LoFi music has become extremely popular among students and those of us who work on laptops for a living. This is largely because it helps us find ‘the zone’ during work. But is there science to back this up? Does LoFi music help you study? Today we’ll look at the research, and I’ll share how I use it and how I recommend students use it. I’ve replicated this process with students I tutor and have found it to be one of the most powerful, simplest hacks for preparing for exams.

What is LoFi Music?

You already know what I’m talking about, but in case you don’t, “LoFi” stands for “low fidelity” music. Yeah, I don’t know what that means either.

“Low fidelity” sounds like one of those phrases you’d hear in a techy audiophile’s blog, right? But its origins are simpler than it sounds. LoFi music typically embraces imperfections in the sound quality, sort of like an old vinyl record or a radio station with a bit of static.

These ‘flaws’ aren’t mistakes but are intentionally left in to create a more organic, raw atmosphere.

I like to think of it as the audio version of a handwritten letter compared to a typed email. There’s an intimate, personal, imperfect touch to it.

Think background noise of a café, the sound of rain, or even the distant hum of a city at night. These ambient sounds are often layered over simple, mellow music—mostly instrumental—that’s easy to vibe to.

The end result is, well, something you might want to study to. It’s designed to give you a sense of comfort and nostalgia, the perfect companion for when you’re deep into a study session or just hanging out.

So, that’s LoFi music for you—a blend of imperfection, intimacy, and mellowness that creates a space where your mind can breathe.

In this article, I’ll examine the research on LoFi for studying and productivity. However, I’ll share exactly how I used it in school and how I recommend my tutoring students to use it. This technique you won’t find in the research on LoFi, but is backed by other psychological research.

Does LoFi Help You Study? Let’s Look At The Research

There are a few studies on using LoFi for studying and productivity, but the literature is overall underwhelming.

First, let’s examine the conventional reasons why people say it helps, before I get into the specific protocol I use that makes a huge difference

LoFi Music Performed Better Than Music With Lyrics

I love music with lyrics, in particular punk music. The problem is, I’ll focus more on humming my favorite songs, distracting me from my work. The literature backs this up. Music with lyrics hinders performance.

In a 2023 study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, researchers found—using both objective and subjective measures—that music with lyrics had a negative effect on productivity. They wrote, “Music with lyrics hindered verbal memory, visual memory, and reading comprehension. Instrumental music (hip-hop lo-fi) did not credibly hinder or improve performance.”

From this study, we can’t say whether LoFi helps you study, but it won’t hinder you the way other types of music might. So if you’re used to putting in your headphones to study, switching from your favorite playlist to LoFi can overall be a net positive.

The Mood-Arousal Hypothesis and LoFi Music

The Mood-Arousal Hypothesis suggests that the right kind of music can positively affect your mood and arousal level, helping you perform better on cognitive tasks.

Think of arousal here not in a sexual sense, but more like a dial controlling your alertness and focus. Too low, and you’re snoozing in the corner. Too high, and you’re bouncing off the walls. What you want is that sweet Goldilocks zone of “just right.”

So, where does LoFi music fit into all this?

LoFi’s mellow, organic sounds and absence of distracting lyrics make it a prime candidate for dialing you into that perfect level of arousal.

It’s not aggressive enough to get you amped up and anxious, but it’s also not so slow that it puts you to sleep. In fact, the mix of soft instrumentals with ambient sounds helps you find a balanced emotional and mental state.

Remember that bit about imperfection and intimacy in LoFi music? It’s these very imperfections—those scratches, static, and natural noises—that contribute to a comforting environment. According to the Arousal-Mood Hypothesis, feeling good and relaxed can translate to better focus and cognitive performance.

You’re essentially setting the stage for your mind to enter a “flow state,” where you can dive deep into whatever you’re studying without constant interruption from your own wandering thoughts.

This hypothesis is the foundation for the other benefits you get from LoFi music.

LoFi Music Can Reduce Stress

In line with the Mood-Arousal Hypothesis, one of the ones LoFi music can help you study is by easing your stress.

How does this lead to improved studying and productivity?

In lots of research, like this 2021 survey, they observed an inverse relationship between stress and productivity. That means the more stressed people were, the less productive they were, and vice-versa.

This can explain why music used for sleep and productivity has many of the same elements. LoFi music definitely falls under that category.

This means that one of the best ways to do your best work is to put yourself in a relaxed state. That could be through music, meditation, movement, or more. As has been studied, music can help us adapt to stress, which may be one of the reasons it helps us stay relaxed when we study.

While the link isn’t direct between LoFi music, stress, and study habits, based on what we know about calming music, stress, and productivity in general, I think it’s fair to draw this link.

LoFi music will help you study by putting you in a relaxed state.

LoFi Music May Improve Cognitive Performance

Also through the Mood-Arousal Hypothesis, LoFi music may help your cognitive performance. Notice I said may because we only have one study to go off of here.

In a 2021 study in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, they split 120 adults into 4 groups. The groups included three types of no-lyric music, one of which was LoFi, and a no-music control group.

In all three music groups, they found improvements in cognitive performance and increases in parasympathetic activity, a proxy for lower stress levels.

Familiar LoFi Music May Help More

An interesting 2013 study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, observed that music we’re familiar with increases emotional arousal more than unfamiliar music.

Whether this translates to LoFi music is unclear, but if you have a LoFi study playlist that you know you love, that may be better for studying than unfamiliar tracks. I love the LoFi pop-punk covers for these reasons.

All of these are valid reasons, but they’re not the reason why I recommend all my tutoring students to use LoFi music.

LoFi Music Supports Learning By Association

While I think all of this is interesting and valuable, I think the most powerful way to use LoFi music to study is by leveraging the power of association.

Allow me to explain. Have you ever heard a song that instantly transports you back to a specific place and time? Maybe you think of a person? I remember being at an A Day to Remember show, and when they played their hit acoustic song If It Means a Lot to You, the guy next to me turned me and told me he couldn’t listen because it reminded him of his ex, and went out to merch tables until the end of the song. This is learning by association in action.

Listen to LoFi When You Study, and It’ll Help You Study

If you only listen to LoFi music when you study, your brain will come to associate it with the material you’re studying.

Before all of my AP exams in my senior year of high school, I had a unique playlist for each subject.

After weeks of studying a specific subject to a specific no-lyric genre of music, the association became so strong, that when I played the music, I immediately thought of the subject. I listened to this playlist on the way to the AP exam.

To this day, if I put on the classic rock playlist I used for chemistry, I will suddenly recall how to do chemical equilibrium problems. It is absolutely remarkable. THIS is how you use LoFi music to help you study, or other kinds of music. (But remember, don’t use lyrics.)

You can take this step further like I did, and apply the power of scents too. I had a different essential oil for each subject. This was especially powerful because, unlike the music, I could put a drop of the oil on my wrist during the AP exam.

Learning By Association is an Accelerated Learning Hack

As I wrote about in this experimental personal essay on learning Spanish, when I smell cigarettes, I think in Spanish. That’s because I learned Spanish in Barcelona, among all my friends who smoked a lot of cigarettes.

So yes, use LoFi to study by building an association between your coursework and the music. Then when the exam comes, listen to it beforehand, and all that information you studied will flood back to you. That is, of course, if you studied it well.

There’s No Substitute to Studying

I think of these types of questions like “Does LoFi help me study” similar to questions about taking supplements. Supplements will never replace consistent training, nutrition, and sleep. They only give an extra edge.

LoFi For Studying FAQ

Does The Station or Kind of LoFi Music Matter?

As I said, there’s limited research on LoFi music as it is, so there’s no science on which kind. As long as there are no lyrics, you should be good to go.

Where Can I Listen to LoFi Music?

You can find all kinds of playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and more.