Comments on: Music in the workplace

By: Benny Lewis

Benny Lewis — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:58:50 +0000

Very good point!! I’m a cat person myself, and it was hugely beneficial to be able to ask Pistache (my last cat) how SHE would translate a particular term, so I could think out loud (psychologically beneficial that is ) but I travel while I translate so the temporary accommodation I have usually doesn’t have any felines to listen to purr… (well, my place in Brazil did, but Brazilian cats are NOT cuddly) I’m going to look into some kind of temporary adoption agency in future cities I go to, maybe I won’t need the music then
The sites I mentioned have good coverage for other countries (last.fm is extremely popular apparently, I’m surprised I only found out about it recently), but when travelling I do put on streamed Irish radio (especially this one in the Irish language) to feel less homesick! I still remember how boring it was before I went freelance and I had to work listening to the computer fan buzz and occasional annoying chatter from co-workers. I don’t know how I got anything done!! I prefer “coworker” chat light this one Thanks for bringing up an interesting topic!

By: jillsommer

jillsommer — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:16:34 +0000

That is really interesting about Pandora not being available outside the U.S.! My domain name (jill-sommer.com) is actually listed through a German ISP, but I access the Internet from the States through a local ISP so I never thought about licensing issues and what-not.

As for background noise, I always had the TV going when I lived in Germany so I didn’t feel as “lonely.” I haven’t felt the need to have the TV going in the background since getting a dog. I never really thought about that either…

By: Benny Lewis

Benny Lewis — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:09:08 +0000

Very much enjoying your blog!! Keep it up
Personally I need music to work (probably because of too much TV when I grew up and the background music that every show had…) and these days I rely on streaming music since I’ve never organised my own collection. Sites similar to Pandora that I use (that also give free music based on your tastes) include http://www.musicovery.com and last.fm. I alternate between them depending on what kind of selection I want (musicovery lets you graphically select a mood, whereas you can give lastFM a tag keyword related to a type of song).
It’s important to note that Pandora is NOT available outside the US due to licensing issues (so don’t recommend it to any German friends); as long as I have an Irish IP address I’ll never be able to try it out. With the other options available I won’t need to though

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:41:01 +0000

I definitely listen hours on end of music from radios like “lounge radio”, “sing sing” and “soma radio”. Nonetheless, it has to be commercial free and without much lyrics to stay focused. I also listen to Deezer from time to time and use Simplify Media to listen to my personal itunes library since i don’t work from home.

By: Corinne McKay

Corinne McKay — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:55:40 +0000

Good question! I actually don’t listen to music while I work (although I used to be kind of addicted to Pandora too!) but now that I have a treadmill desk, I take power walk breaks where I turn off the computer monitors and listen to my iPod while I walk fast for about 15 minutes to clear my head. An additional complication is when you share an office with your spouse: overall it’s a good thing but then you have to agree on the choice of music too!

By: Ryan Ginstrom

Ryan Ginstrom — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:14:32 +0000

I usually have music playing while I work. Basically I like to listen to “mood setters” — it can’t be attention grabbing. So songs that make you listen to the lyrics, talk radio, audio lectures, and so on are out. It also needs to be a song I’m familiar with, so I don’t need to pay attention to it.