Here Is The Type Of Music Your Surgeon Is Listening To While In The Operating Room

The vast majority of surgeons listen to some type of music in the operating room — and most of them will go for rock, according to Spotify.

A joint study between Spotify and Figure 1 research company found that over 90% of surgeons put on music while in the operating room and, for 49% of those doctors, rock is the most popular genre.

Bands like Metallica, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and the Scorpions came up frequently in the selection of songs.

Other popular genres included pop (48%), classical music (43%), jazz (24%) and R&B (21%).

It is not uncommon for doctors to put on music while in the operating room — many of those surveyed said it helps them relax. 89% of the surgeons surveyed said they preferred listening to playlists over albums while 31% said they had more than five playlists in their device.

"People’s lives are in my hands and listening to rock puts me in a comfortable place so my full attention is on my patients," Alan I. Benvenisty, a vascular and transplant surgeon at the Mount Sinai Health System, told Spotify. "I listen to bands from my youth and the feeling of nostalgia brings me to a calm, focused place."

That said, doctors don't always get to choose what they will get to listen to — patients get first pick of the music in operations where they get to stay awake.

"If they have a preference we go with what they want," one of the doctors told the study researchers. "If not, we have fun with it and play name that tune from old TV shows, old songs, etc."

During critical moments in the operation, however, music is turned down.



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