My solution was to buy a pair of headphones with good sound isolation. The building could be burning down and I'd wouldn't give a shit.
I just spent two and a half years working from home, where I could leave the tv on in the background. That was awesome. A little motion out of the corner of my eye, some noise, but nothing structured in a way I cared about. Loud reality shows about mechanical stuff were my noise-companion. I could just ignore them.
Music is full of structure. I love it far too much to work with it.
On the positive side, the "open office" I'm in now has some restaurant-style booths set up with glass doors. They're lifesavers.
Don't listen to music while doing creative work. Use noise, like sounds of the sea (I use an app called "Naturespace" for high-quality audio).
This simply doesn't work for me. I understand it probably works for you: We are all a bit different. I find much of the "noise" (rain, seascapes, and so on) grating and annoying to the point that I don't want to finish anything creative. (I don't mind the real thing: I enjoy falling asleep when it is raining outside, for example, or hearing birds singing).
I'm also easily distracted by small sounds. A "quiet" library is full of shuffling, people dropping things, whispers, and so on.
However, drawing and painting to music of my choosing? Absolutely fantastic. I tend to choose things that are either instrumental or that actually use lyrics as part of the music instead of the music highlighting the lyrics. I'll even pick music depending on how I want to move when I draw or paint. If I want to create ideas or think? Stick on headphones and tune the world out. Perhaps go for a walk while doing so.
I tune in and out of the music, and that's fine. It tunes out basic noises: car and apartment doors and so on.
and people complaining about headphones don't buy the right ones. i use beyerdynamic headphones and could wear them all day.
It converts it all into crystalline white noise. You can practically perceive the sound waves convert into a low pass filter, as soon as you turn the noise cancelling on.
Added bonus: put your chair and feet on a mat with vibration deadening material such as sorbothane, so you don't even feel people walk by.
Next I am planning on experimenting putting up a tri-fold poster board to block out visual distractions, too.
Call me crazy If my workplace decides they want continue to pay a developer salary and have it be at 20% efficiency, then that's on them to figure it out as long as it isn't effecting my outcomes. At the end of the day, I am there for the exchange of my time for their money. If my workspace begins to interfere with that, then I'll start looking for a new place.
It's awesome.
Measured, it's right around ~60dB.
It also doesn't solve having an actual conversation with someone else, which can be hard when you're competing with Sales-bro Bryan.