Music in the office driving me mad

[TheJungleBook]

Hi all,

When I was reoffered my old job, my boss said “if we’re giving you that amount of money, we’ll want you in the office 3 days per week”, and I said “no thank you”, because it is such a disruptive office environment with sales people talking and loud music on - not classical music, but pop/rock/rave music. My job involves quantitative and qualitative market research and writing, which requires a good level of concentration. I knew I would get next to no work done if I was in the office 3 days a week. Anyway, my boss came back 24 hours later and said “okay we’ll accept it if you come in the office 1 day a week”. I now basically get no work done on the day that I’m in the office. At my old very corporate job, I was in the office three days a week but I could actually get work done because it was quiet and peaceful.

What is the consensus on music in the office? The company, which is a small business, is trying to position itself as more corporate, however having Sia’s Cheap Thrills booming out doesn’t really set the right mood. I’ve sent an email asking to be relocated to a private quiet office or for the music to be turned off, and I haven’t received a response.

I prefer quiet when I am working but my husband can't stand silence because he says it's not silent as you can hear people sniffing or rustling etc so he need background noise like music to get in the zone.

I think you knew the set up when you took the job and you were clear to your managers it's not your preferred working environment and they still asked you to do it so must accept a drop in productivity. I would go for noise cancelling headphones, a desk in a quieter part of the office and managing my work so the easier stuff is done the noisy day and the stuff you need to concentrate on is done at home.

Do you know how others feel? If the majority like it then I think you need to find a solution for you but if the majority hate it then maybe a group of you can request a change.

https://www.gov.uk/licence-to-play-live-or-recorded-music

@TheJungleBook does your employer have Licence?? whose radio is it?

I wouldn't be able to work in that either, I can only cope with music if it is very quiet and unobtrusive. I can't concentrate in a totally silent office either, but if I want something on I use earphones. We've had the PRS people check up on us too, we don't play music so it's OK, I think it's pretty common so your place may well be licenced already. I think it should only be on if everyone in the office is happy with it and if one person can't work that's good enough reason to switch it off.

Well, people should be listening to music on headphones, that's so annoying.

In the meantime though, I listen to mynoise.net background noise through noise-cancelling earphones when I am working from home on the same day as my DH (who could drown out a foghorn) is making a lot of calls and I can get my usual amount of work done.

It's not just annoying, it must be very draining too. As an introvert, I would find this degree of sensory input exhausting

I would hate this too! In my previous, noisy office I listened to white noise through my own headphones to cancel the bulk of the office noise and music. It was awful. Eventually I found a quieter office to move to and it was heaven!

YANBU.

I couldn’t work with it and I’d have headaches. When I started WFH my daily headaches stopped. I think noise (not music though), artificial lights, lack of fresh air really took their toll. My office days were so non productive after WFH. I basically had to write them off and try to pack my workload into the other four days. The only time I’ve liked radio and lots of chat was way back when I was a student working summer jobs in factories; otherwise my concentration is shot.

We have the radio on all day in my office (at a reasonable volume). Honestly you do get used to it & tune it out if concentrating. I'm so used to it now i'm not I could concentrate as well with it not on

I hate working to music - bad for the concentration, awful if you're on the phone and having to raise my voice to be heard.
I bet you're not the only one who would prefer no music, just the only one with the nerve to say something about it.

Suggest to your manager they invest in the headphones used at silent discos for those who want to hear the music and the rest of you can work properly.

I struggle to work to music - any music.

However, I can work while listening to rain sounds (eg through YouTube). Would it be an option to listen to some form of white noise through headphones while you're at work that day?

I used to do your job @TheJungleBook before I retired, so I understand the need for some time for concentration. But for a lot of the time you're not analysing data or transcripts or writing reports. There's a lot of admin, which you can easily do in an office environment, even with - heaven forfend - music which isn't to your taste.

You're making excuses.

I LOVE music, but NOT whilst trying to concentrate on work (except something like classical). Sorry, no advice but this would drive me nuts, you have my sympathy.

get some sony mx4 over the ear active noise cancelling ones, you will not hear the music

@BIWI ”Making excuses”? 🤣 I’m just asking for the music to be turned off or to be moved to another quiet office? It’s not in my interest, I’m happy to do absolutely fuck all on my day in the office; it’s in the interests of the business, I want to have a productive day when I’m in the office.

Thanks all for your sympathy, I’ve now been offered a private office after some more complaining 😏

It shouldn't be loud in a shared office.
I work in a "morgue" office too. I even appreciate shite commercial radio when I'm there. I can't work in silence and have louder music when I wfh. (Me "alexaSTOP!!" when my phone rings).

I've just discovered that my latest job offer does not have any wfh option, when I had requested 1 day. Very disappointed.

Glad you’ve got a private office now. But why are the others allowed to impose their music on everyone? It’s not fair.

Glad it's sorted.

Gosh, I didn’t think any office had music on in the background. Decorators and builders seem to listen to pop and taxi drivers but everyone else is usually in headphones if they want music. Pre pandemic we were not even allowed headphones in the office lest we weren’t paying attention

I dislike it, I prefer quiet. But I know many of my colleagues really enjoy it and find it improves their productivity so I try to tolerate it as best as I can. It's a tough one when working open plan.

We used to have a Spotify account and Sonos speakers. Open plan office, with around 25 people. We took it in turns to choose the music, so it was incredibly varied. Couldn't you do that as well, @TheJungleBook? You must have some agency over things.

I wouldn’t be able to work with any music on, unless it was so quiet you could barely hear it, doesn’t matter whether I’ve chosen it or not. Thankfully I’ve never worked anywhere that does this.

I wondered if my colleague had posted this thread when I saw the title...3 of us in office, 1 cannot cope without Heart FM playing, terrible radio station. Me and the other lady just countdown to when she departs for the day, we 're all part-time. She's one of those who it's not worth negotiating with, would throw her toys out the pram!