Musical Pollution: When You Stumble Upon Unwanted Music

07/14/2005 11:30AM

Unwanted music has become an insidiously pervasive nuisance whenever one ventures outside the home. It is ubiquitous and yet another overbearing marketing scheme. In the United States, where residents are marketed from cradle to the grave, annoying tunes bombard shoppers everywhere they go. The problem is consumers are constantly assailed by music they don't like or don't want. With over $244 billion being spent on advertising and in-store music in 2004, companies rely heavily on music as a marketing tool to be the feel-good prop customers need to keep shopping.

Imagine the average weekend. You get up on a Saturday morning and set off to take care of some chores. You notice you are low on fuel, so you stop at the gas station. While you pump, speakers attached to the metal overhang above the pumps spout Nashville-factory country music. Every so often the wailings at the pump are interrupted by commercials that invite you to walk inside in and shop. You think, "Sure, I'll go in and load up on a box of stale donuts, a couple of bags of chips, an air freshener for the car and a giant Slurpee." According to the Country Music Association, 41,893,000 adults listened to Country Radio stations nationwide every week (2002 data). What's interesting is that they are probably including the numbers of individuals who dislike the genre, but are force fed country music at different locations.

As you get back in your vehicle, you realize you need a haircut so you go to a unisex hair salon. The management, or the employees, have the radio blaring. It is permanently tuned to that omnipresent soft rock format that one finds in these businesses. Why they call it rock is a mystery. "There is no backbone! Where's the bluesy guitar?" Your mind tries to tune out the songs that are repeated ad nauseam. Artists like Elton John, Phil Collins, Shania Twain, The Bee Gees, or Mariah Carey. You smile and engage in polite chitchat, but what you are really thinking is "Make it stop!" Because you know if you hear "In The Air Tonight" one more time, you'll throw up. It's a shame because at one time Elton John made some good recordings I liked. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was a great album. Phil Collins was one of the key members of Genesis, one of the best progressive rock bands from the early 1970s, but that can hardly matter when your ears are bleeding from hearing "Take A Look At Me Now" and "Sussudio" again and again.

Now that your hair looks nice, you enter the shopping mall to buy some batteries. Once you cross the threshold, the instrumental earworms of smooth jazz weave their way into your head. Again, you try to block it out. The format is so limited and pathetic one would think that it would die out of sheer boredom. But, no, some people actually like it and, thus, you are condemned to smooth jazz hell if you shop at the mall. Unfortunately, smooth jazz sneaks into other places like doctor's offices, hospitals, elevators (remember elevator music?), and many other spaces.

What's intriguing or perhaps frustrating is that smooth jazz is practically dominated by a single company, Broadcast Architecture, another great gatekeeper. They have developed an incredibly restrictive format, which is the reason why all smooth jazz sounds the same. The company has partnerships that span 19 countries, 5 continents, and some of the world's biggest broadcasters: ABC Radio, Australian Radio Networks, Bonneville International Corporation, Chrysalis Radio, Clear Channel Communications, Entercom Communications, FM Japan, Globo Radio / Brasil, Infinity Broadcasting, Lagardere Active Radio International, New Zealand Radio Networks, RTL Radio Group, Radio One, SBS, Saga Communications, Sandusky Radio, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, and Univision.

The shopping mall has become a cacophony of unwanted music. You can encounter all types of aggravating tunes. Doowop and 1950s oldies will wrap around you in the dollar store, while the record dealers will overwhelm your senses with whatever the major label hit factories are pushing.

Before Kenny G triggers diabetes, you run to your car and turn on the CD player. You crank up the electronic beats and uilliann pipes of Afro Celt Sound System and in a fit of revenge, you roll down your window so that the mall rats will get a taste of something different.

As you drive home, you remember that your spouse asked you to get some milk at the grocery store. You walk in and, yet again, the soft rock tunes are haunting the premises. You promise yourself to spare the torture by bringing the Walkman or iPod next time.

There are times when unexpected music in public places is actually pleasant. There is a beautiful complex of volcanic caves and pools in the island of Lanzarote (Canary Islands). As you walk along a dimly lit natural volcanic pond, local artists have programmed soothing ambient electronic music. The volume is low and the effect is hauntingly beautiful. But that is not common. Other examples are ethnic restaurants. Doesn't it make sense to play Moroccan music at a Moroccan restaurant, at a discreet volume? Sure it does.

You can fight back against corporate musical gatekeeping by filing complaints at the customer service desks or toll-free phone lines. You can also suggest that if stores want to please customers, maybe they should play something soothing, like the sounds of brooks, waterfalls, or surf. Some consumers are also starting guides that list businesses and restaurants that play annoying music. Or you can simply carry your personal music player.

Further reading:

Read our editorial about unwanted Christmas music: Bye Bye Santa Baby.

World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20050714113011412