James Metcalfe
I would suggest that a person pay attention to the kind of music they are listening to in order to be sure that it matches the task at hand. Some music is complicated, highly organized and demands our attention, like a Beethoven String Quartet: really, this is music to listen to, not to work to, and it may prove distracting. On the other hand, if someone is able to attend to the music while doing certain kinds of tasks, the high level of organization in the music may assist the mind in doing tasks that require a similar level of higher level thinking.
Contributor: Adam Cole, A Jazz Musician Who Writes Books at acole.net
