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Muzak

I heard two songs at the grocery Saturday that deserve mention.

One I could have liked because it sort of had a Latin beat, but it had more of a beat than I was happy with because that beat was synthsized and very loud.

Another song had a lead screamer that I immediately recognized as Nickelback. Something aout never wanting to be alone.

The fact that I couldn't identify the first song proves the volume is at least reasonable, but this music is just plain junk and it better not get any worse.

I could blame the music for the people having to wait behind me in line when I make a mistake with a coupon and have to go back and get something, but I believe it's just carelessness and not ther distraction of the music.

Now in KMart last week I heard two songs in a row that were just completley unreasonable in a respectable place of business. I shouldn't have stayed so long. I wasn't going to buy the sheets THERE anyway. I want to make sure I spend my money at the beach. After all, I'm using their restrooms a lot. The ones at the library across the street they want you to use keys for. But I have less time to make a decision at the beach. What am I saying? Who wants to spend time in all that noise? And then there was Smokey Robinson's "Being with You". Okay, this happens in the grocery store too. I gues they have to turn it down eventually or people will rebel.
 
I went in a Walgreen's yesterday. I was dreading the so-called music they usually play but I was pleasantly sruprised to hear "Dear Heart" by Andy Williams.

See, that's how things ought to be. Old people buy their prescriptions there, so ...

I heard an ad for Walgreen's too.
 
Fascinating. I'm sure they entirely changed their in house music, and that it wasn't just a random thing that's a part of what they play over the quite long course of a day.
 
imhomerjay said:
Fascinating. I'm sure they entirely changed their in house music, and that it wasn't just a random thing that's a part of what they play over the quite long course of a day.
Click to expand...
Andy Williams does not just come up randomly in the music used as background by most businesses. I will investigate this. Maybe it's not a trend, but it's a start.
 
I heard traditional "Beautiful Music" in a McDonald's restaurant recently.
They had an instrumental orchestral arrangement of the old Carpenter's hit "Rainy Days and Mondays". The other Mantovani-like (or maybe they were Mantovani) tracks I didn't recognize. I thought this was unique as more modern sounds are usually heard today, then the very next day, I was in a place called an arcade, an indoors area kind of like a mall, but much smaller. Surprisingly, I heard more of this "muzak". What I listen for is the off-the-beaten track songs, and have posted about them on another web forum. There are not a lot of people who care about such things. I like the music to be at a reasonable level, which means some level of appropriate loudness. I am most annoyed when it is so low, I can't make it out.

I got interested in paying more attention to what is being played in business settings during the late 1990s when, in a different McDonald's restaurant, I heard "Time" by Gregg Tripp, a Beatlesque record that is really good, but never got much radio airplay, and was not a hit. It was so refreshing!
 
johnbasalla said:
I heard traditional "Beautiful Music" in a McDonald's restaurant recently.
They had an instrumental orchestral arrangement of the old Carpenter's hit "Rainy Days and Mondays". The other Mantovani-like (or maybe they were Mantovani) tracks I didn't recognize. I thought this was unique as more modern sounds are usually heard today, then the very next day, I was in a place called an arcade, an indoors area kind of like a mall, but much smaller. Surprisingly, I heard more of this "muzak". What I listen for is the off-the-beaten track songs, and have posted about them on another web forum. There are not a lot of people who care about such things. I like the music to be at a reasonable level, which means some level of appropriate loudness. I am most annoyed when it is so low, I can't make it out.

I got interested in paying more attention to what is being played in business settings during the late 1990s when, in a different McDonald's restaurant, I heard "Time" by Gregg Tripp, a Beatlesque record that is really good, but never got much radio airplay, and was not a hit. It was so refreshing!
Click to expand...
As recently as 10 years ago I was in a McDonald's where the style of music kept changing. It was beautiful music one minute and alternative rock the next. This may have been how it was the last time I went to the beach with my father and heard what I later found out was "Even flow" by Pearl Jam. Every time I happen to hear that song when changing from one station to another I think of that beach trip.
 
If you think you've heard strange songs on Muzak, how about this: I was in a supermarket today when I heard "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" by Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson. I haven't heard that one on the radio in many years!
 
satech said:
If you think you've heard strange songs on Muzak, how about this: I was in a supermarket today when I heard "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" by Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson. I haven't heard that one on the radio in many years!
Click to expand...
I have! On a classic country station which has gone Spanish (when it was country). I'm still hoping someone will replace the country format.
 
It gets even stranger... I was shopping in A&P today when I heard the background music play "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen, followed by "Sweet Mademoiselle" by Styx. I guess they must've switched their Muzak to some rather eclectic Classic Rock channel...
 
KMart's music was better the last time I was there. Good thing, too, because they had to use a key to get me an electric razor. Works nicely but in order to avoid any more Remingtons I had to buy one that can be recharged and so far I haven't figured out how to just use it plugged in. See, this is why they shouldn't distract you with noise. One of the sogs, I believe, was "Tossin' and Turnin'", which was from the 50s!!!

Now here's some good news:

http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/07/23/1599306/retail-news-golf-stores-not-in.html


Even better--I posted this link in my Yahoo group, which believes the only background music in stores should be instrumentals, and was told Target and Costco don't have music either. A trend? I hope so!
 
imhomerjay said:
Fascinating. I'm sure they entirely changed their in house music, and that it wasn't just a random thing that's a part of what they play over the quite long course of a day.
Click to expand...
I talked the the manager of that Walgreen's. She said the music came from Muzak and that they did research to find out who was buying at what times, and the music was adjusted accordingly.
 
I heard "This I Promise You" by one of the groups I never liked, at a Safeway. I know this sounds harsh, I just didn't like their music and wished Muzak doesn't play their bubble gum pop.
 
In my Yahoo group a member who plays piano for a living said a restaurant used some sort of easy listening music and the man asked them to try Escape. The manager listened for a ferw minutes and said no because that's shopping music.

Getting back to today's reality, I don't know how old these songs actually are. My grocery store seems heavy on current hits. The ones I know from the 70s and 80s are few and far between. On the other hand, they're not outrageous songs either. One I don't care for but which is not so extreme has the words "Cold hands, warm heart". Then there's a song I actually like which aired two weeks in a row during my time in the store It's very Caribbean sounding with a female lead singer, and at one point a man with a very strong Caribbean accent. The words sound like "follow me upside down".
 
vchimpanzee said:
I went in a Walgreen's yesterday. I was dreading the so-called music they usually play but I was pleasantly sruprised to hear "Dear Heart" by Andy Williams.

See, that's how things ought to be. Old people buy their prescriptions there, so ...

I heard an ad for Walgreen's too.
Click to expand...

One day I was at a Walgreen's and heard Blue Cheer's "Summertime Blues", followed by Nancy Sinatra's "Boots Made For Walkin'". I said "Sounds better than the oldies station!" Then they played "The Letter", "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Under The Baordwalk". That shattered my hopes! :D
 
Got out of the car a few nights ago at 10:35 PM on the way to work, at the AM/PM mart/gas station.
They have two music feeds different inside and out, I was so shocked that the outside lot was
playing Booker T and the MGs "Hip Hug Her', that I don't even remember what was playing indoors.
I know it is a satellite service but I guess I wonder even more now who it is?

They're digging somewhere. I had just added that song to my 2300 and growing.
In fact the 45 is still on the turntable. ::)
 
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