Steve Jobs

10 Songs Steve Jobs Used to Train His Brain



Steve Jobs probably used these recordings to alter his mental state, change his moods, and keep himself creative.

Music is many things to many people, but to entrepreneurs it can be an essential success tool. According to Dr. Victoria Williamson of Goldsmith’s College, London, “Brain imaging studies have shown that various parts of the brain may be activated by a piece of music.”

In other words, you can use specific pieces of music to “program” your brain to think and feel in specific ways.

Not long before his untimely death, Steve Jobs accidentally revealed his favorite musicduring a product demonstration. Since Jobs used meditation to get creative, it’s highly likely he also used music to alter his moods and states of consciousness.


1. “Imagine” (John Lennon)

Jobs believed that his products would and could make the world a better place, so is it any surprise that he was inspired by Lennon’s utopian masterpiece?



2. “Hard Headed Woman” (Cat Stevens)


3. “Highway 61 Revisited” (Bob Dylan)

This quick-paced, irony-laced number perfectly captures the wry humor that Jobs exhibited when presenting his “insanely great” products to the world.

4. The Goldberg Variations (J.S. Bach)


5. “Truckin'” (The Grateful Dead)

Like most high tech executives, Steve Jobs often traveled on business. This song might well have inspired Jobs to remain creative during the “long strange trip it’s been.”

6. “Late for the Sky” (Jackson Browne)


7. “Blue in Green” (Miles Davis)



8. “Beast of Burden” (The Rolling Stones)



9.”Won’t Get Fooled Again” (The Who)


10. “Blowin’ in the Wind” (Peter, Paul & Mary)

If Lennon’s “Imagine” represented the world as Jobs would have liked it to be, this song (written by Bob Dylan) no doubt reminded him of what still remained to be accomplished.