Today's strangest press release...

[sbisson]

...came from Microsoft's UK developer tools team, with the heading "Music to code to".

The survey of more than 100 developers revealed that rock is the preferred music to code by for professional developers of all ages. Those surveyed were also keen chart watchers with the votes for top band going to four big hitters of 2005 - in first place Chris Martin's band 'Coldplay', followed by U2, third most popular were Manchester boys 'Oasis' and in forth position, Stereophonics.

Of the developers surveyed more than 29% claim that rap or hip hop was the most off-putting music to code by. The other genres that developers were least likely to listen to whilst working were country music (12 %), ambient music (9%) and opera (8%).

An odd selection. Me, I code and write best to both ambient and trance. So thank goodness for the nice folk at Platipus records (where Art of Trance have started recording again).

HMV has a "Music to code to" radio station on its web site. So, if you really need wall to wall Coldplay...

Comments

[jarel.livejournal.com]

Nobody needs wall to wall Coldplay.

[spride.livejournal.com]

Loutish hooligan racket. I code and write to baroque music, and it produces a clearly superior result :-)

[megadog.livejournal.com]

In The Other Place™ when these discussions have arisen it's been conjectured that obscure Nordic death/thrash-metal bands make good debugging-music. I would suggest that the works of Diamanda Galás also have a place, probably while dealing with Visual BASIC.

[andrewducker]

Today has been a mixture of U2, Laibach and Talvin Singh. I find that pretty much anything that flows works, which would explain why hip-hop doesn't.

[ajshepherd.livejournal.com]

Eeeugh!!!
That explains A LOT about Microsoft software!!!

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

What, that 29% of its programming staff are young, suburban white guys with little musical taste?

I'll have you know that the one guy I know who's working there now listens to classical piano. No words, not too many instruments.

[ivory-goddess.livejournal.com]

Coldplay are 'rock'? On what planet?

[quercus.livejournal.com]

Depends where I'm working. At F*t*r* P*bl*sh*ng it was back-to-back Nirvana, Jesus & Mary Chain and Dead Kennedys, because they were the only things loud enough to keep the bogons out of my head.

I bet people who listen to Coldplay are writing PHP. Probably the "Music for Bedwetters" album.

[therealdrhyde.livejournal.com]

This week, I are mostly coding to Bluegrass!