The Richard Spooner Column: Mood music or sound of silence?

There is a ritual from my first office job that I still look back on fondly.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the Newsquest Midlands newsroom in Stourbridge, one section of the office would down tools every morning for a brief musical interlude.

The sound of Ken Bruce 's Popmaster - a daily pop quiz on BBC Radio 2 - would bring out a competitive spirit among several music enthusiasts on the news and subs desks.

Playing along with the mid-morning quiz became routine. It was fun and competitive but sadly I rarely emerged victorious over my colleagues who clearly had a far superior knowledge of popular music.

I was reminded of that period in my career this week when a missive landed from workplace equipment supplier Office Furniture Online regarding their study into the impact of music on office morale.

Of course, many of us are a little out of practice with office etiquette.

Office Furniture Online provided us with a reminder that the office playlist can often lead to heated debate.

While some employees prefer to listen to music to get them through their 9 to 5, others prefer to work in total silence.

But, according to new research, more than half (54 per cent) of workers do favour background music during the working day.

As many offices across the UK prepare to welcome employees back into the workplace, Office Furniture Online 's study also delves into whether music can improve performance.

It revealed 61 per cent of offices don 't play music out loud, despite workers expressing it helps to fill the silence (42 per cent) and increases productivity (35 per cent).

However, 32 per cent workers claimed that the choice of music in the office has caused arguments between staff, with 11 per cent disliking the music that is played in their office.

I 'm pleased to report such arguments are few and far between at Chamber House (incidentally, I 'm yet to impose my indie, Britpop and punk-rock preferences on the wider Chamber team).

Anyway, back to the OFO study�Looking at the demographic split for listening to music while working, those aged 16-24 and 45-54 (45 per cent) state they always enjoy the music that 's played, the highest percentage out of all age groups. But there 's less enthusiasm among the 55+ category, who hardly ever enjoy the music choices of colleagues.

For the 39 per cent of workers whose office permits music, the radio is their preferred source of audible pleasure (42 per cent), while 16 per cent like to listen to podcasts.

The survey also asked employers about their go-to radio stations. BBC Radio 1 - a firm favourite of Gen Z - took top spot (39 per cent), followed by Capital UK (29 per cent) and Heart UK (28 per cent).

No place in the top positions, then, for my stations of choice - Radio X, BBC 6 Music and Absolute Radio. Perhaps a sign that I should keep my headphones firmly attached to my ears.

However, it was interesting to see BBC Radio 2 (27 per cent) was another favoured choice among Gen Z employees.

So, if any of my younger colleagues are reading this and fancy challenging me to a mid-morning game of Popmaster, you know where I am!

DH