Listen to a bit of everything ... pop, dance, trance, rnb ... don't really listen to any classical stuff though. I use Google Music :-) We're not allowed to listen music at work though which is a shame ... sometimes it's easier to drown out all the distractions ;-)

I'm a huge fan of Soundtrack, I like "Split Second Game"'s soundtracks, "Prison break".

But when i need to focus, i keep everything in silence.

Found this website awhile ago: http://www.musicforprogramming.net/ some background: http://www.musicforprogramming.net/?c=aesthetic

@BenSmith I have been meaning to try pomodoro for a while. Was it an easy transition? How was it dealing with coworkers (if you have any)?

Sometimes when I'm working remotely, I like to crack open XBMC on a spare laptop and play movies I've already seen. I don't really watch while I'm working, but I stay focused and have a good laugh at a b-list comedy or two.

Hi guys, ambient works great for me ;) Try Carbon Based Lifeforms -> http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Hydroponic+Garden/300576

I find most music distracting while working. Chill songs are an exception. I've found this playlist on Spotify awesome: http://open.spotify.com/user/tandoka/playlist/3sGTf7VLrT7SuaFTwi1MqM

I personally prefer silence, or music that doesn't draw any attention.

For me, music while coding should mute potential distractions without becoming a distraction itself. The best resource I've found for this is https://www.focusatwill.com/. The music there is selected based upon principals of attention and distraction specifically to -focus- your attention but never to -draw- your attention. It's designed to keep the parts of your brain which aren't engaged with the task at hand busy without engaging them to the point where that engagement is giving focus priority. I was somewhat skeptical at first, and at this point it's probably Pavlovian for me, but after using it for almost a year, when I turn it on, it's almost 'instant zone'.

For me it's mainly metal, metalcore, hardcore, deathcore stuff. I can't really work well when it's quiet around me. Bands I listen to the most recently: Born Of Osiris, ERRA, Elitist, Architects, Hacktivist, Novelists.

This is mainly when I'm at work. When I'm at work from home, I usually have a movie playing actually. Movies I've seen a thousand times already, I don't really look at the movie, just listen to the dialogs and stuff ;)

http://raining.fm/

When I need complete silence, isolation and focus, I put on the headphones and head to http://www.simplynoise.com . The brown noise just cancels out every external sound (construction work, harley sounds, baby screams, everything!). It's amazing and perfect for situations when you can't control certain external sounds.

When things get easier, I open http://www.rainymood.com in a second tab.

And when I have simple, not so mentally-challenging coding to do, I mostly listen to game soundtracks. Fallout 1, 2, 3, Deus Ex Human Revolution, The Journey, etc... Oh.. and like @sunSponge, also http://www.musicforprogramming.net/

Pretty much everything that's not techno/trance and all that type of stuff..

For debugging and finding that impossible to find but, somehow Rammstein works really well for me.

As for service, I use CD, SACD, vinyl and Bluray Audio mostly :)

Silence for me is the best method to focus, because of this i prefer to work at night or early in the morning, like 5am, and if i list some music it has to be something real calm.

Here are some compiled on youtube: 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svngvOLPd5E 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmxYePDPV6M 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwrhzfsq8t4

I'm surprised nobody has responded with http://mynoise.net/ - lots of ambient background environment noises that you can configure with an equalizer.

I work in an open plan attic space and voices carry quite across the room. I find that by finding the right sound and tweaking the levels (lower and higher pitched) I can filter out particular frequencies (lawnmower outside, a particular person inside!) - I don't even have noise cancelling headphones, it works that well.

Each sound sample is on a different length loop so you don't hear a repeating pattern every few minutes like you do with others. You can even get it to adjust the levels over time (so the coffee shop may quieten before you get a lunchtime rush).

Bonus points if you use two sound environments in different tabs! e.g. Sailboat and rain. Donate anything and you can access the latest sounds as well.

@gregrobson thank you, this is great.

This one is also good - https://www.coffitivity.com/ :)

@salebab - yes, if I'm not using MyNoise.net, Coffitivity is a good alternative for the coffee shop sound.

While coding I like to listen to electronic music and edm. There is a playlistcategory on spotify "focus". There are some nice playlists like "chill brain", which I liked very much. I use tidal now, but I ported it over. Tidal also has this category of playlists, by the way. What I also like is modern pop music. Nothing too difficult but singers like mø and lapsley.

Usually I like different music, like (progressive) rockmusic (marillion, tool, porcupine tree) and singer-/songwriter stuff. The progressive stuff really works with coding too. Especially instrumental post-rock, like maybeshewill, god is an astronaut, bands like that (also a lot of playlists with that stuff in those "focus" categories on your streaming service which, I think, is no coincidence ;)

also: dutch (I'm dutch) rap/hiphop really works. When I start coding, I don't really hear the lyrics anymore, but the rhythm tends to work very well :)

I find that music that has minimal lyrics, and some element of repetition keeps me focused and productive when coding. I also try to listen to an entire album at one time, because it keeps me in a consistent groove.

A few of the artists/albums I listen to when coding include:

IDM/Bass Burial - Untrue Four Tet - Literally any set works Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 Sample sound: Burial + Four Tet - Nova, Aphex Twin-Xtal

Hip-Hop Beats J Dilla - Donuts - setbeat Madlib's beats across various albums. Sample sound:J Dilla - Last Donut Of The Night, Madlib - Episode VIII

Top for me is just a rainstorm, I have a single track 1:20 which by the end I'm ready for a break.

TRON soundtrack by Daft Punk is really good, and a lot of movie soundtracks for some reason I find productive.

Taylor recently created a spotify playlist if you want to tune in to whats going through his head when working on the framework

https://open.spotify.com/user/1210555222/playlist/7MPwiIjV3q7QHnebMwVJ02

Tell you what is not productive, trying to watch the F1 Grandprix whilst trying to work!!!

I usually find low-key undiscovered tracks on indie sites like http://www.p3hits.com/ and https://www.pushpowerpromo.com

What an excellent question! My journey with music and coding goes back to 1992 and in 1998 when I first encountered Internet Radio, which was still a novel concept at the time. My musical adventure began much earlier, however. At 17, I was already performing gigs, often stretching the truth about my age to club owners. After high school I took a three-year break to tour regionally in the Midwest and didn't start college until I was 21.

My passion for music led me to Milton College, which boasted a modest radio station, WVMC The Voice of Milton College. During my freshman year, I got my first taste of radio DJing, playing indie bands alongside legendary groups like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Mountain, and Blind Faith. This experience deeply influenced my later ventures.

In 1998, after selling my stake in a job fair company and seeking a new direction, I immersed myself in the emerging world of the Internet. At the same time, I was gigging three to four nights a week in Chicago. There, I met a fellow gamer and base player who had converted the third floor of his house into a small recording studio. Inspired by this era's fresh technology, including network gaming, I built a server dedicated to live broadcasting. At that time, the Internet boasted nearly 1,500 radio stations worldwide that were streaming online.

This budding interest led me to establish 440Music on March 6, 1999. Today, it stands as the oldest online radio platform dedicated exclusively to indie music, with 16 different stations.

When I'm not diving into the excellent resources at Laracast, you'll find me tuning listening to one of these 16 stations, immersed in 100% indie music. Currently, I'm using Laravel to revamp this 25-year-old website, a project that's as challenging as it is enjoyable. Go out to see a local band

I'm a huge fan of Soundtrack, I like "Split Second Game"'s soundtracks, "Prison break".