A few days ago, I went out for a burrito at my local shopping centre’s Guzman y Gomez. As is my usual habit after eating there, I took a walk around the shopping centre to pass some time before going home. But one thing that struck me this time around was the noise. By which I mean the constant background music always reverberating around the shopping centre’s halls often clashing with the usually louder music played by each and every store as you pass.
It struck me as odd. Isn’t music meant to be listened to? Yet, who is listening to any of the music played by the stores or the shopping centre? Ask anyone walking about what the previous song played was and I bet you a burrito lunch that almost no one among them could tell you. On the contrary, the music played is not so much to be listened to but to simply exist as background noise.
So what purpose does this background noise serve? I can understand in the individual case of certain stores seeking to instill a particular mood among its patrons but the shopping centre itself has no need to do this. I do not go to the shopping centre for the shopping centre’s sake but because I have business with the stores within that centre. In my case, I wanted a burrito for lunch. This strange need for music to be played at all times extends even beyond shopping centres. Outdoor markets usually have a PA system blasting the same kind of background pop that is forgotten as soon as it is heard. (If you haven’t learnt to drown it out by sheer habit).
What is wrong with relative silence? Why is there a need for perpetual background music? And why is it almost always some kind of pop? Surely if music must be played then soft orchestral music would be the obvious choice. Surely in the case of a Mexican restaurant classical Spanish/Latin American guitar music would be a better choice than loud Spanish language R&B/Hip Hop which can only truly appeal to a fraction of those eating there. If music must be played, then surely it would be better to make it as unobtrusive as possible for the widest group of people.
Frankly, I would rather be left to my thoughts. I do not need to have intrusive pop played to (or rather at) me at every turn. Surely good products and service are more important to a consumer’s experience than the unlistened to music that happens to be in the background at any given time. I'm not saying background music is never appropriate. But its constant endless ubiquity strikes me as bizarre and annoying.
It struck me as odd. Isn’t music meant to be listened to? Yet, who is listening to any of the music played by the stores or the shopping centre? Ask anyone walking about what the previous song played was and I bet you a burrito lunch that almost no one among them could tell you. On the contrary, the music played is not so much to be listened to but to simply exist as background noise.
So what purpose does this background noise serve? I can understand in the individual case of certain stores seeking to instill a particular mood among its patrons but the shopping centre itself has no need to do this. I do not go to the shopping centre for the shopping centre’s sake but because I have business with the stores within that centre. In my case, I wanted a burrito for lunch. This strange need for music to be played at all times extends even beyond shopping centres. Outdoor markets usually have a PA system blasting the same kind of background pop that is forgotten as soon as it is heard. (If you haven’t learnt to drown it out by sheer habit).
What is wrong with relative silence? Why is there a need for perpetual background music? And why is it almost always some kind of pop? Surely if music must be played then soft orchestral music would be the obvious choice. Surely in the case of a Mexican restaurant classical Spanish/Latin American guitar music would be a better choice than loud Spanish language R&B/Hip Hop which can only truly appeal to a fraction of those eating there. If music must be played, then surely it would be better to make it as unobtrusive as possible for the widest group of people.
Frankly, I would rather be left to my thoughts. I do not need to have intrusive pop played to (or rather at) me at every turn. Surely good products and service are more important to a consumer’s experience than the unlistened to music that happens to be in the background at any given time. I'm not saying background music is never appropriate. But its constant endless ubiquity strikes me as bizarre and annoying.
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