The Effect of music genre on work productivity in repetitive tasks: An experimental study for sound and vibration applications

The physical work environment significantly influences worker performance,
with workplace acoustics playing an important role in cognitive functioning and productivity.
This study investigated the effect of music genre as an engineered acoustic intervention
on productivity during repetitive industrial tasks. Unlike previous studies emphasizing
psychological outcomes, this research integrates occupational acoustics, industrial ergonomics,
and productivity engineering to evaluate music as a controllable workplace sound variable.
A repeated-measures experimental design was conducted under four auditory conditions: no
music, jazz, pop, and instrumental music. Productivity was assessed using output and work
cycle time during repetitive manual tasks. Data were analyzed using one-way repeated-measures
analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons.
Mauchly’s test confirmed that the sphericity assumption was satisfied (W = 0.964, p = 0.119).
Music genre had a significant effect on productivity (F(3,897) = 412.68, p < 0.001, partial η² =
0.58). Pop music produced the greatest productivity improvement (33.82%), followed by jazz
(13.03%) and instrumental music (10.45%). Bonferroni comparisons showed that pop music
significantly outperformed all other auditory conditions, whereas instrumental music did not
differ significantly from the control condition. These findings demonstrate that appropriately
designed auditory environments can enhance productivity during repetitive work. The study
contributes to occupational acoustics by positioning music as an engineered environmental
variable that supports human-centered industrial design and operational performance.