Good luck on the page,

Vince

I occasionally get to the Beanery, but I live close to downtown. I usually go to the newer Noble Coffee (Fourth Street down in the railroad district) or to Rogue Valley Coffee Roasters or Boulevard Coffee.

Bet you miss Ashland!

That’s true, John. Finding a good coffee house is a lot like the story of Goldilocks – gotta test a few out to find the one that’s “just right!” 🙂

Do you ever visit the Beanery in Ashland? I worked there as a barista in college many years ago.

Erin, several people I know are switching to Spotify from Pandora, and I’ll be checking Spotify out soon. I also occasionally get annoyed when Pandora plays something that doesn’t fit with the theme of the channel.

Coffee houses are great for me most of the time. Occasionally they are just too loud.

Most of my work is editing, which is essentially reading words and demands a fair bit of concentration. More often than not, I’ve got my headphones on listening to music on Spotify. I like Pandora, but get annoyed if something comes on a station that I don’t like even though it’s supposedly like the other music I do like on that station. And then I waste time forwarding to the next song. On Spotify, I can listen to any artist, any album, and even set up a playlist of songs in the order I want to hear.

I can handle lyrics, but in that case it’s usually softer music and there are certain albums by artists that I rely on and habitually play during long periods of editing. For instance, a lot of Radiohead’s later works and Bon Iver. It really helps keep me going at a pace with the work, so it’s usually about tempo and drowning out other noise.

I typically work in my favorite coffeehouse. There’s something about being around other people (but drowning out their noise with my music selections) that keeps me energized more so than at home in my office. I’ve also been able to listen to music while ghostwriting, but as I said the majority of my work is on the editing side.

You bring up an important point about Pandora Delena: the stations can be modified by adding specific artists. That’s what I’ve done with my favorite stations.

My partner Stephanie has added so many bands to her Linda Ronstadt station that sometimes 10 songs go by without a single Ronstadt song.

I also use my Pandora subscription to listen to music. I’ve found that if it’s music I don’t know really well, I tend to want to listen to it in order to better enjoy it rather than let it become ambient noise. My very first station on Pandora was my Tool Radio (with a lot of Deftones, Breaking Benjamin, A Perfect Circle, Chavelle, etc.), so it’s extremely fine-tuned and can go an hour without a single song I don’t love.

It’s the perfect music when I’m writing, despite having lyrics. It has always put me in the best flow state. My toddler, however, prefers Reggaeton, which I find adorable.

Lori, you are with most writers on not listening to music when you write. It usually is too distracting.