Music in stores

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Have you ever asked a business to turn off or turn down the music that plays in the background?
If so, or if you do in the future,
what is usually the answer?

I'm putting a poll up of answers I got.

Most of them are more about the business than the customer.

The poll went crazy and added some answers of the same....
?

A little store (i.e. you can talk to the person who owns it) you may get lucky and they may turn it down.

A big PLC / multi branch store (Walmart, Starbucks)- forget it.

The volume controls will be hidden away in some maintenance office and it would need to be passed through three department managers (one of whom would be in a meeting, the other on holiday and the third off sick). By the time you got a decision made you'd have left the store and got back home.

I've never asked to turn down the music in a store. I just put up with it. I rather loud music than loud babies.

I used to work in a store where they would have it loud. The same music again and again. Was torture.

Where I work now at a bus garage we have Heart radio on every day. I used to think it was torture, but now it's got me into the latest music. I wasn't expecting that.

This is worse then that. This is a contineous loop of music repeating for the manipulative effect to seduce customers and it was store policy it had to be loud...

I've heard that some restaurants play loud, uptempo music to influence customers to eat/leave faster so there's more turnover. That way the restaurant is never completely full and they can sell more food to more people ($$).

I never thought I could ask to have it turned down. Take away/carry out or earplugs for me.

Used to have enough issues listening to customers... Ear plugs as well... Umm. Might work... I could be in my own world ignoring frustrated customers blissfully unaware they were there!

Looking back, I just don't know how I used to cope with life. I can't fathom out how I did it for so long! It is as if it wasn't me? As if I was someone else? But I was so good at masking? I have no idea!

Half of me wants that boldness and the ability to cope back.... but the other half of me thinks "No way.... That's not the real "Me"!"

Never done it

Never thought about it

And would not think about it, unless I spent more $$$ than everyone else combined

I keep quiet and just deal with the music.

Have never asked a store to do anything about their music.

Except exactly once. A nice young Black lady was the ONLY person in a little shoe store in a mall that I went into.And I was the only customer. She was a great salesperson. Sold two pairs of shoes, and some kinda polish to go with them. But before I left I said "whats up with the music...?" It was all rap/hiphop, and what surprised me was that it was chocked full of uncensored four letter words. She apologized, and turned it down. I assumed that it was some standard tape the store played-which made it all the more shocking that it have unexpurgated words, but it turned out that it was the girl's own favorite radio station playing. I still surprised me that they allow THAT much profanity over the air these days.

I count inventory in stores, and I used to work on weekends as a party deejay. So Ive become quite a connoissuer of store muzak over the years. When they stop the music to make some loud squawking announcement over the intercom it's usually far more painful to your ears than any mix of music they play.

Some stores I don't like with music in them... I don't go in as the problem I get is apart from the noise I am very concious about looking odd and my walk tries to walk the same time as the music beat, and then I try to break this by walking on purpose to avoid walking to the beat and my walk then looks soo stupid, that I just want to stop and stay still until the music stops and I can leg it out of there!

Does anyone else get this or is it just me? Probably just me!

With sensory overload and music, I usually more have the problem when there is loud music, crowds, and bright lights at a party. I struggle to socialize and get really quiet when all of these things are going on at the same time.

However, in stores I am the opposite. I will get caught up in the music if it's a song I really like. Also, when they play music at work, I get like that. At the supermarket I go to, they make announcements over the loudspeaker cutting into the song, and that rattles my jimmies if it was a song I was enjoying. xD

Thus far I have not had the courage or entitlement to ask the store to turn down it's music


Once in a while, private parties, yes


But seriously, sometimes they get angry


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