I'm just pulling together a short paper on this subject and was wondering is aware of the actual research paper concerned with this BBC report about people taking up to 20% longer to perform physical and mental tasks when listening to loud music? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/3623237.stm If you have a citation to the research which I could follow so I can read the paper itself then please share. Tried a few Google searches without much joy Andrew Böber

Over 30 years ago I saw media publicity about an experiment in which Scottish dance music was played through speakers on a number of buses in the Glasgow area. The experiment apparently found that the bus drivers didn't mind the music itself but were distracted and irritated by the noise from significant numbers of passengers tapping their feet to the rhythm of the music. Also, as mentioned several years ago on this forum, music can be beneficial in some work contexts. There are reports of various studies which suggest that hearing background music (low volume) by Mozart can help improve memory, thinking and/or concentration, e.g. for surgeons in operating theatres and others who need to concentrate for prolonged periods. Though this is popularly known as the "Mozart Effect", some reports suggest that music by some other composers such as Rossini have similar benefits which stem from the sound patterns of such music rather than their actual tunes.