BAND karo ye gaanay waanay, aisay kon parhta hai? is something many of us grew up hearing. You sit down with your chemistry book, put on your headphones and soon hear, “Ye kaisi parhai hai?” Defeated, you unplug them. We have always been told that music distracts us from studying. Parents say it, teachers hint at it and few question this belief.

I experienced this while completing 30 differentiation problems for homework. I was listening to my favourite study playlist when my dad asked, “Aren’t you studying?” I had been working for an hour, yet the music made him assume otherwise. It happened so often that I began wondering: Why is music treated as the enemy of studying in Pakistani homes? Is it really that disruptive? Research suggests the answer is more complicated than we think. The effects of music depend on the task, the type of........

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