Music In The Workplace
What is music to us?
For most people, music can have a profound impact. It can change our frame of mind, evoke memories and enable us to connect with others.
Some friendship groups can be based solely on our music tastes.
Photography by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels
There is something so refreshing to find people in the office that have the same taste in music as you. Some may be lucky enough to discover this in their first job interview or meeting.
We now have access to music almost everywhere. We use mobile apps to curate specific playlists for the commute to work, gym workouts and meal time with the family.
Tp bennet and audio streaming giants Spotify recently discussed with Dezeen, how clients are utilising music in commercial areas.
This is a good question! People WFH are so used to having music, podcasts and news clips in the background many have adapted and prefer that way of working, cancelling out white noise or other distractions.
To quote Lifehacker’s published article The Best Sounds for Getting Work Done - ambient, chillout and downtempo music “is designed to relax the mind and allow it to roam, while providing just enough stimulation to register as inspiration”. Many can relate to this and choose it for that reason to work to.
In our shared office space at trifle*, we have our own eager office DJ’s that are trusted to take control of the tunes and it works really well.
Photography by Karolina Grabowska via Pexels
Like the colours, materials and products we carefully select for our projects, we understand music can have the same effect on people’s mood and productivity.
Although some of us may enjoy a heavy metal concert or thumping techno club night, it might not be the best thing for everyone to hear in a typical office space.
Totaljobs produced a survey/report of 4,500 people back in 2016, which discovered that 79% of employees said they would benefit from listening to music at work.
There can be an awful lot of noise distractions, from office chat, phone calls, typing, machinery, building works - people should have the right to pop in some headphones if they feel it will help them concentrate and be more productive.
But this can still be a hard sell to most traditional bosses even though the proof has been there since 1940’s!
Photography by Karolina Grabowska via Pexels
The BBC reported on the “Music While You Work” programme. It highlights that the work output of the UK munitions factory increased by 12.5-15% during World War Two.
It was described as an “incalculable” benefit.
When that time comes, and if some of us are lucky enough to ever retire, we will have music to remind us of the times we have shared together.
Music & Memory is a non-profit organisation that “helps individuals with a wide range of cognitive and physical conditions to engage with the world, ease pain, and reclaim their humanity through the use of personalised music”.
They demonstrated in this powerful video how someone who is suffering with alzheimers and dementia was then given their favourite music. They were instantly brought to life and the positive effects didn’t stop there, they could engage and converse with people again!
Let’s all see what a little bit of music can do to a room.
If you’d like to check out what we’re listing to then check out our trifle* playlist!
Author: Emma Morley, Founder and Director
Emma founded Trifle* in 2010 after a career in marketing, event design and production. Frustrated by the fact that only advertising agencies had inspiring spaces she had a desire to make good design the norm for all office workers. Emma has worked across well over 150 interior projects during her career at the helm of Trifle*, she remains passionate about making amazing spaces but also making the industry more accessible, more human and more diverse.