Great article overall, but it seems to be a bit dismissive of music for productivity. It appears[1] the answer is a bit more nuanced: music is great for getting "in the zone" where you are mostly using existing knowledge to create something new. However, when you are really focusing on learning something new and difficult, silence is best.
Anecdotally this seems to match up with my experiences coding. Sometimes I'm more or less just churning out code, and music is great. If theres an ops crisis, or I'm trying out something new, music can hurt rather than help.
Yes, music can help one to get in the zone, but as another poster mentioned, the obvious issue is that the music you're being forced to listen to is someone else's choice, which then becomes a complete distraction.
Are you going to preach the gospel of musical concentration when someone's choice of Rebecca Black's "Friday" is blaring in your ears? If you're concerned with nuance, how could you not recognize this as the central issue?
Anecdotally this seems to match up with my experiences coding. Sometimes I'm more or less just churning out code, and music is great. If theres an ops crisis, or I'm trying out something new, music can hurt rather than help.
Edit, forgot the article: [1] https://medium.com/what-i-learned-today/be3172896a0f