Should I Listen to Music While Studying?

Sometimes you've got to study, whether you're a high school or uni student, or whether you have to be across a report before tomorrow’s meeting. Many people put on some music to study to – for example, the YouTube account Lofi Girl, featuring streams like “beats to study/relax to”, has almost 13 million subscribers.

 

So is it a good idea to listen to music when you study? Well, there's two factors that play a role in whether it's a good idea. Firstly, listening to music can put you into a better mood - people do better on tasks taken from IQ tests when they have music they like in the background. However, research also suggests that music can be distracting, reducing our ability to hold as many ideas in memory at once.

 

This means that when you listen to music, you want to judge the potential of the music to put you in a good mood versus its potential to distract you. Music that's loud, fast, and has lots of lyrics is more likely to be distracting. Additionally, different people might be more easily distracted by music - background music may be more distracting for more introverted people.

 

Usually, however, the mood-enhancing effects and distracting effects of music kind of cancel each other out. The best thing to do for you is to test what works - does it help you stick at it? Does it distract you too much? If you're paying attention to how the music affects you, you'll make the right choice.

 

Dr. Tim Byron

University of Wollongong