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What playlists or songs do everyone listen to while writing? Secondary question, lyrics or no lyrics?

(This is me, trying to figure out which will make me more productive.)

I believe that many studies have been conducted that prove that songs with no lyrics are better than those with lyrics, and can sometimes even boost productivity.

I listen to Joe Hisaishi a lot, but there are also a lot of other songs from a wide variety of genres that I listen to as well.

(e.g., Jazz, lofi, HTTYD (orchestra remix by Karu), orchestral music (e.g., The Planets, The Lonely Fox, The Court of Cintra))

I always pick one that matches or reminds me of the setting of the world I'm building. Usually no lyrics, but not always.

For Shadow of a God-King, I listened mainly to an Egyptian/Turkish oud mix, and one particularly mournful Arabic song.

For Fey Light it was a kind of post-destruction sounding song that I edited in the sound of howling wind and a fire crackling. It carried the anxious, slightly spooky— but outside the walls of the safe cabin—kind of vibe I wanted in the story, and helped me write it.

For By the Light of Day, I was stuck listening to Marilyn Manson's Speed of Pain, which kind of reflected my emotional state writing that one—kind of emo, kind of irreverent, jaded and furious. The "We die holding hands" lyric hit the spot for that one. Not sure why.

Basically, I pick a song or a list of songs that keep me trapped in the mood of the setting of the world I am creating. That way there is no possibility for my subconscious to escape. So there is no single playlist, but rather, there's a song or playlist that is completely tied to the setting of my world, to keep me immersed in it. And I'll listen to it even when I'm not writing. Most of the time I'm doing something that doesn't need sound, I'll be listening to the song or songs of the world I'm trying to build so I can't escape it.

I know that's really weird, but it seems to work for me. \_(0_o)_/

I find that specifically the Game of Thrones Main Theme is excellent for focusing. At least for me.

I don't usually do lyrics, unless they're pretty unintelligible, so my brain doesn't hone in on them. I also try to pick songs I don't have deeply ingrained in my system (so not "Imperial March" or "Hey Beautiful") and that have some kind of continuous movement to them.

Other songs I listen to while writing: Rey's Theme, Discombobulate (pretty much anything by Hans Zimmer is fantastic creative focus music), Test Drive, the main theme from Assassin's Creed IV, and To Aslan's Camp. Oh, also, anything by Steve Jablonsky (all those Transformers soundtracks, yay) is usually good, too.

This is pretty good stuff for epic fantasy. I might have to steal some of this next time I write a medieval European-style fantasy storygame.

The one from Sherlock might be my current favorite. It's hard to choose.

Regardless, I don't think it's limited to fantasy. I've written one fantasy thing in my entire life, lol. Currently that's my playlist for the Sci-Fi world I'm creating for the TTRPG I'm gonna run.

I've been listening to the FMAB OST. It has a bunch of different tracks that suit different moods.