I can also recommend William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops.

https://williambasinski.bandcamp.com/album/the-disintegratio...

The combination of noise, repetition, and minimal melody really helps me focus.

lofi hip hop seems to work pretty well, but there usually are three stages:

- I don't get into the groove despite the music

- Something clicks and I get into the groove

- I'm so deeply in the groove that even lofi hip hop bothers me, so I turn it off and go ham

Also I find it funny that lofi hip hop has an alternate title of "beats to relax/study to"--I used to listen to it while studying in college, but now I use it for working on personal projects or at work.

The Jazz Vibes playlist on Spotify does it for me.

Really anything without lyrics. Talking has a way of hijacking the attention centers in my brain.

If I know the lyrics super well and it's something kind of sad, it works for me.

Lofi-girl helps me too, it's completely out of my traditional musical tastes but there's something in it that makes me start working. I also have to turn it off eventually though, I find I need to revert to silence after a while for some reason. And if I notice a beat or tune I've heard before, it can rip me out of concentration.

The sudden need for silence after needing the audio is such a distinct mood. Interesting that it hits other people.

I feel like it’s related to once I hit the point where I’m really into what I’m working on.

Yes it's hard to say. Sometimes it's when I feel like it's a natural time for a break, but also maybe whatever it is (that the audio tickles in my brain) becomes fatigued or used up.

Either way the silence gives a great feeling of relief. I sleep with a noise generator in my room and can't really do without it (tiny noises fill me with adrenaline at night) but when I wake up and turn it off my body loves me for returning the silence.

Sometimes I find ambient music to be too dull, but I find music with lyrics too distracting.

But if I listen to music with lyrics in language which I don't speak, then I don't get distracted.

Spanish mambo works well for me. Also I've recently listened to some operas.

Classical music is good and bad. A lot of classical has instruments that I don't like, and some of the music is too erratic for focus.

I use video game soundtracks. They tend to be designed to hit that sweet spot of easy to tune out but engaging enough to placate a distracted brain. A few I can recommend:

    Samarost 3
    Hundered Days
    Far Lone Sails
    Far Changing Tides
    Obduction and Myst series
    The Red Strings Club
    Conspiravision (which is a remake of Deus Ex OST)
    Hyper Light Drifter

Video games and certain movie composers. Ramin Djawadi, Bear McCreary, and Howard Zimmer are on almost constant repeat for me.

I really like 'Groove Salad' from SomaFM for when I need to focus, it helps get me into a better flow state than anything else I've tried. However, there are times when I know I need to turn it on but don't/can't which is less helpful!

The Bloom app by Brain Eno and Peter Chilvers has been a life life for me throughout the years.

Music for Airports, with even less repetition.

https://www.generativemusic.com/bloom.html