Music can be a great way to keep focus on your work while still being entertained in the background. However, usually it isn’t a good idea to blast your favorite techno tune from your computer speakers, as I’m sure not everybody in your office appreciates your taste in music. The solution to this is simple: Streaming music through headphones. The program I use and recommend is LAUNCHcast from Yahoo!. There are a number of reasons for this, they are listed below:

- It’s free with a Yahoo! ID (which is also free)
- The music quality is excellent, and the stream is very reliable (no choppiness).
- Only a short 10-30 second commercial about every 2-3 songs.
- Different speeds to accommodate your bandwidth needs.
- Great variety of stations and artists.

Now you might say “Why not just use an MP3 player like an iPod?”. While this is perfectly fine, I like using streaming music because I get exposed to new songs that I might not know about otherwise. In fact, I usually keep a list of songs I like to download for later use. I have an iPod as well, but I usually use that on trips, working out, etc.

To access this service, just go to the Yahoo! homepage and click on Music on the left hand side. This brings you to the LAUNCHcast homepage. Sign in with your Yahoo! ID at the top then click on LAUNCHcast RADIO -> radio station guide from the top menu. Select your station and the player should appear shortly.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think.