Inside the booming business of background music

On a tangent, I&#x27;m increasingly put off by incessant and obnoxious background music on TV - everything is drenched in emotionally manipulative sound - documentaries, drama series. Stranger Things is the one example that really stuck out to me - in the end I had to stop watching because I got sick of the music accompanying virtually <i>every single scene</i>.<p>It didn&#x27;t used to be like this! For the most part I&#x27;d prefer to be able to form my own thoughts and feelings based on the content, with music used sparingly and appropriately. Ho hum.

&gt; “I would be astonished,” he said, “if someone chose a Renault over a Volkswagen just because you play French music in a showroom.”<p>Ummmm... I&#x27;m not sure I would? Perhaps that example is a little obvious, but I&#x27;d bet the music goes a really long way in a lot of decision making setups.<p>Back in the CD era I&#x27;d try and choose a record I knew my friend(s) would like as a moving present when they bought a new place. Assuming they actually listened (most did), the record would become synonymous with the new house - &quot;ahhh, I love this song. Reminds me of moving in to number 7!&quot;<p>Music is a wonderful thing.

I&#x27;m impressed to not see lo-fi hip-hop getting mentioned.<p>From my purely empirical perspective, it seems like the biggest reason for the growth of this kind of music is the necessity to fill the void in noise-canceling headphones: the essential equipment for those who work in open-spaces.

About a decade ago, London Underground began piping classical music into some tube stations to deter petty crime and anti-social behaviour. The scheme was deemed a success.<p>There are a couple of possible interpretations of the success:<p>1. Classical music had a calming effect that dampened anti-social behaviour.<p>2. (A bit more depressing) Classical music is so uncool that anyone with anti-social intentions didn&#x27;t want to hang around in a station while it was being played<p>Here&#x27;s a 2008 article from The Independent newspaper on the scheme: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&#x2F;arts-entertainment&#x2F;music&#x2F;features&#x2F;mind-the-bach-classical-music-on-the-underground-800483.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&#x2F;arts-entertainment&#x2F;music&#x2F;featu...</a>

Somewhat related, the tendency to have (IMO often overly loud and inappropriate) sound, including but not limited to music, just about everyplace is only continuing. Combined with the modern aesthetic of a lot of hard surfaces in places like restaurant interiors and having conversations can often be a challenge.

Here in NYC there&#x27;s a disease of loud hip hop and rap music blasted in innocuous places like expensive restaurants and wine bars, places where you&#x27;d expect to have a conversation with someone that doesn&#x27;t involve yelling. Since it&#x27;s intended to be loud, the long bass beats drown out voices, and then comes a rapper voice in the form of an angry yell. So a guy is yelling at me when I&#x27;m trying to eat. Is this a political statement or routine Top 40s playlist playing?<p>It&#x27;s played out loud on the subway as well on people&#x27;s phones. Two problems:<p>My Sennheisers with noise canceling don&#x27;t work on hip hop.<p>Even if they did, it&#x27;d be awkward to bring them on a date.

Great story. One thing however they don’t do is quantify “Booming business”. Is this a few small boutique agencies or larger industry?

The W Hotels chain used to be excellent at this - they even sold a mix CD in your room that contained “selects” from the lobby with a great mix of swanky tracks.<p>I’ve also found high-end restaurants and other boutique hotels employ highly-specific mixes. Adds to the atmosphere without a doubt

The OP should consider forwarding this post to the operators of a particular help line associated with Her Majesty&#x27;s government, which one hopes, must be the only such line.