Music while you work can be a lifesaver: It can pump you up for a big task (I wrote this entire article listening to Training Montage from the Rocky IV soundtrack); it can make busywork—like filing expense reports—far more tolerable; and it can help drown out the carping of bothersome co-workers, if that’s your problem.
But loading hundreds of CDs onto your office computer seems like a silly idea. Yes, you could use a cloud-based “music locker” like iTunes Match, Google Play, or Amazon Cloud Player, but that would still lock you into the music you already have. Streaming services allow you to play almost any track whenever you like, and they don’t clog up a hard drive with permanent music files. Below are a few options you have to put a soundtrack to your day.
Photographs by Alamy; Getty Images (5)
