself to a whole other world? This tool makes it possible.

Created by Stéphane Pigeon, a signal-processing Ph.D. engineer with a passion for sounds, myNoise is mostly free and totally amazing. Check it out here.

Music streaming apps for Android and iPhone

Download the app of your choice and start listening!

What’s on your workday music playlist? Share with us in the comments below.

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6 comments

  2. I love this so much and as usual I learned something new! Especially since I introduced you to at least one of them and you showed me the others (love Dance with the Dead and Night Club). My current and also all-time favorite thing to listen to while I work is ATB (of course) but a very specific album I would recommend is one I found on YouTube:



    1. For video game soundtracks, check this one out – Aaero Soundtrack. Love this song:

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