Does music help or hurt meditation?

I’m sure everyone has an opinion on it, mine is that it would hurt meditation, it would be distracting.
Especially if you were a “beginner” … maybe those who’ve been doing it awhile wouldn’t be so distracted.

Now and zen it does

They MAY help set the mood, but they are not essential.
They can help if you like them.
Traditionally one meditated for as long as one could smell the incense smoke, then stopped. It is a lovely gentle timer mechanism.

It doesn’t ‘sharpen’ your mind.
Theta to delta mind electronics beats alter your brain waves deeper than alpha. Those levels, are even better than alpha for meditation. Go to youtube and checkout some of their bineaural beats. You can reprogram your subconscious mind that way for effortless change such as weight loss, stop smoking etc. if you combine it with the proper suggestions.Or just to get your own answers via meditation.

I go with the distraction choice. I like to be undisturbed when I am praying. I like to be outside in nature to really feel as one with this reality

It depends on the person. For some people, music is nothing more than a distraction, and for others, it relaxes and calms them.
Try meditating with and without music, and see which one is better for YOU.

In the beginning music helps to bring feelings. When those feelings are peaceful, steady and calming it helps to enjoy our meditation. Any music for meditation has those qualities. The issue with music is that we are using our physical senses to tune in. Eventually, we will recognize that there is a song in silence, that song starts with physical silence and ends with a silent mind. Here, thoughts move slowly and there is a deep sense of peace that can be enjoyed right in between every thought.
For someone who has experienced this, whether you put music or not it does not matter, you are not longer depending on external things to feel. There is beautiful music inside you and that song does not depend on any external circumstance.