$874,000. That’s how much bad collaboration costs companies every year — just for an enterprise of 1,000 workers.

This shocking figure comes from a recent Zoom and Morning Consult survey of nearly 8,000 leaders and employees across 16 countries. The poll uncovered how inefficiencies in communication, juggling too many apps, and generational differences in collaboration preferences are draining time and resources.

The fix?

Music might not be on the official list, but putting people in the right emotional state sure is.

When people feel good, they work well.

Specific tunes can set a better emotional tone in the workplace, fostering connection rather than conflict. I’ve seen this firsthand as an audio branding consultant. There’s more to music than meets the ear.

We tend to ignore how much our emotions influence our behavior, and this trend also extends to the workplace. Our emotions drive us, and they need to be managed.

Music can help put people into the right headspace without anyone even noticing. Here’s how.

Headphones on, world off

When I first started at this audio branding company years ago, one of the things we’d do during sprints was assign a time slot where everyone would be plugged into music.

Let me set the scene for you: it’s 11 a.m. and the whole team is about to dive into focused work for an hour, maybe two. No interruptions. Everyone’s got their headphones on, ready to hit the zone. We called it “going in” (into the matrix).

We had to create a specific playlist beforehand. It had to be fast-paced, something that matched the intensity of the work, but it could be any genre you liked — rock, techno, EDM, whatever you’d vibe with. Mine was a mix of classical music pieces, electro-swing melodies, and some Balkan folk songs. What would be yours?

So there we were, all hooked in with our personal soundtracks, working side by side. And it worked.

There was this unspoken energy in the room, like we were all in the same race. It reminded me of running — when you’re pushing yourself harder because the people next to you are doing the same. It was exhausting, sure, but the camaraderie, the sense that we were in this together, made it powerful. You don’t get that same feeling when you’re working by yourself. It’s the team’s energy that elevates your game!

Within the first few months at my new job, I picked up on three key lessons:

1. Music can get you in the zone: But it has to be something you connected with — hence the personalized playlists. If we all had to listen to the same background music, it would’ve been absolute torture. Instead, it was like having your own private hype session that matched your style and rhythm.

2. We need the right amount of activation: Too little stimulation and you’re bored, drifting off. Too much and you’re stressed out, overwhelmed, and can’t focus on anything. It’s all about finding the right spot where the music keeps you engaged, but not wired.

3. Music shields you from other distractions: It’s like putting up a sound force field. You limit your stimulation to one controlled input — your music — so no random external noises could break through. Add the no-interruption rule, and suddenly, you’re in this perfect bubble of focus. It was the ultimate combo for getting things done.

Let’s see what the academic literature has to say about this music-work mix.

Happy tunes make happier teams

A fascinating study at Cornell University dived into how music, specifically “happy music,” influences how people cooperate in the workplace. It’s not just about getting along but whether the right soundtrack can nudge people to collaborate better.

Researchers ran two public goods experiments across 20 rounds. In each round, participants had to decide how many resources they were given and if they should contribute those to a shared pool. This would test their willingness to cooperate for the group’s benefit.

Could music influence how cooperative they were?

Scientists added a twist. They played happy music (think Yellow Submarine by the Beatles) or unhappy, heavy metal tunes in the background (like “Smokahontas” by Attack Attack!), to see if music type would impact this behavior.

Results showed that people exposed to happy music contributed more to the group, while those listening to the unhappy, angrier tunes weren’t as generous. The prosocial behavior increased by 20% in the happy music group!

The right environment, particularly the soundscape, can boost people’s willingness to cooperate. Happy music can help team dynamics and induce a more harmonious vibe among colleagues.

Let’s see a practical example of how this works in the real world with one of the airline clients I had at my firm years ago.

The airline playlist

The airline wanted to change the music played when passengers boarded and deplaned. The goal was to lower anxiety during boarding and make the experience smoother when passengers left, without creating a rush to get off the plane.

So, what did we do? We created two playlists:

• One with calm, low-tempo beats for boarding to ease the tension and anxiety that comes with getting on a plane.

• Another one with moderate tempo music for deplaning — enough to uplift, but not fast enough to make people anxious and cause a stampede.

While we didn’t specifically test for cooperation, here’s what we noticed. People moved less hastily, took their time, and didn’t trample over each other like they usually do when boarding and deplaning.

It was a lot like how supermarkets use music to control the pace at which people move through the aisles. When you set the right mood, people take an extra pause, become more aware of their surroundings, and interact with each other a little more mindfully. Suddenly, people aren’t just thinking about themselves thanks to music.

By affecting emotions, we were able to influence behavior. And when people stop focusing solely on themselves, even for a few seconds, you’re indirectly boosting prosocial behavior. All through the power of music.

The power of personalized music

Here’s another interesting case we had with a well-known beverage company. They wanted something that would resonate deeply with their employees and a corporate song seemed like the right course of action.

We used facial recognition software to measure how different types of music made employees feel — literally testing their emotional reactions to beats and melodies.

Most employees were tested on-site, going into a booth we created and listening to different audio excerpts. But some of them went through a full-on sci-fi experience with skin conductance sensors, EEGs, and an isolated room. We wanted to capture their true emotional reactions to different musical elements, to pinpoint exactly what resonated with them.

We wanted to find out what really hit home and what got them in the right emotional state. Then, we took it further. Employees submitted words and phrases they wanted to hear in the company’s song. This catchy tune was more than just aesthetically pleasing, employees had a personal connection to it.

The result showed that every time that song played, you could feel the boost in the office. It was their music, and it brought everyone together in a way you don’t usually see in corporate environments. The employees who went to our lab became even fiercer ambassadors for the song, sharing their “lab-rat” experience with colleagues and elevating the song to a symbol of shared pride.

It helped that they genuinely liked the song, I can’t deny that. Or did they like it because they were part of it? Either way, the familiarity and likeness boosted the song’s effect. Cooperation went up, and people felt like they were part of something bigger.

We didn’t just create the song for them, we created it with them.

Sync your team with sound

If you’re looking for ways to improve cooperation at work with music, here’s what you can do.

1. Use happy tracks backed by science: in the Cornell study, they used the following songs, which you can try at your workplace as well. “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles, “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves, “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison, and the theme song from “Happy Days.”

2. Morning pump-up: start the day with uplifting, rhythmic tunes to set the right mood for the day ahead. The UK has been using music since the 1940s with its program Music While You Work, with upbeat music in factories. What works best for repetitive tasks? Pop and dance music.

3. Task-specific music: create collaborative playlists with your coworkers where everyone can have input. This can encourage group cohesion through an activity we all love: music.

4. Post-lunch slump: You know that sluggish feeling after lunch? That’s the perfect time to inject some energy into the workspace with upbeat tracks that can re-energize the team.

Think of music as a social lubricant, a tool that can help people sync up, feel good, and work together more effectively. The fascinating thing about music is that it works both on an individual and group level. So, are you ready to try it at work?

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