Can Music Really Increase Productivity in the Workplace?

MusicWorks released a survey in 2009 that asked 2000 people what they thought of music in the office. The surveys consisted of various questions and were asked to both employers and employees. The results were eye opening yet upon reflection were actually quite predictable.

87% of people agreed that playing music in the office increases morale and 86% of people agree that playing music in the work place makes employees happier. 69% of companies that do play music in the work place would recommend it to increase productivity and 67% of people say that playing the right type of music can be beneficial to their business.

From an employee’s point of view 71% of employees would like to be able to listen to music in their office and of those people 74% say they enjoy going to work more when they can listen to music.

From this evidence it seems obvious that businesses should play music however it is not as easy as that. As a species we all have different music tastes and it is not uncommon for two people that sit opposite each other in an office to have completely different music tastes. So how do we compromise?

Furthermore, by law, if music is played in an office, money must be paid to the PRS for every song that is played, even if it is just the radio. This is an expense that a lot of companies regard as needless, so this is why most offices do not allow music to be played during office hours.