What music are students listening to while studying?

What students listen to underneath their wired earbuds, AirPods or headphones is very unpredictable. I surveyed a total of 73 people, in person and through a Google Form, asking the types of genres of music they regularly listen to versus what they listen to while studying. From metal rock to classical music and nature sounds, the sound choices that individuals choose to concentrate on studying tends to differ from their typical music choices.

I went into this thinking that the types of music people listen to doesn’t change when they are studying. I was quickly proven wrong. As I approached random people in Snell on different floors, the songs seemed to match the goal of each floor. Individuals on the first and second floor were listening to pop and hard rock while people on the third and fourth floors were listening to nature sounds, classical music and string music. There were a few outlier individuals who were listening to their usual choice in music but it was interesting how frequently students differ from that.

“It depends on the day and what kind of work I am doing. If I need to really focus, I will likely listen to classical music or something without lyrics. If the work is less serious, I will probably play songs that I’m familiar with, with range over a variety of genres,” said an anonymous individual who filled out the Google Form.The graph below demonstrates the demographic of students who listen to music while studying and the genres that they listen to.

Out of the 36 individuals that I approached in Snell, as well as some of the repeated recommendations from the survey, here are the top recommended playlists and songs you might want to add when you’re looking to listen to some bops while studying.

Playlists

Study Beats from Apple Music

Intense Studying on Spotify

Lofi Beats on Spotify

Songs

When We Are Together by the 1975

Feeling Whitney by Post Malone

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve by Taylor swift

Thunderstruck by AC/DC

Amsterdam by Keyboard Dog

Do Not Stop by CrazyJaZz

All That and More (Sailboat) by Rainbow Kitten Surprise