Ask HN: What music do you like to listen to while you program?

To be honest, music often distracts me, but even distractions can be good sometimes. They get your mind off the issue at hand so you can work on things subconsciously. You might jump to a new issue and find the solution to the old one.

I listen to a large variety of music, but for programming, I normally listen to heavy metal and recently I have been listening to dubstep. It is my favorites of what I would normally listen to, though. I find it best to keep the playlist short, though. After hearing the same thing repeatedly, it becomes background noise and only pulls me out of focus periodically. Like I said, that can also be a good thing.

As silly as it sounds, dubstep and other fast-paced, energetic music. I find my pace of coding often matches my internal energy so that I start to slow down and get less done when listening to relaxing, meditative music.

Daft Punk - Tron Legacy soundtrack

Makes me feel epic and I feel like I am fighting a war with code

During the day, I work best in silence. No music. At night, I work best with a TV on in the background at low volume.

I actually have a pretty hard time coding without music, maybe I'm used to it. I usually listen to electronic but nothing too fast. Generally anything that is at the bob-your-head tempo. PhuturePrimitive (lately: Kinetik), Max Melvin, Eastern Sun, Sounds From The Ground. Oh, and sometimes I just _need_ to listen to Underworld, DubNobassWithMyHeadMan. If I don't want to think about putting creating a playlist or selecting an album, I'm listening to GrooveSalad on Somafm.com.

FWIW, my spotify username sanjayU. I would be interested in learning other HN spotify usernames, especially if you like downtempo/triphop/world/etc.

edit: Added phutureprimitive.

Although I don't listen to it elsewhere, I've found that trance music works really well for me. I curate a short Spotify playlist that reliably gets my brain going for me: http://open.spotify.com/user/benwerd/playlist/2srQ17pp4T1CNs...

I've noticed 2 things.

1) I'm better without music. 2) If I do listen to music, anything instrumental distracts less than anything with lyrics.

rainymood.com -- I've been listening to this 30 minute loop of thunderstorms continuously for over a year. Music with words breaks my train of thought, so this is perfect.

house music. things without words or where the words really don't mean/add much is easier for me to have in the background. Classical works well too.

Anything instrumental/classical, The Social Network soundtrack, Daft Punk's Tron Legacy soundtrack, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack, and NIN's Ghosts I-IV.

There's quite a bit of Trent Reznor in this list.

Nothing. My brain can't process music while I'm coding. I literally don't hear it, or at most, it's just a increase in background noise. I wish that weren't true, but I just can't think and listen to music at the same time.

I am 18 and pop is my game. I would rather not disclose the artists but pop should suffice. (No! Justin Bieber is not on the list, if that is what you were thinking)

Although strange but I have found that putting a single track on loop is better than playing a playlist, dont know why. So i usually have a single track on loop for the night.

ITunes radio. Lots of stations, you're bound to find something you can work along with.

The band "Cults" debut album is pretty good. The fast paced tempo is good for getting me to get started working instead of reading logs or email.

Depends on the time and my mood.

I certainly wake up and stop hesitating after I turned on a fast track.

Here are few Spotify playlists I've found on sharemyplaylists.com and have kept around:

A Soundtrack For Coding spotify:user:joannabutler:playlist:5DWd75wM11HGHF2rBgikAQ

Coding music spotify:user:vesanieminen:playlist:2BJneVq6neamXAi7MfYtZJ

Perfect for Coding spotify:user:tbibb:playlist:0gaXIS4Ucs3G6YNBJ8m29b

Coding Paradise spotify:user:scottix2:playlist:62oWivdtZmmTdMdUFh7ALt

For me, anything works that I'd normally listen to, but trance really gets me immersed and focused.

Super extreme metal. Messuggah, Vried, Vektor, stuff like that. Tech/prog death mainly. Have to start it a bit gentler in the morning, usually some old school doomer/stoner (St. Vitus, Slough Feg, Candlemass, etc)

Any upbeat music that I've heard a million times (so that I'm not paying attention to the lyrics instead of my work).

WFMT from iTunes Classical Radio. Or cycle through my favorites list on my iPod, it is about 3.2 days long so the repeat factor is not annoying.

anything by Tim Hecker

I'm a big fan of electronic music and used to DJ, so all kinds of electronica, dubstep, garage/2-step, a bit of house/electro/tech house, drum & bass, and recently a lot of techno. Pretty much anything fast with a steady beat.

I find techno to be good music for coding to because it is very subtle and has long build ups whilst maintaining a decent pace. I'm still new to techno but I'd recommend both the CLR.net and Drumcode.se podcasts, but get yourself a decent pair of headphones :)

Dubstep can be fantastic for coding but I prefer the darker more underground tunes as opposed to Skrillex and the poppy sound which gets played a lot recently. Keep an eye out for tunes by Mala, Kode9, SP:MC, Distance, Lynx, Skream, Loefah. I listen to Youngsta's shows on Rinse.FM which you can download from their site on Tuesday mornings GMT.

Also some downtempo/chilled stuff is good for more relaxed coding. I've enjoyed Emancipator's albums over the last couple of months and would recommend them to pretty much anyone.

Sometimes Dubstep. Sometimes Opeth (progressive/melodic death metal, probably not for everyone). But my real silver bullet is the Symbols album by KMFDM.

Edit: And when I need to chill out more and concentrate, Indian classical music, particularly tabla stuff since I like percussion, is fantastic. I've also recently found that Herbie Hancock had a similar effect, (an album where he sounds more like conventional jazz.)

Mostly, Somafm. Secret Agent / Groovesalad. (If you are not familiar, then you should definitely check it out: http://somafm.com/)

In a noisy environment (coffeeshop, etc.), I listen to Nightwish or Tool with my cheap earphones.

Also, once in a while I pop in the Diablo II soundtracks.

For energy and good mood, something fast and heavy. Death metal (Meshuggah, Nile) is the main genre. But right now, Kvelertak is the favorite. (-: I'm to wimpy for real black metal. :-)

Otherwise, it can be quite different. Modern jazz, singer songwriters, diverse folk/world music, etc.

If it is complex music I need to know the album well to be able to be in the zone.

My guilty favorites now are Lykke Li and Jamie N Commons.

Edit: Also, thanks for this HN question. I hope to mine interesting stuff outside my comfort zone.

I use music (with headphones) when there is noise in the background. I have a list in iTunes named "work" just for this.

It's a mix of progressive rock from the seventies (Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, Mike Oldfield) and new age (Enya, Madredeus)

I'm afraid it shows my age...