Perhaps it is also worthwhile to look at "Flow" state, where you are optimally focused on the task. The idea of reducing distractions, and being fully focused on the moment is an interesting area. Your thoughts on listening in the dark go along with the idea of reducing distractions.
This is also a concept of Zen, training to put yourself in a state of "no mind". Which is similar to Flow state, in that the mind exists for the moment, and is fully focused and concentrated on the now. But "no mind" is the hardest thing in the world to achieve. Try to think of nothing, and see how easy that is.
How I see the above as being factors, is the common situation where you are listening to music, while exposed to continuous interruptions, reading email, browsing the web, etc. This is treating music as a background task, with no chance of being able to focus on the music.
Another thought is that the system needs to be good enough to let you achieve flow. If it is not good enough, then the odds are against achieving Flow. Though not impossible. A musician can achieve flow listening to a cheap transistor radio, because the mind can flesh out what is physically not present. But this is hard, or impossible, for an amateur.
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https://medium.com/@mdtalbot/peak-performance-programming-and-the-flow-state-fa946bace9bc
Instead, the answer may lie in a concept drawn from psychology. In 1990, the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (roughly pronounced like “chick sent me high”) published a book called
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, in which he described what he deemed the “flow” state of mind. Flow, to Csikszentmihalyi, is a state of complete absorption with the task at hand — when one is so consumed with an activity that nothing else seems to matter. More colloquially known as being “in the zone” or “in the groove,” a flow state is a feeling of great fulfillment, skill, and engagement.
In a 1996 interview with Wired, Csikszentmihalyi characterized flow as “being completely involved in an action for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”