Asking 2,000 respondents, a survey conducted by Sodexo Engage, the UK’s leading experts in employee engagement, has revealed the most productive genre of music to listen to whilst working. From rock, dance, classical music, and hip hop being amongst the favourites, pop music is the most popular genre to improve productivity whilst working. You can view the full data here.
Getting the working environment just right is an important factor, not only for employees to ensure they stay motivated to do the best job possible, but also for employers to keep their team upbeat and happy while they complete their day-to-day tasks. As we start 2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic continues, for some businesses, employees can persevere with working from home, a somewhat luxury and also a hindrance to staying productive.
So with music being a primary feature of workplace culture for many businesses, whether that’s at home, in the office, or on-site, Sodexo Engage has surveyed employees to reveal what is the most popular music genre to help professionals feel more productive.
Pop music revealed as best music genre to make people most productive at work
Pop music had 58% of survey respondents reveal that it’s their go-to genre to help them work their best. Rock (47%), and dance music (42%) came in at a close second and third as the most productive sounds.
Although classical music has historically been found to improve productivity, it just made the top five genres, with more traditional sounds such as jazz scoring even lower with only 13% of respondents finding it beneficial.
Table 1: The top ten most recommended music genres for productivity
| Genre | % listening to this genre |
| Pop | 58% |
| Rock | 47% |
| Dance | 42% |
| R&B | 37% |
| Classical | 34% |
| Hip Hop | 31% |
| Indie | 29% |
| Country | 20% |
| Other | 14% |
| Jazz | 13% |
Queen is crowned the most recommended music artist to listen to for productivity
Rock legends, Queen, ranked first as the most recommended artist to listen to for productivity, in contrast to the overall highest-scoring pop genre. However, out of the top 10 recommended artists to listen to, pop artists dominate the list, with Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Pink, Abba, and Adele being some of the top choices for employees. Other artists and genres that snuck into the top 10 include Eminem (hip hop), Oasis (Britpop), and Beethoven (classical).
Pop music wins most productive genre per work task
Depending on the task, whether employees are writing (35%), doing manual labour tasks (33%), administrative work (31%) or reading (18%), pop music was revealed as the most popular genre to listen to for productivity. Interestingly, heavier beats offered by music genres such as rock (26%), dance (21%), and hip hop (12%), were most favoured to get the blood pumping for workers carrying out manual labour.
Engineering is revealed as the most passionate profession about music in the workplace
Engineers came up top with 38% of respondents admitting that they have argued with colleagues about what to listen to while on the job. Sales reps (33%), bank workers (30%), and tradespeople (29%) also made the top five professions to admit they’ve argued with colleagues about which music to play.
Professions less likely to argue include teachers (12%), shop assistants (20%), and people in administrative and medical roles (24%).
Commenting on the research, Emma Yearwood, Director of HR at Sodexo Engage says:
“During this time it’s so important to help employees feel motivated, positive, and productive in their role. With music being a strong commonality in the workplace across the world, some professionals have missed out on this as we are forced to work from home during lockdown.
“Between pop and rock music, it was a close call, but with pop being a style of music that resonates with different professions, the results prove just how popular it is in the workplace. Given the variety of music artists that made the top ten recommendations, such as Queen, Ed Sheeran, Abba, Oasis and Coldplay, it goes to show that getting your working surroundings right is so important in ensuring your employees can work happily and feel positive about the task they’re undertaking.”
