Music at Work. Why It's Important and Where to Get It

Office jobs are filled with stretches of monotony, I don't care how exciting you try to tell me your job is.  One thing that helps me pass the time and stay motivated is music.

I listen all day long.  Every second that I'm at my desk is another second colored in by music.  

And my employer should thank me.

Research from the University of Illinois found that when (256) office workers listened to music of their choosing, they were more relaxed, in a better overall mood, enhanced their job performance and even had a reduced interest in switching jobs.

Whoa.  And I thought I was just drowning out all that annoying thermostat chatter!

So let's crank those speakers (to a reasonable volume) and take a look at the best services to listen to music with at work.

RHAPSODY

For several years, I have scraped up $14 a month to subscribe to Rhapsody.  The service allows me to stream as much music as I want and has an impressively large catalog -  8 million and counting.  If I'm stuck on what I want to listen to, there are thousands of user mixes that can help me decide.

PANDORA

If you like the element of surprise that radio brings along, you might be more of a Pandora person.  The service allows you to listen to 40 hours of music for free per month. Once you exceed that limit, you'll have to pay 99 cents.

Pandora One will set you back $36 a year. The premium service is ad free, has a nifty desktop widget, personalization options, and no streaming limits.  Not to get all Sally Struthers on you, but for less than the price of a cup of coffee, you can be rocking out at work.

MOG

MOG is the latest streaming sensation.  If you haven't heard of the service yet, you will.   The All Access service will run you $5 a month ($25 for six months).  That entitles you to no skip limits or advertisements.  The radio mode allows you to play DJ by determining how much of an artist's music you want included in the mix.  So you can decide if you want to rock out to 10% White Stripes or 100% Lady Gaga.

Many people I come across have an issue with paying for music they can't keep, therefore they stray from streaming tunes.  They want to 'own' the album - whatever that means.  I'm more than happy to borrow something indefinitely.  In the end, we really own nothing.  Rock on!

P.S. - Out international friends should check out Spotify.

Update on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 01:29PM by Andrew G. Rosen

Of course Spotify is now availbable throughout the U.S. If you haven't signed up yet, what are you waiitng for?

Comments

[Candice]

There are still a few free online radio stations, I believe. It may depends on the kind of music you like. And if your office allows you to bring in CD players or MP3 players and listen to your favorite music through headphones, that could be a money saver, too.

[Megan]

iTunes also offers radio stations from all over the world. It's great because, although I relocated, I can still get my WFUV and, now that I'm a PA resident, love listening to YRockOnXPN...and I always remember to support my public radio with donations.

[Ennui]

Gosh. One of the first things I do when I get to work is open Windows Media Player and listen to my favorite music. Sometimes I listen to Pandora, AOL Radio or Coverville.com. I just ALWAYS have to have music playing. My job bores me; listening to music helps me get through the day.