They can also get it spot on. (pt.2 of the rant)

An effective use of music
Now, there are examples of good instore/restaurant/bar music. You can appeal to a crowd. For example. Shoreditch, Hoxton, some areas of North London. Even the shops – Urban Outfitters, Topshop... you are helping customers  feel as if they are keeping it ‘retro’, and being ‘different’ (even though their parents were probably there first). Yet at least these places are pulling a crowd. They have their identity, and it’s all about the music. They have their dedicated punters. They are selling business. Damn, those people probably listen to that music at home. It’s just something that makes them feel at ease. It’s a genre. It’s popular. It’s what they want.  

YES!!!

20/20 vision just a pair of empty frames I love my life as a d***head!

So loud music can in the right context help spending, Smith and Curnow (1996) manipulated the volume of music in two stores so that they played either softly or loudly . Their results found the average number of sales per minute increased with the volume of the music. 

The proof is in the pudding, Felipe Verde, or Philip Green in English, is Britains 9th richest man, and he owns loads of shops that do well. Proof, pudding. done.

Music serving a purpose in lifts (not really stores I know)

The music is how you need it to be, given that situation....you’re in a tiny metal box either plummeting or ascending at a considerable speed. The music puts you at ease. This is entirely necessary...It takes your mind off the fact that you’re in a tiny metal box, either plummeting or ascending at a considerable speed!

Lift music is commonly referred to as Muzak. I'm not sure if this man knows what Muzak rhymes with?

MUZAK is called Muzak because of the Muzak corporation, who were set up in the 40's by an army man to assist in the war effort, they worked out the positive effect music had on employees and rates of production. Originally this Muzak consisted of the popular tunes of the day, but very quickly it turned into a science, and some of that indistinct music you refer to as elevator music, is classic Muzak, but we tend to notice it more in elevators than in the many other places it is played.

Now Nick thinks it serves a purpose, I on the other hand absolutely cherish those awkward silences that you can only get in quiet lifts. The little nod back of the head as an acknowledgement to the other person that you know they are there, and the little nodback you get in reply, then the twiddling and looking around as you wait forever for the doors to close. It's a beautiful thing.

They can get it SOOOO wrong (Pt.1 of the Nick rant)

People are going to have different views on using music, so starting close to home I asked my friend Nick a Music graduate, originally from London, currently in New Zealand to give me his view on the subject. What I got was a two part fantastically colourful and opinionated rant about how he hates Nickelback, Jack(blander than a breadstick)Johnson, rave culture in relation to t-shirt sales and Rihanna.

My first thoughts were, cheer up Nick, Rihanna and Jack Johnson are alright and we all love the odd dance. But alas Nick is a consumer of things, and as a consumer he ventures into places that sell consumables. The music these places play may affect how often he ventures in to consume the consumables from them. He has rights, consumer rights so let's read his angry words...

1. Music being overplayed. This is a valid issue that can frustrate staff members and customers alike, Nickelback are used as an example. 

   

   Jesus Christ! you might regret that

   
   
   If I hear you one more time in the pub, I may glass someone. Or glass myself... Looking so much like Jesus (Chad - the singer) , you should have a moral obligation to make sure that there is no harm done to your fellow man.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Ill fitting, loud and over the top music. Supre is an Australian shop selling cheap t-shirts, exactly what Nick and his lady friend were looking for. However the music ended up putting them off, enough infact to leave empty handed!? Even though it had what they were looking for, mental.
   
   

   

   A healthy raver, worried about second hand smoke.

   
   We stumbled into Supre and she was impressed with the cheap selection on offer but It was also like being submerged in a weird tecnho-rave underworld. There was the repetitive, pumping bass lines and all that was missing was kids waving glow sticks and trying to eat the inside of their own cheeks. We left shell shocked and with no shopping bags – is that really a pleasurable shopping experience?
   
   Interestingly Britains most successful supermarket chain Tesco has a no music-policy,  "There is no irritating Muzak in Tesco's"  An article from The Telegraph
   
   
3. It can be hard for staff to always get the music selection right. A lot of staff, particularly in restaurants and bars are assigned the task of ipodding an appropriate playlist. Nick's views on this:
   
   
   By no means is it an easy task to come up with 3+ hours of music that isn’t going to offend or bore the customers, yet keep all the staff happy and not make them think you’re an over indulgent muso-w***er. Restaurant music should blend into the background. It should be a social aid, an intermediary to dissolve those awkward moments when the conversation runs dry.
   
   Wise words, infact 80% of people say like to hear music when they eat out, for more restaurant stats click here
   
   
4. 

   Rihanna.......

One more thing. Whilst I am in a pub, or shop, or restaurant... I do not. I repeat not, want to hear Rihanna singing ‘come on rude boy can you get up, come on rude boy boy can you get it up’... There is not one place on this planet that I want to hear about erectile dysfunction. Besides, we all make bad choices and brewers droop is a genuine, plausible medical condition. Leave me alone, I was TIRED. 

What else is overplayed? for opinions from young opinionated internet people click here

Pt.2 is less angry

What's it all about then?

On my blog, I'm hoping to find out a bit more about the use of music in a retail environment. Ultimately I hope to set up some sort of guide/community/playlist sharing site for small retailers to help them compete with the big boys like ASDAS and Tophatman in terms of in-store music.

I will start off by exploring what other people have already found out. I have trawled the internet for this collection of findings, most of which comes from very drawn out academic research. Here are some things I found out.......

1. When LOUD music was played in a supermarket, customers spent LESS time shopping!
   
   
2. French music played in a wine shop increased sales of French wine by loads!
   
   

   

   Bonjour

   
   
3. 84% of shoppers say they like shops that play in-store music and, of that percentage, 23% claim they would be prepared to pay 5% more for goods if music was being played.
   
   
4. If you have a book shop play SLOW relaxing music, statistically the longer customers are in your store the more likely they are to buy stuff, and SLOW relaxing music is proven to keep people browsing for aaaages.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Apparently 18 million people listen to ASDA radio every week? Is Radio 1 really that shit or is it Jermey Vine's voice that puts people off Radio 2 and onto the sweet sounds of ASDA's wavelength. Or maybe the statistic just refers to the shoppers, who lets face it don't really have a choice in the matter.