A thread for those who HATE music!

[wobbling bear]

mind you I love music ...
but I seldom listen to "canned" music and if I listen to music I can't do something else.
BUT
you go to a restaurant: music in the background
you go to a shop: music in the background
even if you go to the toilets: music in the background!

I dream of a restaurant with a poster saying
"please enjoy our food, enjoy conversation! We won't bother you with music in the background!"

[Into the blue]

Ah, you mean muzak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_music).

Couldn't agree more.
Spike Milligan was a vociferous opponent of it.

[GILD]

Keny G walks into a lift.
"Man!" he exphlaims, "this place is happening! (http://www.instantrimshot.com)"

Week
Veal.

[Michaelgoround]

Ah, you mean muzak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_music).

Couldn't agree more.
Spike Milligan was a vociferous opponent of it.
I could definately agree that elevator music is not the greatest!

[Mikefule]

I could definately agree that elevator music is not the greatest!

I don't know. About half the time I find it uplifting.

[Gadge]

I don't know. About half the time I find it uplifting.


Yeah, but on average it doesn't change your mood at all, does it? :rolleyes:

[johnfoss]

Yeah, but on average it doesn't change your mood at all, does it? :rolleyes:How do you know? I think for me it depends on the actual music; there's a wide range of muzak, from brain-numbing anti-think to halfway decent variations on pop songs or classics.

When I read the title, I thought this thread was going to be about rap. :)

[john_childs]

For modern pop the muzak versions are actually better.

[nubcake]

you've all clearly missed the point...

the music is there to fill the silence and dull the non-silence.

music in restaurants / cafes - drown out the some of the menial chatter around you and other forms of mouth actions usually found in restaurants / cafes. also to keep company anyone who is alone, else they would be left to listen to the previous.

"please enjoy our food, enjoy conversation! We won't bother you with music in the background!"

without something in the background all you get to hear is the kitchen doing their thing, and everyone else eating at the trough and blabbing about some boring crap.

music in elevators - can you imagine standing in an elevator with a stranger and no music in the background? when it happens you almost feel the need to say something to the other person/s, but with music on you can just focus on that until you get to escape the box of doom into freedom.

music in toilet - drown out your brown a little and the guy in the next stall doing his brown.

music in shops - drown out all the other mouth-breathers.

...

seriously, if all these places didn't have music in the background you'd go insane HAVING to listen to everyone else talk and make noise. music gives you something to focus on instead. if all these places didn't have music it would be a lot like putting on a pair of speedo's and going to school / work / shops / anywhere. people can feel comfortable in speedo's if they are swimming in a pool or in the ocean, but take away the privacy and isolation of water and you are almost naked to the world. take away music from social areas and all you are left with is the people.

do you listen to an ipod or something if you need to travel somewhere on a train, even if you are also reading a book? trains don't have music (here they don't) but you probably won't find a place with more ipod's except an apple store. no one wants to listen to that kid crying. no one wants to listen to that stupid teeny-bopper complain about her dead-brain "boyfriend" of the day. no one wants to listen to that pathetic "tough-guy" talk smack amongst his 10 year old buddy's, impressing no one but them. no one wants to listen to that physically broken mutation mouth-breathe.

[nimblelight]

I play elevator music real quietly to annoy my parents.

It works far better than any lame rebel song.

[brendan]

music in elevators - can you imagine standing in an elevator with a stranger and no music in the background? when it happens you almost feel the need to say something to the other person/s, but with music on you can just focus on that until you get to escape the box of doom into freedom.


So american. In france people just talk to each other and find out why they are in this elevator together. No need for music!

[dan de man]

does anyone here know the name of the cliche elevator music.

edit found

Girl From Ipa Nima

[peleschramm]

I can't imagine why anyone would hate music. I love (almost) all kinds of music! I even enjoy elevator music. I think that music is a great way to emotionally connect with others.

[Zzagg]

So american. In france people just talk to each other and find out why they are in this elevator together. No need for music!
It's not always the case. But, thinking about it, you make a good point:
You can run a good and enjoyable conversation just by saying "good morning".
On another hand I would say that french people spent far less time in elevators than american people, given our respective building height... and they don't play musik or muzak on a regular basis.

[cathwood]

We don't have many tall buildings in North Wales. The only elevators (lifts) that I go in with any regularity are the ones in the hospital or the ones in the shopping centre, neither of these have music playing in. The people in the lifts often talk to each other. It's nice.

[wobbling bear]

Ah, you mean muzak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_music).

not necesarilly: I don't want even good music in the background.
I want to listen to the Beatles not to hear the Beatles.

I agree that muzak could be ok to smoothe the fears of people stranded in a parking 12 levels beneath the ground ...

but frankly even when I am alone in a train or a restaurant : I don't want music! I never get bored: I am always thinking about something or daydreaming and I don't want to be obliged to hear that @ç#%µ! saxophone solo!

[nubcake]

So american. In france people just talk to each other and find out why they are in this elevator together. No need for music!

that's great and all... except i've never been to america. perhaps french people just like listening to their french selves speak french all frenchy day long? ooh la la. i think your example is a bit like someone living in the tropics saying to someone from the north pole how "they just walk around in t-shirts and shorts" and expect it to make sense and seem 'everyday normal' to someone who lives in freezing conditions. different strokes for different folks, and you can't speak english to a martian, or drive a bus on a lake.

but frankly even when I am alone in a train or a restaurant : I don't want music! I never get bored: I am always thinking about something or daydreaming and I don't want to be obliged to hear that @ç#%µ! saxophone solo!

i'd rather hear that @ç#%µ! saxophone solo than that @ç#%µ! kid crying or group of teenagers blabbing on about some crap etc.

I play elevator music real quietly to annoy my parents.

It works far better than any lame rebel song.

you'd do far better with the fraggle rock song. that thing embeds itself in your brain and you can't shake it no matter how much you catch yourself starting to sing it. i hear they use it at Abu Ghraib.

[johnfoss]

i'd rather hear that @ç#%µ! saxophone solo than that @ç#%µ! kid crying...Maybe Australian muzak is powerful enough to drown out a crying kid--that would have to be awfully damn loud! :eek: In other words, you can usually hear both. Is your point that you like having the background music, or that you think we all *must* like said music because you do?

I'm guessing you are age 22 or younger. You don't have to confirm or deny, just testing. I know I was much more sensitive to music (craved it) in my younger days, and now it seems like more of a distraction depending what I'm doing. I don't like playing it while working at the computer, for example. Background noise can be actively ignored with a little practice. Except for that one, super-loud kid who needs a good dose of duct tape...

In recent years I've noticed background music getting a lot more listenable. I hope it's the music and not me! I used to hear lots of really watered down, do-nothing music but now there is more and more original light rock or other popular music, not a sad re-do. You might not be a fan of those pop songs, but they're a lot better than the old stuff!

I think the term Muzak is actually a brand, and may not be appropriate as a name for a certain style of music. Without looking it up, Muzak was a company that installed/maintained background music systems for business. They may also have had a hand in the creation of that old-school, brain-dead music that was played too though...

[GILD]

I was just reminded of this threa (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68141&highlight=background+music)d, and interesting discussion to follow alongside this one.

[hobo_chuck]

It's not always the case. But, thinking about it, you make a good point:
You can run a good and enjoyable conversation just by saying "good morning".
On another hand I would say that french people spent far less time in elevators than american people, given our respective building height... and they don't play musik or muzak on a regular basis.

Elevator music is just a term for canned, non-offensive music that is played in the background. The term has been separated from its origins.

I've never even ridden in an elevator that had music, now that I think of it...

[nubcake]

Maybe Australian muzak is powerful enough to drown out a crying kid--that would have to be awfully damn loud! :eek: In other words, you can usually hear both. Is your point that you like having the background music, or that you think we all *must* like said music because you do?

I'm guessing you are age 22 or younger. You don't have to confirm or deny, just testing. I know I was much more sensitive to music (craved it) in my younger days, and now it seems like more of a distraction depending what I'm doing. I don't like playing it while working at the computer, for example. Background noise can be actively ignored with a little practice. Except for that one, super-loud kid who needs a good dose of duct tape...

nope i have no issue with denying. i'm closer to 30. i don't listen to much music, but my point is that it's surely better to have something playing to take the edge off whatever offensive sounds the general mob are making. chances are that whatever music may be playing in the background in any situation is probably music that i would never CHOOSE to listen to, so no it's not about me wanting to force MY music onto other people.

the original position posts were taking was that the music was for changing peoples mood or whatever, and my take is that this MIGHT be on occasion a secondary goal but the primary goal is to give people a buffer between each other... like my toilet example. when you get a load of people in one place the random noise they emit can get a bit much, and background music can be the aspirin to that headache. it can also 'keep company' someone who is alone, whether shopping or eating at a restaurant etc. it's also for the people working in those areas so THEY can have a small distraction from the general noise and also from the menial job (i'm thinking supermarket / cafe etc).

seriously, i need to take a cold shower or something if i come-off sounding like the age bracket you suspected :/

[wobbling bear]

so no it's not about me wanting to force MY music onto other people.

but that's exactly what the restaurant owner do!


and my take is that this MIGHT be on occasion a secondary goal but the primary goal is to give people a buffer between each other... like my toilet example. when you get a load of people in one place the random noise they emit can get a bit much, and background music can be the aspirin to that headache. it can also 'keep company' someone who is alone, whether shopping or eating at a restaurant etc. it's also for the people working in those areas so THEY can have a small distraction from the general noise and also from the menial job (i'm thinking supermarket / cafe etc).

I don't need buffers to protect me from ordinary people and the noises of life. (except in the case of extraodinary noisy people but here music does not help : btw a baby crying is not a nuisance). and again I don't need "company" when I am alone.

[john_childs]

For the ultimate in annoying background music just go to an Abercrombie & Fitch (http://www.abercrombie.com/) store. They play the loudest most annoying background music I have ever heard at a store. I don't even know how the people who work there manage to get through the day. It's loud enough that it is very likely bordering on being safe for 8 hours of exposure per day. The Abercrombie & Fitch web site has a playlist of the same type of stuff they play in the stores. Play it loud (85-90 dB) on small speakers and add in some additional compression and see how long you can stand it.

[johnfoss]

...the primary goal is to give people a buffer between each other... In retail, I'd say the goal is to put people into a buying mood. I guess the same could be applied to restaurants as well, though I think in most cases the music is chosen because somebody likes it (:rolleyes:). In less common cases it is chosen more scientifically to produce or encourage business-related results.

...btw a baby crying is not a nuisance.I'm working on that one. Surely a crying baby in a movie theater is not a nuisance to the parents sitting next to it. But most of the time, a crying baby, in a restaurant or airplane, is a nuisance to me!

Play it loud (85-90 dB) on small speakers and add in some additional compression and see how long you can stand it.If anybody ever wants to torture/annoy the hell out of an audiophile, now you know what to do! :)

[BillyTheMountain]

YouTube - John Cage "4'33"

There's quite a few videos of John Cage's 4'33".

If you hate music (or love silence), you'll love this piece!!

[john_childs]

If anybody ever wants to torture/annoy the hell out of an audiophile, now you know what to do! :)

If I ran the world, all background music would be played on reasonable audio equipment (reasonable as defined by me). Reasonable doesn't need to be esoteric, but please make it better than a boombox or miniature speakers.

Fry's is another place with annoying background music. It's not loud or disruptive, it's just horrid music choices played over the cheapest speakers they could find. It's like they raided the internet for MIDI files and play those MIDI files on a laptop. They lose a lot of geek cred by not being able to do piped in music properly.

Best background music would probably be Nordstroms when they bring in a baby grand piano and have a live piano player. Second best would be that same piano in automatic player piano mode.

[wobbling bear]

I'm working on that one. Surely a crying baby in a movie theater is not a nuisance to the parents sitting next to it. But most of the time, a crying baby, in a restaurant or airplane, is a nuisance to me!

I am french: this baby is going to pay for my retirement benefits :p

[Zzagg]

Elevator music is just a term for canned, non-offensive music that is played in the background. The term has been separated from its origins.
We also use this term in France (musique d'ascenseur) though I've never heard music in an elevator, but thanks for the reminder;).
The best (or worst, depending on the side of sarcasm you see it) background musics ever are those you hear in chinese restaurants. Hmmm how sweet it is to listen to a cover of "Let it be" played with fancy asian instruments...
Despite this crappy music I never threw my Shop Suey out => proof that chinese food is kinda special. I would give 10 seconds before a hamburger falls down on my shoes if Mc Donalds displayed such background music.

[Jerrick]

Walk into a Guitar center a bit after kids get out of school, or during a big weekend sale. Ugh!....

Thats the only time I hate music. Or people trying to play music.

I dont know, either way, I always wish I bring my earplugs. I may just do that tomorrow while im in there.

[BillyTheMountain]

the original position posts were taking was that the music was for changing peoples mood or whatever, and my take is that this MIGHT be on occasion a secondary goal but the primary goal is to give people a buffer between each other... like my toilet example. when you get a load of people in one place the random noise they emit can get a bit much, and background music can be the aspirin to that headache. it can also 'keep company' someone who is alone, whether shopping or eating at a restaurant etc. it's also for the people working in those areas so THEY can have a small distraction from the general noise and also from the menial job (i'm thinking supermarket / cafe etc).

seriously, i need to take a cold shower or something if i come-off sounding like the age bracket you suspected :/

Stores play music to keep people in the store longer, so they spend more. The best designed store soundtracks keep people from realizing time is passing, and makes them comfortable hanging out.

People of all ages use music, mostly rock, to alter their mood. Clinically, it's referred to as "affective modulation."

[nubcake]

that doesn't count when you go to a cafe etc. usually you get the radio. no subliminal massaging there, apart from the radio's attempt to sell their sponsors to you and so on.

[Mikefule]

People of all ages use music, mostly rock, to alter their mood.

Mostly rock? A sweeping statement there, Billy.

Can you quote studies on this, broken down by age group? Do your figures include the populations of China and other parts of Asia? How do you define rock? Have you assumed a lower age bracket for people who actively choose to use "mostly rock" to alter their mood? How would you define "rock"?

[BillyTheMountain]

Mike,

GAWD! what? did I touch a nerve? :confused:

I was just commenting on the way music is used, by people who control their own listening, as well as when the music is foisted on us by merchants.:cool:

Developmentally, adolescents and young adults have a greater need to modulate their affect than older people, IN GENERAL.:cool:

Rock is universal, even on other planets.:p

Billy

[wobbling bear]

some suggestions for those who feel that reality is boring or itchy and want to escape:
- wear Ipod to listen to your music (but not too loud: it's terrible to be sitting in a train and hearing two different musics from your neighbors who are probably on their way to premature deafness!)
- wear ISmell (TM) to avoid the terrible sweat smells of your neighbors. a new fantastic device : with one in each nostril you'll get 3D smell sensations provided to you by the new Fragrance Transport Protocol !
- wear ISpecs (TM) : with a different screen for each eye you'll get the ulitmate experience in 3D virtual reality without being bothered by the sore view of those pesky passers-by!
- ...
and just to think you might touch someone :eek:

[nubcake]

sounds like someone still loves their betamax player.

[Peripatet]

Good lord.

It's just music. If it's obtrusively loud, ask the waiter/manager/owner to turn it down. They generally will oblige.

Otherwise, just think of it as the soundtrack to your life.

No need to carp or complain or over-intellectualize it. Just groove.

[wobbling bear]

Good lord.

It's just music. If it's obtrusively loud, ask the waiter/manager/owner to turn it down. They generally will oblige.

I have a very keen ear (for my age :D) and they think I am crazy if I say "it's too loud!".
again why? If I want to listen to music I could go to a "musical" theater/restaurant ... (a friend of mine runs such a thing: very good music btw) otherwise I just want to eat and engage in conversation.

[nubcake]

that's what YOUR house is for. you invite your friends over and listen or don't listen to music. when you go outside of your house you leave behind a lot of your controls. that's life.

unless you are me, because i simply rule... just ask my mum.

[GILD]

just ask my mum.
I did.

Last night.

[nubcake]

did you get the discount? i asked her to be nice to you since you are so... well... lacking.