"There was a period in the late noughties when they were building operating thretres that were incorporating sound systems."
He said often music selection was the surgeon's choice but he tended to take a more "democratic approach" by designating a DJ.
"We do take requests, if someone is feeling tired or needs to focus and needs an extra peep."
Asked if he ever listened to "The first cut is the deepest" or "Cuts like a Knife" while operating, Brown said "no, but sometimes Staying Alive by the Bee Gees which had the right rhythm for CPR compressions".
"I have a college in Sydney who likes to play Titanium by Sia on repeat, I'm talking 10 times in row, he says he's never had a complication with that song," Brown said.
He said some surgeons created a playlist to match a certain theme or timing of a song they wanted to finish on.
"You've got to open new ideas," Brown said.
"If the patient is awake, then music selection is their choice, what they want to listen to."
Waikato researcher and doctor Anantha Narayanan led The Mosart (Music On the Operating Surgeon) study, which surveyed 44 surgeons across three departments at Wellington Hospital.
"By and large they perceived music as improving their temperament, and feelings of anxiousness, being rushed or hurried and mental fatigue."
Surgeons also ranked their preferred operating genre; easy listening music, classic and pop came out on top.
A small number of surgeons reported operating with music wasn't their jam; 7 per cent described increased stress, 14 per cent reduced focus and 26 per cent worse communication between theatre staff.
The findings were being presented to Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress in Melbourne later this month.
