The doctor will see you now—and rock you like a hurricane.
According to research from Spotify and Figure 1, a knowledge-sharing platform for healthcare, rock is the most popular musical genre for surgeons in the operating room. Preferred by 49% of knife-wielding doctors, the high-adrenaline music narrowly beat out pop (48%) and classical (43%), while the more relaxing jazz (24%) and R&B (21%) rounded out the top five.
In addition, not just any ol’ rock will do. Spotify says that 89% of doctors put on their own playlists over albums. Top tracks include Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine,” “Beautiful Day” by U2, “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin, and the Scorpions’ “Rock You Like a Hurricane.” Spotify has even curated its own playlist of hot hospital tracks.
That doctors queue up familiar favorites should come as no surprise. “I listen to bands from my youth and the feeling of nostalgia brings me to a calm, focused place.” Says New York City-based transplant surgeon Dr. Alan I. Benvenisty. “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.”
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The survey of approximately 700 medical professionals revealed other interesting operating room insights. For instance, anesthetists prefer pop to rock (59% to 44%) when putting patients under.
But if you’re awake—maybe delivering a baby via C-section—don’t expect to rock out to Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” just because of doctor’s orders. One benefit of streaming music on demand is that millions of songs are at the ready. “If they have a preference we go with what they want,” said one survey respondent. “If not, we have fun with it and play name that tune from old TV shows, old songs, etc.”
So, next time you head in for surgery, you may want to make a request in advance: No “Stairway to Heaven,” please.
