Music in your coworking space?

[Kaylyn Gelata]

Hi all ! 

I am getting mixed member opinions about music in the coworking space. Some members LOVE it, and some find it "unprofessional" to have music on in the background and use headphone to block it out. 

Personally, I find it way too quiet without some music on in the background, making it feel like a library... which we are not.

Do you have music in your coworking space? 

Has anyone else had this difference in opinions? If so, what did you do to try to resolve it? 

I know you can't please everyone.. I want to do what's best for the majority! Thoughts?

[Ahoy]

Ahoy Kaylyn,

we are solving this problem with two different areas. One is “working” where silent area is required (it means also that people should not have phone calls in) and second one is “chill” one, where we have music. Still sometimes people shout it down but we are anyway putting it on all the time because it really gives space more relaxed and comfortable touch.

In the case you have just one space I would suggest that you to have silence and maybe turn on music just at the mornings and evening. You know, people who would like to listen music they can always put headphones on … but people who would like to have silence they can not make it with headphones. So with having silence you are more on the safe side;)

Tjaša 

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[Jacob Sayles]

We have KEXP playing all day long.  We keep it at a reasonable volume and it's an important element to keeping the buzz going.  This isn't a library so dead quiet isn't a good thing.  We've opened the discussion up at times but at some point you just need to make a decision and stick with it.  Everyone has their opinions and you can spend a lot of time going round and round.  

[Sergey Petrenko]

Hi all.

We use two Sonos speakers to play Rockradio.com in one part of coworking area and coffeepoint, so those are not dead quiet. If members do not want to hear the music, they can just choose seats in quiet area.
Honestly, we had no complaints from members.

—
Sergey Petrenko
http://terminal42.com.ua

> 21 окт. 2015 г., в 21:04, Jacob Sayles <ja...@officenomads.com> написал(а):

[Elizabeth Trice]

We have music at the front desk ambassador's discretion, with the understanding that it should never impeded phone calls. We also have excellent white noise in both our "noisy" area and our "quiet zone". I highly recommending having at least two sound zones. I visited one place in Boston that had 5, including a "deadline room" and a room full of people on the phone. 

[Glen Ferguson]

Without any music to mask other noises, all I'd hear all day is people typing and chewing plus street noise. Music pushes those sounds into the background. We have Sonos for music on our first floor, which includes our larger community area, and I try to have a different type of music each day. For example, on days when I know several of our writers are in, they don't want to hear music with words because it's distracting. They'll pick stations that are just instrumental, classical (although those tend to also do opera, which I personally can't filter out) or some station in a foreign language.

Overall, people usually like the assorted programming on WXPN via TuneIn to the point that new members have specifically commented how varied and refreshing it is.

Members aren't shy (finally!) about changing the station if it's bugging them. Some folks use headphones, others head to one of the 2nd floor rooms for quiet. We do have phone rooms for privacy and when people don't want background noise during a call.

And thanks Sergey, I'll have to check out coffeepoint.

Glen Ferguson  

Phone: 301-732-5165 Email: gl...@coworkfrederick.com Website: http://coworkfrederick.com Address: 122 E Patrick St, Frederick, MD 21701

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[Benjamin]

I agree with Jacob...and we only play music in our public/noisy/collaborative cafe area...

[Alex Linsker]

I agree with Jacob too.

At Collective Agency we have a big loft room with various areas (all open and connected, but various areas feel different), a kitchen, an entry lounge and 6 conference rooms. In the middle of the big loft room, we have the radio classic music on from 9am to after lunch, then radio jazz until 4pm, then classical from 4 to 5pm, then off. Other music is done when requested or changed by a member, which is pretty rare, and we keep it at a very specific volume to encourage conversation. We have birds chirping on the skylights now and then which causes us to laugh in surprise. Conversations happen more when music is at a specific volume. The fan is on which creates a sound most people like. This all meets the strongest desires that the most members have expressed, and supports our community values: productive work, cozy workplace, community, socializing, inspiration, friendships. Alex Linsker, Collective Agency.

[AK]

Has anyone used background sounds like Brain.fm or others like these listed here?  http://cleverupdate.com/lifestyle/best-white-noise-websites-to-boost-your-productivity/

in place of music in coworking spaces?

[Angela Correa Guzman]

Hello, im new in this world of co working space, i think that for me music is so good to work, makes me more concentrate, but i dont know if more porcentaje of people prefer that listen to music or no.