Music can be an incredibly powerful focus tool for many people, and it can be a good catalyst to improve productivity. With the advent of work and study playlists, apps like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music are flooded with focus music that aims to strip away distractions.
But lately, I have found myself seeking something different from my usual, run-of-the-mill focus playlist on my preferred music app, Spotify, for a few reasons. Thankfully, I found a dedicated music productivity app that may be the solution to my problems. Here’s all you need to know.
Why I’ve been weaning off Spotify for work
I needed to make a change
I’ve been a long-time user of Spotify, and subsequently, I’ve used it for many years as a productivity tool for work and study. However, it’s easy for anyone to get distracted by their favorite music app. I’ve been dealing with this problem myself. I start with my regular dose of lo-fi playlists but then end up on my favorite rock or EDM playlist, which disrupts my focus.
This is especially prevalent when new releases come out, and I tend to easily get distracted when trying to find the “perfect” work playlist. And while I use these playlists with my app blocker of choice, Spotify itself is a distracting factor at times, which complicates things when I cannot go offline. While I try to let my usual focus playlists just play while I work, this distraction issue can be an annoying obstacle that slowly chips away at my focus over time.
Although it’s a matter of personal control and preferences, there is one way to combat any distractions you may be facing while picking distraction-free, focused music during work or study. Productivity apps work, but how about a dedicated music-based app that strips away the distractions you find on your music streaming apps?
What is Brain.fm?
Music without the distraction
Brain.fm (iOS, Google Play Store) is a deep-focus music app that aims to improve your focus through music streams for different purposes. The app uses lyric-free, beat-only music that requires no playlisting from your end to get you into a focus zone. Each mode (focus, relax, meditate, sleep, etc.) uses long streams to avoid distractions like picking up your phone, switching tracks, and falling into a doomscroll trap.
Brain.fm has a self-explanatory interface with neat tabs. You can select your mode to start a stream, like a playlist to find it later, download tracks offline, and explore individual tracks by genres, categories, and moods.
The app comes with custom music with no lyrics, ADHD-friendly genres, etc. According to Brain.fm, the music you will hear on the app has been tested through EEG studies and FMRI studies, with beats that are scientifically tested to improve user focus.
Each track comes with an ADHD mode that can be toggled on, playing tracks with a high Neural Effect Level to boost activity in a listener’s attentional networks. As for playback, you can choose “Infinite Play” to keep the music going endlessly or set a timer or even intervals if you want to take a break from work.
Why I like Brain.fm more than mainstream focus playlists
Brain.fm is now a must when I need to focus
Once I started using Brain.fm as an alternative to my Spotify productivity playlists, I could instantly see why many reviews of the app mentioned that they like it for work more than for music streaming. The music is tailored to your work and mood, so you can let the app do all the work without worrying about finding the perfect playlist or queue. Brain.fm also just feels like a normal music app through features like its library and explore tab, which adds to its easy usability.
With Infinite Play, you can keep a limitless stream, but the timer feature acts almost like a Pomodoro focus timer for work, since I’m able to break down my work sessions into smaller time blocks that help me prioritize breaks too.
Some of the best aspects that cement Brain.fm as a staple in my (revamped 2026) productivity folder are its simple and distraction-free interface, stream length options, and music compartmentalization. And since there is music for different purposes (work, creativity, learning, sleep, etc.), finding specialized focus music seems much more streamlined than your traditional streaming app.
There are specific streams featuring rain/river sounds, which is a type of focus music that works extremely well for my focus, so I can skip layering Background Sounds onto my usual playlist.
How much does Brain.fm cost?
Sign up for a free trial
Brain.fm offers a 14-day free trial, followed by a subscription model at $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
While the app is not free to use in the long term, it is definitely a subscription to consider investing in if you are keen on finding a reliable productivity music tool for work, study, or sleep. I would recommend trying out the free trial period (as well as dabbling in some other related productivity apps) before making the switch from your music streaming app to Brain.fm.
There are so many new productivity apps being released regularly, and finding the perfect combination of tools that work for your focus can take some time. But I recommend starting small with just a few apps where you can track most of your day and improve your productivity, instead of flooding your phone with apps you won’t bother using after a few days.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
