Music with Lyrics Interferes with Cognitive Tasks (2023)

I used to work for a guy years ago who ran record labels that released almost entirely ambient electronic music and eventually I figured that it was because he was also a business terminator and workaholic alongside, and any music with too much going on like vocals or complexity would have distracted his concentration away from the important task of getting it sold and out of the door.

So a whole swathe of music buyers were convinced that this cutting edge music was hip and where the avant garde was happening when in reality it was mostly so he could concentrate on marketing to them. Any music out of that limited remit was rejected because he could listen and think about other things at the same time if the music was minimal and free of lyrics.

A lovely example of a study that is both obviously true and misses the point.

Music with lyrics directly interferes with any task that has a verbal component, and the worse you are at multitasking, the worse the interference. Despite being terrible at multitasking, I still listen to music with lyrics. Why? Principally because the alternative, hearing all the conversations in my immediate vicinity, is usually both more distracting and less pleasant. But there are also auxiliary benefits, such as an increase in "work stamina" and a passive signal to coworkers to interrupt only if it's important.

Now, I could listen to lo-fi all day, or three-hour soundtracks on Youtube, and sometimes do, but it gets boring pretty fast!

Anyway: obviously true, still worth it because the alternative is worse.

(By the way, other mitigating strategies: listening to music in a language you don't understand, or listening to lyrics so familiar you can screen them out. My top Spotify songs all get played several hundred times a year.)

Instrumental music seems very popular with those who listen while working. Lyrics are noticeably distracting for me, unless I tune out the music altogether, but with instrumentals I can sort of work to a "rhythm" it feels like. So this was kind of intuitive knowledge, already, at least for me.

Because of this, I find myself listening to a lot of Jungle and DnB, jazz, fusion, and the occasional 30 minute Phish jam.

I can totally relate. I often listen to instrumental music while I work. Lately I've listened to music with lyrics and I have a slightly harder time reading, writing and thinking. Not being a native English speaker and not understanding everything helps though.

I think (and agree for myself) this happens at a certain age I’m pretty sure it didn’t affect me personally when I was 20, and at some point between then and 30 this became apparently “so true.” I remember reflecting upon it.

i wonder what the results are with lyrics in languages that the listener doesn't understand.