In 2020, working from home became a new way of life for over 60% of the workforce, with an increasing number of businesses planning to make the move permanent when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
When it comes to productivity, recent statistics suggest that music is one of the biggest motivators, with 75% listening to their favorite songs to keep them focused and energized.
Using the Spotify API, the good folks at Barratt Homes analyzed 5697 playlists and 576,322 tracks to reveal favorite working from home songs and artists.
Some of the most fascinating finds include:
While it may come as no surprise that many of 2020’s biggest chart toppers appear in the top 10, Blinding Lights by The Weeknd is officially the most popular working from home track, featuring in 442 playlists overall.
- Two hits from Harry Styles also made the list, including Watermelon Sugar (#2) and Adore You (#4), both appearing more than 300 times.
- Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams (#3); Remastered 2004, takes third place, as it seems fans still cannot get enough of the iconic soundtrack.
In addition, they teamed with Shane Beales from The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, to find out whether the most popular tracks are musical motivators, or whether we need to switch up our soundtracks to help us boost productivity.
“One element that all of the top 10 songs have in common, aside from their popularity, is that they contain short two, three or four chord progressions, which in nearly every case repeat for the entirety of the song,” said Beales.
“This repetition provides a predictable pattern that listeners can quickly absorb, enabling their attention to focus on other elements,” he added.
But is music good for productivity?
“Studies show that music does appear to induce a small and temporary improvement in some kinds of cognition – but the mechanism has nothing ‘musical’ about it. Rather, we perform better if the music makes us feel good,” explains Beals.
“Psychologists have long known that cognition is dependent on mood and arousal, and stimuli we find interesting and pleasant can give us a boost.”
Without further ado, here are the 10 Most Popular Work from Home Songs, and the vast number of playlists they appeared on:
Here are a few more entries on the Most Popular Work from Home Songs list:
Now when it comes to most popular artists on the list, Taylor Swift, came out on top, possibly, due to the recent success of her album, Folklore. With 1236 entries, her most featured tracks include ‘Exile’ (245 listings), ‘Cardigan’ (204 listings), and ‘The 1’ (194 listings).
Interestingly, German composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, is the ninth most played artist, suggesting that remote workers also enjoy listening to classical music, alongside mainstream artists. Film composer Hans Zimmer came 43rd on the list, whilst Mozart is the 86th most popular musician. Below find the Top 20 Artists on the Most Popular Work from Home list:
Find out more about the Top Work From Home Songs and the artists who perform them at Barratt Homes.