Music's omnipresence in our daily routines is facilitated by a variety of channels such as streaming services, digital platforms, and traditional radio. This widespread integration of music into activities like studying and exercising highlights its significant role in our lives. Given this backdrop, extensive research has explored music's influence on various performance metrics across numerous disciplines. Our project aims to delve deeper into this realm by examining how different music genres, the familiarity of music, and rhythmic variations can augment short-term memory capabilities or not. We conducted an experiment with 14 healthy students using consumer EEG headbands to investigate the influence of music tempo and familiarity on short-term memory performance. Our EEG data analysis revealed significant increases in alpha and theta band power during memory tasks with 50 BPM and familiar music, because of an enhanced state of cognitive processing. Post-hoc analyses confirm that the 50 BPM and familiar music significantly outperformed the control and 150 bpm (p < 0.05). This finding was consistent with subjective reports aligned with the objective EEG and task performance outcomes. In conclusion, our study supports that music with slower tempos and familiar melodies can improve short-term memory retention and recall. The correlation between EEG band powers and task performance offers applying music and EEG neurofeedback in memory training and therapeutic interventions.