As said above, it definitely depends on personal taste. I have a room mate who plays Shwayze while he studies, and he is doing great.

My rule of thumb is make it something you enjoy, but put the intensity to a mellow level. Hardcore punk, rap, etc, might be too intense or loud to focus. At the same time, don't do something too mellow, like ambient music. You'll fall asleep. Trust me.

I like to use jazz. I'm a jazz fan,it's not too intense, and allows you to focus without falling asleep. I'm a big fan of The Seatbelts, they're great to study to.

For studying, I find that any music with words is distracting. I think that I'm concentrating but then I realize I'm just staring at the book singing the song in my head.

That being said, I'm a big proponent of classical music, more specifically, The Pirates of the Caribbean (first one) soundtrack. It is AWESOME and also I find it to be very relaxing.

The second option that I like as well is any of the many online white noise generators. Specifically the ones with binaural beats. If you haven't heard of binaural beats, they are subtle tones that are supposed to help you, relax, focus, sleep, etc. depending on the tones/beats. I have no idea if they actually work, but if not then the placebo effect is in full force on me because I always feel more focused while listening to them.

This all depends on taste. I personally don't think there is a specific type of music that everyone in the world will find easy to study to.

I like to listen to ska because it's upbeat and motivating. Otherwise, I have a lot of soundtracks with nothing but score. With no lyrics, you're not torn between listening to the message of the song and figuring out what that textbook is telling you.

While Pandora.com is awesome, check out Musicovery.com. You tell Musicovery what kind of mood you're in and it will design a playlist around your specifications.

I like to listen to Enya while studying, but anything relaxing will do.

I can recommend 'Groove Salad' radio from SomaFM, it says: 'Groove Salad: a nicely chilled plate of ambient beats and grooves.' Nothing too fast, but it is nice to listen to!

Find it here: http://somafm.com/play/groovesalad

I second the Gladiator OST. Also, the Day After Tomorrow OST is an amazing soundtrack to study to.

When i study, I prefer instrumental/classical music. An Amazon search will show you some excellent results. However, I will throw you some personal recommendations too:

25 Bach Favorites

Vivaldi's The Four Seasons

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture/ Marche Slave

Phillips Glass - Glass Box: A Nonesuch Retrospective(10 CD)

I know the Phillip Glass is a box set, but it is SO worth the money. I hope you can find something in there that helps you. If you would like any more recommendations, just let me know!

I listen to Iron & Wine or a country playlist. I'm not a fan of country but it can be pretty chill. Honestly though, I don't think I've ever written a paper without having Iron & Wine playing through my headphones. It sounds boring but I think if you listen to the same music over and over again while doing something like studying you'll end up getting so used to it that it will be like white noise. I'm sure the repetition would be terrible for some, but I think it works!

Pretty much any song on this list http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/playlist/Motivated+Hard/23199289, I personally prefer to study in quiet, or with classical music though, lyrics distract me way too much to study using any song with words. But that play list is the one I listen to when I run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__PU5CVSegg

I study to either rainymood.com when I'm at the library if I want to just drown everything out, or I go for something upbeat when concentration isn't a huge factor. I've found that if I'm doing something like math, where the lyrics won't distract me I like having anything that keeps me awake and attentive. When I'm reading or studying I tend to go for the classical music. Wikipedia has a large directory of where to find free classical music to download. If that isn't for you, I also like the trans-siberian orchestra for classical music with a modern twist.

I would recommend music without words, such a classical music. If you listen to songs with words, often you will find yourself paying more attention to the music than what you are studying. If you don't want to buy classical music just for studying, you can go to Pandora and put in any classical composers name.

Upbeat trance and house are my preferred study music.

This is because there are usually no words. It can be hell to try and memorize something while in both your ears you have Liam Gallagher singing "Yoooooour mmyyy Wonnnnnnnddderrrwalllll"

Yeah, doesn't happen for me.

Trance and house are nice because they have sub-genres to match just about any mood I'm in, especially the upbeat to get me to work fast, and it works great.

My favorite artists are

Tiesto Armin Van Buuren Pendulum Deadmau5

Just to name a few.

Otherwise, I'd suggest poking around Pandora or Slacker or even just listening to music samples on itunes to get what matches you.

Cheers!