Music for self-entertainment is allowed in Islam but if a song becomes the source of inciting evil or unlawfulness, it is then discouraged by Islam. This principle in fact holds true for every form of profession, activity, conversation or exchange; if it is disrespectful, maligning or contains unethical content, it is discouraged by Islam.

Music is allowed but, in my personal opinion, it is a waste of time and underutilization of a person’s productivity. Every moment of a person’s life should be spent in high thinking and in being productive; man should not underutilize the potential his mind possesses by redundantly filling it with television and music multiple hours every-day. Man’s mind is much more precious than that.

Edit: I believe that my personal opinion here has been heavily misunderstood. The gesture was not towards music but rather towards those who listen to it for countless hours and disconnect themselves from the beauty and marvels of the outside world. For instance, while travelling in an airplane, I notice some people shutting themselves out (with headphones) for the entire trip and completely miss appreciating anything special about the experience. We are over 30,000 feet high flying through the clouds and there are hundreds of thousands of planes flying in the same airspace without collision at such high speeds, all coordinated by people on the ground. This to me is enlightening and I can’t imagine missing out on this realization and experience. Again, this is only my personal opinion.