For me they are two 'states'. When i am doing something 'tough/complicated/new etc' that needs 100% of my attention i need complete silence, no music, no sounds, nothing. When that's not the case (95% of time) i am fine with any kind of music, my taste goes from dubstep to classical and based on the mood i am fine to listen to anything.
I cannot agree more. Often it makes me wish there was some type of program/device that plays music based on concentration levels.
What happens when I start getting into something complicated, is that I notice the music. Until this point, it's just kind of in the background. It feels like my brain's saying, "Not enough CPU to play music and work on this problem. Please eliminate the problem."
