I tend more towards preferring silence, although I do like to listen to music. It really depends on what I'm doing.
I can't handle too much talking or distraction aroung me when I'm working, since my job requires mental concentration. Same with studying, when I was in school I didn't listen to too much music when I was trying to write a paper or absorb a lot of information. However, music has been a huge plus when doing a physical or monotonous job like many I've had in the past.
I can't stand having a tv going if I'm not watching it. If I'm not actively watching it, I turn it off. Nothing bugs me more than going over to someone's house and they have the tv just going - I feel like just marching over and killing it. I think having a tv going in the background also takes away from the quality of interaction because it tends to pull people's attention away, so one minute you're having a conversation and the next minute you or your companion are staring blankly at something on the tv they probably wouldn't be watching if they had thought about it. Anyhow I don't have a tv in my house.
If I'm trying to sleep, I can't have music or tv sounds because it distracts me and keeps me awake - my ears are constantly going, "Wait, what's that? What are they saying?" If I'm trying to nap in the afternoon or something, I don't mind some ambient noise like lawnmowers in the background or birds chirping. The only music I can fall asleep to is Mozart's Requiem, because I used to play it to mask the sounds of my neighbors when I worked nights and was trying to sleep during the day. Unfortunately this means I can no longer listen to it when I want to stay awake, because I'll start nodding off.
