Sometimes—but it depends on what you mean by “help.” Music may make a game more enjoyable or help some players feel engaged, but the available evidence does not show that listening to music generally improves game scores, reaction time, or competitive performance. If you try it, compare your play with and without music, and keep it quiet enough to hear important in-game cues.
Does music make you better at a game?
That has not been established. The most directly relevant study, published in 2004, compared participants’ experience of segments from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with music, without music, and with music alone. Some—but not all—of 21 experience-rating scales differed when the game had a musical score. The study did not establish a general improvement in skill, scores, or competitive results. Read the study record.
Other studies sometimes cited in discussions of music and gaming tested sustained attention, not gameplay. Their results are mixed, and a change in focus or reaction time on a vigilance task should not be treated as proof that a player will perform better in a game.
Can music help you focus?
It may help some people stay mentally engaged, but effects vary by task, music, and listener—and focus is not the same as better game performance.
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Preferred music and attention
In a 2020 experiment, 40 students completed a sustained-attention task in silence and with their preferred music. Music increased task-focus states by reducing mind-wandering, but did not significantly improve reaction time or reaction-time variability. The task was not a game. Read the study record.
Why results differ
A 2021 study reviewing background-music use describes findings as dependent on the task, the music, and individual characteristics. In its everyday-use study, participants tended to listen to less background music when tasks were harder. Read the study record.
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Two home-based vigilance experiments published in 2024 found that preferred music was associated with more task-focus, less mind-wandering, and faster reaction times in those study settings. Mood and arousal were part of the authors’ explanation. These findings concern vigilance tasks, not gaming, so they cannot establish a benefit in competitive play. Read the study record.
Can music make gaming more enjoyable?
Music can affect the atmosphere or the way a game feels, and the 2004 game study found differences on some experience-rating scales. It did not find that every rating changed or show that music improves enjoyment for every player. Whether a soundtrack helps is therefore a personal response, not a guaranteed effect.
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Do not confuse studies of music during gameplay with studies that compare music and video games as separate break activities. For example, a 2015 working-memory study examined playing Angry Birds during a short learning break—not listening to music while playing. Gaming during the break was associated with a decline in performance over the task compared with music and rest, although overall performance was not impaired. Read the study record.
Likewise, a study published online in 2025 and appearing in a 2026 journal issue compared music and action-game play as rest activities before a vigilance task. Its abstract reports improved second-session performance after all the rest activities, with meditation having the largest effect and action-game play the smallest; music was described as boosting arousal. This does not test music played during gaming. Read the study record.
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How to decide whether to play music
Try music as a preference, not a performance technique. Change one thing at a time so you can tell whether it helps your experience or gets in the way.
Quick Recap
- Choose the outcome. Decide whether you want a more enjoyable atmosphere, a greater sense of focus, or a better score. These are different measures.
- Consider the game. For relaxed or repetitive play, music may suit your mood. In a demanding game, consider whether concentration or precise listening matters more to you.
- Protect important game audio. Keep music low enough to hear cues you rely on. This is practical guidance, not a result tested by the studies above.
- Compare both ways. Play a similar section with music and without it. Notice whether you feel more engaged, miss cues, or perform differently; do not assume a subjective sense of focus means your score improved.
- Adjust to your response. Turn the music down, change it, or switch it off if it distracts you or masks useful audio.
What the evidence does—and does not—show
- Supported: Music can change some reported aspects of a game experience, and preferred music has affected task-focus in some sustained-attention studies.
- Not established: That music generally improves game scores, in-game reaction time, skill, or competitive outcomes.
- Important distinction: Attention tasks and studies of music or gaming during breaks are not tests of music played simultaneously with a game.
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