I think that's part of it - the value of white noise. But I don't think using music as white noise would have the same benefit, because it's the act of listening and applying spatial awareness to it that brings the benefit.

In any case, i can't use music as white noise. I listen actively to practically everything. I can have music on and do something mentally challenging, but when I do that, I'm blocking out the music and everything else, so there's no point in having it on. I only listen to music when I can give a good chunk of my attention to it without losing anything from my other tasks.