Music Tastes in the Finance Industry

Few questions here: 

1: WTF do people listen to when they enter the real world? Is it socially acceptable for me to continue listening to BigxthePlug into my late twenties? Does the aux appreciably change as gen z enters the workplace? Would love to hear from some recent grads. 

2: Lowkey too afraid to ask- do people listen to music while working?? Imma be a SA at an MBB and how tf do we do 12-14 hrs of work without some music piped into my ears? Can I pop an earbud in? 

Thanks for y'alls input. Cheers! 

26 Comments
 

[email protected], bummer your thread hasn't had a response yet. Sometimes bots are smarter than humans anyways:

More suggestions...

If those topics were completely useless, don't blame me, blame my programmers...

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Any other 50s/60s/70s oldies fans here?  Watching Martin Scorsese movies got me into that kind of music.

 

CCR, Johnny & Santos, Otis Redding, all the Motown groups, The Animals, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Emmy Lous Harris. Was never a huge Rat Pack guy, but respect where it's due.

May catch some flak, but Beach Boys, Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Monkeys and Aerosmith are definitely overrated in my opinion. Anyone with questions can look at my footer for further explanation.

The poster formerly known as theAudiophile. Just turned up to 11, like the stereo.
 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 
Most Helpful

Listen to what you want friend. Pop in your earbuds and jam out to whatever gives you that comfortable background noise so you can crank it out for hours on end. Bonus point: if you have earbuds with a microphone, you now have the additional benefit of waving people off "because you're on a call" and they'll leave you alone.

1. WTF I listen to is whatever I damn well please. No idea who that artist is who you listed, and I don't care. Because I bet at the same time that dollars to donuts you have zero clue who Adam Freeland is while I'm jamming out to one of his essential mixes over here. You're getting your work done and done right? Then the hell do we care?

2. Pop in the earbuds. Just don't make it so loud we can hear it too unless you're alone and/or have your own office (that'll come in time). It's like that whole idea of listening to someone smacking their food while eating. I don't care if it's tenderloin from a five star restuarant or just a Hot Pocket. Don't F'in smack your food!

The poster formerly known as theAudiophile. Just turned up to 11, like the stereo.
 

I have my Airpods Pro in all day sans maybe an hour or so when I’m at the office. When I really need to think logically say while I’m modeling, I don’t listen to anything. I do, however, have my ANC (active noise cancelling) on.

If I’m cleaning data to input into a model, I’ll listen to music. It varies what I listen to - could be gangster rap, country, or EDM. I’ve gotten into phonk music when it’s late at night and I have modeling to do that doesn’t require too much logical thinking.

Nobody cares what you listen to, and nobody should know what you listen to unless you tell them. I listen to podcasts at the office when I’m eating (if not eating with others) and when I take a dump. If I go for a walk, a podcast or audiobook will be playing.

 

trying_my_best

You know you ain't a real G if you ain't jamming 'Barney is a dinosaur ~~'

I raise you...

The poster formerly known as theAudiophile. Just turned up to 11, like the stereo.
 

Just listen to whatever you like.  I listen to a lot of blues, rock, and singer/ songwriter music.  My director listens to death metal.  My VP listens to EDM.  Some of my favorites are SRV, Cream, Hendrix, Mayer, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, BB King, James Bay, Radiohead, Black Sabbath.  Recently my gf has made me start listening to the 1975 which I was very apprehensive about but some of their stuff is pretty good.  

 

Cumque vel laboriosam omnis officia placeat cumque. Quasi officia et nemo et est dolore vel nihil. Omnis qui numquam assumenda commodi consequatur. Et et qui sit quia.

Ut commodi dicta qui earum. Dolorem maxime ut dolorem est optio distinctio. Est molestias explicabo non reiciendis doloremque ea. Eaque quod consectetur itaque sint. Quia eligendi aut sint nesciunt. Ducimus accusantium aut ut doloribus quia. Explicabo sit praesentium ipsa quia.

Qui commodi in aliquid. Aspernatur et et reprehenderit libero nobis qui nostrum. Rerum ex quas nemo suscipit ad accusamus neque. Nulla nam ea similique. In et dolores autem autem aut expedita. Qui deleniti nisi culpa fugiat.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”