The links between music, attention span and digital interference are still not fully understood. But now the search for the ideal music to work with is peaking – is it Mozart, Blur or Queen? Adam McCulloch tries to focus on the arguments
The collapse in our attention spans has become a talking point at dinner parties, where no doubt the guests are peeping at their smartphones under the table, conversations become fractured by people zoning out and the host has forgotten that the chicken was supposed to be stuffed with thyme and goat’s cheese.
But with the right background music, suddenly our focus will increase, conversation blossoms, the phones will be ignored and the chicken stuffed.
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Personnel Today has been contacted by “experts” at – wait for it – Vape Globe, who have “scoured the most popular productivity and creativity playlists on Spotify to uncover the best tracks for mind-wanderers seeking a productivity boost”.
It cites a new PocketPrep study, which highlights research that found songs at between 50 to 80 beats per minute (BPM) range can help put your brain in a more focused and creative zone.
Author Judy Abel explains how older research showing that classical masters such as Mozart struck the best notes for concentration has now been usurped by a study showing that children were able to concentrate better when Blur was being played.
Interesting. However, Vape Globe, having introduced us to this thoughtful article, storms ahead without so much nuance. In their bid to “find the ultimate focus boosters” they present us with an ultimate Spotify productivity playlist “your boss will approve of”.
At the top of this list is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. I’m not sure that the song’s composer, Freddie Mercury, had increasing our attention span and productivity in mind when he wrote the tune. Indeed, the lyrics, such as: Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?/Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me, may be quite distracting to some of us. Let’s face it, this is categorically not the song most would think of putting on when background music is needed.
I’m not sure Freddie Mercury had increasing our attention span and productivity in mind when he wrote Bohemian Rhapsody
Vape Globe also alerts us to a study claiming that our average attention span is now lower than a goldfish. The study, from 2015, claims that people “now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the effects of an increasingly digitalised lifestyle on the brain”. Goldfish can hang on for nine seconds apparently.
Under the eye-catching headline – You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish – were the words “2 minute read”. That’s a good 30 seconds longer than anyone in the Personnel Today office was prepared, or was able, to give it.
Judy Abel artfully ends up shutting down the whole debate. She writes: “A 2010 study by Lutz Jäncke and Pascale Sandmann found there is no impact from listening to music while you study or learn. Other studies found it negatively impacted learning capabilities. In other words, while music absolutely can be beneficial, there are times that it hurts our ability to study and retain information.”
Back to square one then.
Is this the real life?/Is this just fantasy? as Freddie wrote.
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