Aug 13, 2025
Centuries ago, music was commissioned by kings and queens to be performed at their court. This would inspire awe in the listeners and validate their divine right to rule. As the music permeated the air, the monarch would become imbued with its divine essence.
Music was written in order to be listened to by very few people. Once mass-producing records became feasible, the motive changed. The goal now is to make you feel a certain way, making you want to listen to more music.
This, of course, means that you are exchanging your finite time and paying for it with money, which you likely also obtained by selling your time.
What the music does to you, psychologically or spiritually, is irrelevant. The pretence that music should be good for you was discarded decades ago. Now, it’s simply something sweet to chew on, only for it to be discarded minutes later.
Now, know that this is coming from someone who studied music production at University. I am aware of the irony. I’m not even saying that you should avoid music altogether. All I am saying is that you should consider what meaning the lyrics carry, and whether listening to music is beneficial to you.
Personally, I can not focus on anything else when music is playing. I’ve never been able to relate to people who can work with music on. They might say that the music makes them more productive. For physical work, maybe, but for knowledge work?
I suspect they would be a lot more productive if they were not psychologically dependent on the music in order to work.
Do your best to remove distractions and return to a more wild state of mind, where you begin to focus on a task, and the world around you grows quiet.
Later edit: Since the post went up, I had another look through it, and I have decided that I should include some exceptions to this. There are times when I do struggle to focus, in which case I've found brain.fm to be very useful.
When it comes to writing prose, especially fiction, I do find that on occasion, listening to film OSTs can make the process easier. The above is an ideal, something that I strive for, and maybe I should be more careful when it comes to taking hardline stances such as these.
Food for thought.