The effect of music on the metabolic rate of workers

Abstract

Prior to 1940 there were few industrial plants in which the workers could listen to music while they worked. The situation is now such that almost the reverse is true. The tremendous increase in the playing of music in industry has caused, and in turn has been caused by, many studies of the effects of music in terms of higher production rates, better employee morale and the resultant better employee-employer relations. While the factor of a change in the motivation of the employees has most likely been responsible for some of the cases in which an increase in the rate of production has been observed, it seemed possible that some physiological change might have been produced in the employees by the music, which could account for some of the increase in the production rates. If the physiological change were such as to cause a reduction in the energy expenditure necessary to perform any given task, then that task could be performed a greater number of times for the same total energy expenditure as was used before the change took place. A method for the qualitative determination of human energy expenditure does exist. This method consists of the measurement of the body metabolism...A statistical analysis of the metabolic rates thus observed indicates that there is no significant variation between the rates for the three musical selections nor is there a significant variations between the rates for the conditions of noise versus noise plus music. Any physiological change which may have been made by the music is not evidenced by a corresponding change in the body metabolism.