Deftones, Brand New, DFA 1979, Interpol, Sunny Day Real Estate, essentially what my standard playlist is.

 

It depends on what I'm working on at the time. For HP stuff, almost exclusively the Dragon Quest Symphonic Suites,

For the webcomic I'm thumbnailing (or failing to, more like lol), I'll wallow while listening to more setting-appropriate material... which could be anything from Loose Ends to Spandau Ballet to Haroumi Hosono, but always Saint Pepsi.

 

Well, I listen to music nearly all of the time, especially trailer music, not only when writing. However, sometimes I find a song that seems to get to me far more than others (mostly for wholly different reasons, sometimes I myself can't even understand why) and that's when I know I've found something I can use for writing. The genre isn't important, I just want to get into that dreamy mood that comes over me whenever a piece of music is absolutely mesmerizing/ the feeling of being able to do anything whenever something I hear just seems to scream "Get up, you'll do it!"

So, sometimes it's the metal genre, for example:
Manowar - Warriors of the World

Nightwish - Ghost Love Score


Sometimes it's pagan folk music:
Faun - Hörst du die Trommeln?
Better version: https://youtu.be/G7i_qKft3ZA?t=2m14s (just do yourself a favour and skip the annoying first two minutes)

Celtic Woman - The Voice


Sometimes, it's Pop music:
Ed Sheeran - Galway Girl


Most of the time it's - as said previously - trailer music:
James Paget - The Hero Within
[optimistic]

Valentin Wiest - Kitsuné No Yomeiri
[simply mind-blowing]

BrunuhVille - Fable
[calm, dreamy]

Two Steps From Hell - The Ring of Winter
[my go-to song for everything set in dark/icy places I write]

Epic Score - This Is Our Land
[optimistic yet peaceful]

Thomas Bergersen - Fearless
[don't even know how to describe this one, experimental is maybe the most fitting description]

Thomas-Adam Habuda - Question of Purpose
[so incredibly serene, the song I probably used the most]


Just a few examples, I have about 100 songs I use for writing.

 

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Interloper [Full Album]

Summoning - Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame [Full Album]

Summoning - Old Mornings Dawn [Full Album]

In The Nursery - Asphalt [Full Album]

In The Nursery - Woman

Burial - Untrue [Full Album]

２８１４ - 新しい日の誕生 [Full Album]

Аркона - Славься, Русь!

Amesoeurs - Les Ruches Malades

H.U.V.A. Network - Ephemeris [Full Album]

Nadja - Corrasion [Full Album]

Nadja - Touched [Full Album]

port-royal - Afraid To Dance [Full Album]

Solar Fields - Mirror's Edge Soundtrack

Solar Fields - Mirror's Edge: Catalyst Soundtrack

The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand [Full Album]

Trifonic - Ninth Wave [Full Album]

Trifonic - Emergence [Full Album]

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Beethoven's Last Night [Full Album]

Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition

Lord of the Rings - Complete Recordings

Transistor Soundtrack

Endless Legend Soundtrack

Endless Space 2 Soundtrack

Advent Rising Soundtrack

The Ninth Gate Soundtrack

Farscape Soundtrack

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Soundtrack

Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption Soundtrack

Wiedźmin Soundtrack

The Witcher Soundtrack

Gone Girl Soundtrack

Snatcher Soundtrack

Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory Soundtrack

Planescape: Torment Soundtrack

Metro 2033 Soundtrack

Divinity 2 Soundtrack

Avalon Soundtrack

Blade Runner Soundtrack

Remember Me Soundtrack

Bound by Flame Soundtrack

Max Payne 2 Soundtrack

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Soundtrack

Homeworld Soundtrack

Homeworld 2 Soundtrack

EVE Online Soundtrack

The Banner Saga Soundtrack

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Soundtrack

 

My taste in music is literally all over the place. In fact, the high variance in styles and genres is preposterous.

My YT writing playlist consists of everything from James Arthur to Florence+The Machine to The Underachievers amazing album Evermore: The Art of Duality. There's Trace Adkins and Bruce Springsteen. Kansas and Toto. Do-op and ska. Contemporary Christian like Chris Tomlin or Lecrae and dark Western/country rap (crap). I have Thousand Foot Krutch and Skillet. Don't forget Bring Me the Horizon and FOB. And I've been singing to the Hamilton soundtrack for months.

As you can see, I listen to everything when I write. It doesn't depend on anything but what I like to listen to. If you want something more, I don't know, focused, I would recommend picking a genre and going to Spectrum Pulse's YT channel for album reviews.

Although anything by Bastille is soft enough lyrically that it fades into the background. If you listen to the lyrics, though, they have a lot of meaning. So it's the best of both worlds.

 

Synthwave is the big one, with The Midnight being the most common band involved, with basically the entire Hotline Miami (1 and 2) soundtracks mixed in as well.

There's electronic music, with Anamanaguchi and Approaching Nirvana topping this list.

Orchestral stuff from Two Steps From Hell and Zach Hemsey is there.

Video game-wise, I'll listen to stuff from the Ace Attorney games (and Ghost Trick) soundtracks from time to time, the entire NieR, NieR: Automata, and Drakengard 3 soundtracks, Zelda music, Xenoblade Chronicles, Machinarium, Samorost 3, etc.

Not a whole lot of unifying elements among the other things I listen to, from Lou Rawls to Toto to Pendulum.

 

Lofi hip hop. Just some jazz mixed with a hip hop beat. I don't really listen to specific songs - they tend to just blend into one another after awhile - I just put on compilations of them. This, for example. They set a nice atmosphere.

 

On the topic of vidya geam soundtracks, Heroes of Might & Magic. HOMM4 may just be my favorite game soundtrack ever. HOMM4 OST

Then there's Gothic. Linked the first game, but check out 2 & 3 as well.

 

That's some swell hurdy-gurdy.

 

So, to get me back into writing, I started to listen to music again while I write. Turns out, Youtube has some decent writing music to set the tone. I know we all have different tastes, so I'll post a few links here.

Scenes building in intensity or anger. Also, there is this one, which has a little bit of Gregorian chant mixed into modern orchestral music.

I've found this one to be pretty good when writing battle scenes. However, there's some clipping in places.

For calmer settings (with some swelling music at times), there's this link.

I won't post anymore links because the "up next" list has several different options. Some of them are pretty good, some aren't so good. One thing I do like, however, is that they are usually over an hour long, each. Some of them are two hours long (such as the second link).

 

Came here to post just this. Axian, Tomppabeats and Jinsang are pretty cool too.

I do not write fan fiction, but I like having non disruptive music like this when writing or reading.

Post/stoner/sludge metal and rock can work as well. As should some shoegaze, like My Bloody Valentine or Ride. Heck, even Alcest.

I also enjoy folk-type stuff, such as Dornenreich's In Luft Geritzt or Raflum.