Does loud music affect the way students are able to learn their lessons?

The affect of music on learning has been widely researched
and there is a lot of variation in performance based on the type of music and the
setting where it is used.

There can be no two answers on
the question whether loud music hampers study. Loud music only distracts students and
diverts their attention from their work. But other research is less
conclusive.

In the case of educational programs on
television, music has been found to be able to maintain the concentration and attention
of listeners and therefore is useful. A preliminary study of the affect of music on
students while they are doing homework shows that light music of the students' choice
improves performance, though TV shows have been found to be very distracting. In a
classroom setting also light music was found to improve
performance.

Though inconclusive, the research done till
now does suggest a correlation between better performance while light music is being
played in the background.