For the love of all things holy, please take your chatter outside to the water cooler, if you happen to work in an open plan office. Yes, I have headphones, but music isn't a replacement for quietness. Please think of your fellow artists.
It's definitely a weird grey area, that ultimately just depends on where you work. Anything that doesn't require your eye is almost always 100% okay (podcasts, music). If you want to push it further all you have to do is ask and you'll get a clear cut answer.
I agree about the 1/4 of a monitor rule. I think as long as it's mostly something you listen to and glance at every once in a while, it's probably alright. Don't let it interfere with productivity. The two companies I've worked for (both fairly small) were cool with it, and almost all the artists did it. But as others have…
as a manager I think lower of you if you tap around your mobile phone all the time ;) As former artist I can totally relate to having something running in the background to ease the boredom of some repetitive tasks, but people with different backgrounds may have a hard time to relate. thomasp brings up another good point:…
Yeah, most management will have a lower opinion of you if you do this, which can in turn lead to missed opportunities down the line. Managers will wonder (rightly or not) how much slower your output was with periodic distractions constantly on display. In their eyes someone who has shows on might not be worthy of a…
Your surroundings and whats acceptable can vary a lot depending upon where you work. At any time I could look around my office and at least half the people have something running, youtube, netlfix etc. Nobody here really cares as long as your work is getting done. I usually stick to music, or youtube vids that I can listen…