Scientific study shows how terrible background music at work actually ruins job performance

If you have ever worked in retail, a restaurant, or in an office, there may be some music that remind you of those workplaces—many times for the worst. It's not just that the songs are annoying, either. You'd probably swear that the annoying (or outright bad) music actually made you worse at your job. It may seem like just a feeling, but science is saying that it’s actually a fact: bad music can ruin job performance.

A study at Ohio State University found that if background music at the workplace doesn’t fit well with what workers need to do their jobs, it doesn’t just impact their moods or energy, but their job performance overall. Bad songs may have killed the mood in the room, made it hard for workers to concentrate, or just didn’t feel “in sync” with the work being done. “Music misfit,” as the researchers called it, didn’t just make work less pleasurable for the workers, but was shown to cause fatigue and make it more difficult to concentrate. This is a big deal since 13.5 million people work in occupations in which background music is common—and for the most part, the music is chosen with customers in mind rather than the workers.

“Music that doesn’t fit what an employee needs to feel energized, manage emotions, and focus on a task can have a real negative impact,” said Kathleen Keeler, co-lead author of the study and assistant professor of management and human resources at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.

“It is a mistake for managers to assume that music doesn’t affect employees,” she added. “We found that a music misfit can lead employees to feel more fatigued, have trouble focusing, and not really enjoy being at work. And that in turn prompts them to engage in behaviors that can harm the organization.”

The study was two-fold. First was a collection of data from 166 full-time workers. Online, each participant rated how much they needed four features of music: speed, volume, complexity, and emotional intensity. Then they each listened to one of two playlists while they did a creative task. One playlist was upbeat, poppy music with moderate complexity while the other was slower, more morose with a lower volume. After completing their task, the participants rated how much the music they listened to fit their needs for the four listed features.

The results showed the participants that didn’t get the music fitting the characteristics they were looking for not only had a worse time but felt mentally exhausted. This was especially seen in people who had difficulty “blocking out” and ignoring the music to focus on their task.

The second part of the study was a real world sampling from 68 workers from doctor’s offices, restaurants, retail stores, and other businesses in which background music was commonplace. Each participant completed three email surveys daily for three weeks that asked about their musical needs, what music they heard, their moods, their mental fatigue, and various other questions related to their work in conjunction with the music. The results confirmed the findings in the previous data: bad music created bad work.

Poorer concentration on tasks is just one negative performance aspect bad music can have on an employee. The surveys found that participants that were out of sync with the music were more likely to walk more slowly, gossip about other employees, and steal office supplies.

“Employers should try to strike a balance between making sure their music appeals to both customers and employees, because this is not a trivial matter,” explains Keeler. “If their employees aren’t happy, that is not going to be good for the business. I know some managers are reluctant to allow employees to listen to their own music, but our research suggests that there are a lot of benefits, including productivity, engagement, and well-being.”

If you’re an employer or an employee, there are some possible solutions to make music experiences better for the workplace. One suggestion would be for employees to make musical choices and the manager creates an approved playlist featuring songs chosen by everyone so that there is a good mix. Maybe include music as part of customer comment cards to see if the vibe works with everyone, including them. Or, as Keeler suggested, allow employees to listen to their own music via headphones and earbuds as long as it isn’t a workplace safety concern. Because if everything is out of tune, the employees’ work will be more flat than sharp.