The best lofi for studying

"Best" depends on what you're studying. Reading a dense chapter needs something different from grinding through a problem set at midnight. Here's what makes lofi work as study music, and which Purrple Cat albums fit each kind of task.

What makes lofi good study music

Good study music has one job: make it easier to start and keep going without pulling your attention away from the work. Four things matter most.

• No lyrics. Words in your ears compete with words on the page. In a study by Perham & Currie (2014), Applied Cognitive Psychology, students did worse on reading comprehension while hearing music with lyrics, whether they liked that music or not, than they did in quiet. With instrumental music, their scores were about the same as in quiet. All Purrple Cat music is instrumental.
• A steady, unsurprising feel. Sudden drops, loud choruses and big tempo changes grab attention. Lofi's slow tempos and soft, looping structure stay in the background.
• Low volume. Study music should sit just above the threshold where you can hear it, enough to cover chatter or traffic but not enough to notice.
• Full albums. An album holds one mood from start to finish. Shuffle jumps between styles, and every jump is a small interruption.

Match the album to the task

Different tasks load your attention in different ways. These picks come from the playlists on the home page.

Reading and revision

Reading is the task most sensitive to distraction, so go for the most even, mellow albums. Mellow Skies (27:47) and Tranquil Trails (28:38) each run about one focus block. For offline reading, A Good Book and Indigo Dreams are free to download on itch.io.

Writing and essays

Writing involves long pauses to think, so warm, unhurried albums work well. Signs of Life runs 25:25, almost exactly one classic 25-minute block. House in the Woods brings a rainy, tucked-away mood, and Just Relax has tracks like Foggy Window and Quiet Night.

Coding, math and problem sets

Problem solving means holding several steps in your head, so pick spacious albums without much going on. Above the Clouds (31:30) and Multiverse 2 (36:02) suit longer blocks. Now or Never, which opens with Squeaky Computer Chair, is a good desk-session album.

Exam cram and late nights

Late-night studying calls for quiet albums that match the hour without making you sleepy. Try Night Train, City Nights or City Nights 2. The 2018 debut Up All Night is named for exactly this. Still, sleep is part of studying, so don't let the album run until sunrise.

Breaks and long sessions

Save brighter albums like Happy Place or Oasis for breaks, so the change in mood signals the change in activity. For a long block, Eye of the Storm runs 41:48.

Where to listen without interruptions

Ads and autoplay can break a session at the worst moment. Queue an album before you start, or download it:

• Several early albums are free to download on itch.io and the Internet Archive.
• You can buy albums on Bandcamp, the best way to support new music.
• Streaming: Spotify, YouTube, Audiomack and more.

If you'd rather browse by mood than by task, lofibeats.net sorts Purrple Cat albums into study, sleep, rainy day, cozy and focus.

When silence is the better choice

Music is a tool, not a rule. A large review of background-music research by Kämpfe, Sedlmeier & Renkewitz (2011), Psychology of Music found no overall effect on average, but specific downsides for reading and small ones for memory. If you're learning something brand new and difficult, or practicing under the same silent conditions as your real exam, try a few sessions without music and compare.