Here are the most distracting songs to listen to

• Houdini by Eminem is the most distracting song in the US charts. 

• Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC ranks second. 

• My Love Mine All Mine by Mitski is the least distracting song.  

Research has revealed that Eminem's Houdini is the most distracting track to listen to while studying, with Mitskis’ My Love Mine All Mine being the least distracting.  

 

Listening to music while driving is something almost everyone does to make drives more enjoyable but could your playlist be distracting you on the roads? Music experts at Playlist Name AI analyzed 200 songs in the US charts on the 11th of September 2024 to find out the most and least distracting songs to listen to while driving. Five features of songs were explored that could contribute to how distracting a song could be. These features include tempo, danceability, loudness, energy, and instrumentalness. Each of these was given a score out of 10, weighted at 20% each to calculate a total score out of 100 for the index.  

 

Songs deemed more distracting have faster tempos, higher energy, greater danceability, louder, and less instrumentalness (more lyrics and less solo instrumentation).  

 

Every song in the charts was run through a Spotify API that detects a song's features. The more danceable and energetic a song is, the closer the figure is to one. For instrumentalness, the closer the figure is to 0, the more lyrics the song has. Spotify measures loudness using LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale), ranking songs from -60 to 0 dB, with songs closer to 0 being louder. 

 

Top 10 most distracting songs 

Rank 	Song title 	Artist 	Danceability (/1) 	Energy (/1) 	Instrumentalness (/1) 	Loudness (-60 – 0 dB) 	Tempo (BPM) 	Index score /100 
1	Houdini	Eminem	0.94	0.88	0.00	-2.80	127	84.79
2	Bye Bye Bye	Deadpool and Wolverine Soundtrack by *NSYNC	0.61	0.93	0.00	-4.84	173	80.28
3	Cowgirls	Morgan Wallen (ft. ERNEST)	0.62	0.78	0.00	-3.78	172	78.99
4	Like That	Future	0.81	0.68	0.00	-4.67	162	78.96
5	Dark Red	Steve Lacy	0.60	0.78	0.00	-4.02	172	78.38
6	FE!N	Travis Scott (ft. Playboi Carti)	0.57	0.88	0.00	-2.78	148	78.33
7	Yeah Glo!	GloRilla	0.89	0.66	0.00	-5.35	148	78.03
8	She Got the Best of Me	Luke Combs	0.53	0.91	0.00	-3.79	151	77.28
9	The Spins	Mac Miller	0.79	0.77	0.00	-3.89	127	77.11
10	What Don’t Belong To Me	Post Malone	0.48	0.91	0.00	-5.28	170	76.62

 

Houdini by Eminem is currently the most distracting song in the US charts. The song scores 0.94 for ‘danceability,’ which refers to musical elements including tempo, rhythm stability, beat strength, and overall regularity. The average danceability across all tracks is 0.63. The track also has high energy with a score of 0.88; this represents a perceptual measure of intensity and activity. Energetic tracks feel fast, loud, and noisy. As a heavily lyrical rap song with almost no solo instrumentation, it received a 0 for instrumentalness. The music is also loud at -2.8 dB, whereas the average loudness of the songs analyzed is -6.89 dB. 

 

The second most distracting song is Bye Bye Bye, by *NSYNC, initially released in 2000, has been revived after featuring in the film Deadpool and Wolverine. This song has an energy rating of 0.93, much higher than the average across all other tracks, which is 0.62. This track has a BPM of 173, much higher than the average of 122 BPM. This track is also lyric-heavy and has few instrumental sections, so it scored 0. This means it’s likely to be more distracting while driving.  

 

The third most distracting song is Cowgirls by Morgan Wallen (ft. ERNEST). It has one of the fastest tempos, at 172 beats per minute (BPM); the average tempo across all the tracks in the charts is 122 BPM. This song has high energy with a rating of 0.78 and is a loud track at -3.78 dB.  

 

The fourth most distracting track to drive to is Like That by Future. It has a danceability rating of 0.81 and an energy rating of 0.68. Both are above average when compared to all other 199 songs (danceability 0.63, energy 0.62). The tempo of this track is also faster at 162 BPM.  

 

The fifth most distracting track is Dark Red by Steve Lacy. This track has an energy rating of 0.78 and a loudness of -4.02 dB, which are above average compared to all tracks. The tempo is way above the average of 122 BPM, at 172 BPM. 

 

Top 10 least distracting songs 

 

Rank 	Song title 	Artist 	Danceability (/1) 	Energy (/1) 	Instrumentalness (/1) 	Loudness (-60 – 0 dB) 	Tempo (BPM) 	Index score /100 
1	My Love Mine All Mine	Mitski	0.50	0.31	0.14	-14.96	114	24.00
2	Sparks	Coldplay	0.37	0.27	0.05	-10.51	103	25.26
3	Apocalypse	Cigarettes After Sex	0.37	0.47	0.57	-9.01	94	28.78
4	Tennessee Whiskey	Chris Stapleton	0.39	0.37	0.01	-10.89	49	31.95
5	No One Noticed	The Marías	0.71	0.34	0.08	-0.61	98	33.29
6	I Wanna Be Yours	Arctic Monkeys	0.46	0.42	0.02	-9.34	67	33.67
7	CHIHIRO	Billie Eilish	0.70	0.43	0.88	-12.53	110	34.10
8	The Night We Met	Lord Huron	0.45	0.37	0.27	-9.51	174	37.98
9	Evergreen	Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners	0.56	0.22	0.00	-11.66	79	38.76
10	BIRDS OF A FEATHER	Billie Eilish	0.75	0.51	0.06	-10.17	105	40.86

 

The least distracting song to listen to while driving is My Love Mine All Mine by Mitski. This song has a low danceability rating of 0.5, far below the average of 0.63, and very low energy at 0.31. This track is the second quietest at -14.96 dB, much quieter than the average of -6.89 dB. 

 

Sparks by Coldplay is the second least distracting song. Its danceability and energy are very low, rating only 0.37 and 0.27, respectively. The song is also quiet at -10.51 dB and also slower than average at 102 BPM. 

 

The third least distracting song is Apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex. This track has low danceability and energy, rated 0.37 and 0.47, respectively. It is also quiet at -9.01 dB, quieter than the average track (-6.89). The track's tempo is 94, which is also slower than most songs in the study. 

 

Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton is the fourth least distracting track in the charts. The track has the slowest tempo out of any song, 49 BPM; it has a low energy rating, 0.37, and low danceability, 0.39. This track is quieter than many other songs analyzed (-10.89 dB).  

 

No One Noticed by The Marías is the fifth least distracting track. It has lower-than-average energy, with a rating of 0.34, compared to the average of 0.62. It is also quieter at -10.61 dB and has a slower tempo of 98 BPM, which is slower than the average across all other 199 tracks (122 BPM).  

 

A spokesperson from Playlist Name AI commented, "Music plays a significant role in the driving experience, whether it’s calming nerves in heavy traffic or energizing long road trips. The right music can help drivers stay focused and alert, creating a rhythm that enhances concentration."

 

"However, it's important to remember that not all music has the same effect. Upbeat, high-tempo tracks may elevate mood, but they can also lead to faster driving and reduced reaction times. On the other hand, slower, more relaxed music can help drivers stay calm and focused, but it may also induce drowsiness on long journeys. Finding a balanced playlist that suits the driving environment is key to ensuring both enjoyment and safety behind the wheel."

  

END  

  

If you would like the full data set with all 199 songs, please email to request. 

  

If you decide to use this story, please link and give credit to: https://www.playlistnameai.com/. This will help us to continue producing stories that you may find useful in the future!   

 

Source: Spotify API  

  

Methodology

 

1. The top 200 songs from the Spotify charts were collected to be analyzed. (One song was not included as it had no musical content.) 

2. A total of 5 factors were used to compile the index.  

3. The raw data for each factor was cleaned, checked, and standardized on the same scale from 0 to 10, where 0 and 10 represent the worst and best values present in the data to allow for accurate comparison between factors.  

4. A weighting was then assigned to each factor reflecting its importance within the analysis. The characteristics, their source and their percentage weightings are as follows: 

 

• Danceability (20%): Danceability describes how suitable a track is for dancing based on a combination of musical elements, including tempo, rhythm stability, beat strength, and overall regularity. A value of 0.0 is the least danceable, and 1.0 is the most danceable. 

 

• Instrumentalness (20%): Predicts whether a track contains no vocals. "Ooh" and "aah" sounds are treated as instrumental in this context. Rap or spoken word tracks are clearly "vocal". The closer the instrumentalness value is to 1.0, the more likely the track contains no vocal content. Values above 0.5 are intended to represent instrumental tracks, but confidence is higher as the value approaches 1.0. 

 

• Energy (20%): Energy is a measure from 0.0 to 1.0 and represents a perceptual measure of intensity and activity. Typically, energetic tracks feel fast, loud, and noisy. For example, death metal has high energy, while a Bach prelude scores low on the scale. Perceptual features contributing to this attribute include dynamic range, perceived loudness, timbre, onset rate, and general entropy. 

 

• Loudness (20%): The overall loudness of a track in decibels (dB). Loudness values are averaged across the entire track and are useful for comparing the relative loudness of tracks. Loudness is the quality of a sound that is the primary psychological correlate of physical strength (amplitude). Values typically range between -60 and 0 db. 

 

• Tempo (20%): The overall estimated tempo of a track in beats per minute (BPM). In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece and derives directly from the average beat duration. 

 

5. Once the weightings were assigned, the total score for the factors was calculated, producing an overall index score out of 100 for each entry, upon which the final ranking is based.