The real conclusion is that, all else equal, music decreases cognitive performance (memory tasks, mostly) a bit.  It doesn&#x27;t conclude that actual workers are more or less productive.  Enjoying yourself more, even at the expense of cognitive performance, might be far more valuable in maintaining motivation and productive work.<p>A quick search didn&#x27;t turn anything up in the literature, but my guess is that some distraction is beneficial in real-world scenarios.  The challenge of productive work, for me, is generally staying on task, not summoning my cognitive abilities.  If music can redirect or &#x27;absorb&#x27; stray attention, it may assist in staying on task.  Certainly a wealth of experience seems to support this; I have a very hard time getting things done without music.<p>TL;DR: I wouldn&#x27;t extrapolate real productivity from memory tasks in a study.