A new report has undermined claims that music increases productivity at work.

The study by the University of Wales claims that music is merely an “irrelevant sound” and does not help people do their jobs.

The research, reported in the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology, reportedly states that “listening to music that one likes whilst performing a serial recall task does not help performance any more than listening to music one does not enjoy”. It also suggested music could even be a distraction.

The findings contradict much previous work, including PRS for Music’s own Music In The Workplace report which is based on work done by the University of Leicester in 1999 that found productivity is lower when no music is played and that music will improve moral of staff. PRS says music can “create a positive effect of customers and employees”.

Source: Music Week