i've been using music with work since i can remember, and i do not really fathom work without music which might be why my school performance has been worse than academic performance where most of the work was at home. that is only comparative data i have regarding the topic and myself, and here there is a strong preference for music with work. but then to the contrary, music with vocals can discourage me from work, while ambient/soundtrack can move me onto doing work tasks. there is also a certain guilt related to listening to same casual ambient tracks as they do not expand my music knowledge nor interest, but then i can easily music into work-music and "effective" music. this split is important to have for a healthy relation as overspending time on making work playlists while not much focus is given to the actual music is suboptimal
despite my own experience, most work done in history had high probability of being done in silence due to the lack of noise nor music reproduction in pre-industrial societies. it was directly connected with either leisure or religious rituals, but with development of music reproduction technology and consumerism past industrial revolution new ways of music listening did arise. i would consider a connotation of music with development of the radio, and more personalised experience with 1950s with the widespread vinyl usage. that gives around 70-80 years of past productivity data and most research papers (Landay 2018) suggest a positive relation. one of the most curious findings is that music in major mode has better effects, which is not much a surprise but something to be taken in mind when looking at playlists (Blood 1993).
then to consider the time, here are mixes/playlists/artists that work for me
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aphex twin
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brian eno
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burzum ambient tracks
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miles davis 1970s work
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ulver - perdition city
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fallout, deus ex, elder scrolls, gothic soundtracks
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dungeon synth, although a lot of work there has the risk of going into too much minor mode
list to be updated