I work at Starbucks and I completely disagree with this article (as it pertains to Starbucks). Starbucks has a partnership with Spotify, all employees get a free Spotify account. Every Starbucks has an iPhone used to handle inventory & play the store music. This iPhone has the Spotify app installed and a fairly large collection of Starbucks playlists which accrue over time. Each playlist varies in size but some are quite large, e.g. the "Chill" playlist is likely over 50 songs. Moreover, I consider myself a hipster when it comes to music and can tell that each of these playlists has been curated in the same manner as Apple playlists, by using people "in the know". What that means is that many songs are extremely new and underground. A good example of this are songs like "High 5" by Sigrid, or "Lucky Girl" by Fazerdaze listed when they're released. So, any employee (at least at my store and those in the surrounding area) can simply change the playlist at any time. Don't like the Hamilton playlist?, go change it to the "Dinner Party" playlist. Not only can we change the playlist, we can simply use our own iPhone and play are own playlists with our free Spotify account (as long as it doesn't contain profanity). The one gripe I have is that some songs on the Starbucks playlists are completely inappropriate such as "Get Out" by CHVRCHES. If you haven't heard this song, go listen to it on Youtube and figure out why this is an awkward song to play around customers. So, imo Starbucks likely has the most lenient music policy of similar shops as well as the best music selection.
Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
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Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#222They modernized the gas pumps at our local Speedway by adding video players. Instead of news like I've seen in California they play endless commercials and the volume is loud. I remember stopping one time when it was twenty below zero this winter, no one was at the pumps and the same commercial was playing and not a single pump's sound was in sync with another. I felt like I was in a movie about a dystopian future.
Seems like the ideal place for Tesla to run ads.
I am familiar with the expression "no publicity is bad publicity" but... honestly pushing your product in these sorts of swill advertising venues seems like it's in danger of building up customer distrust and anger.
Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#223I once sat in a Starbucks for a few hours and I noticed that the music shifted with the customer base. So oldies and jazz got played around the time senior citizens would come in and the vibe would change depending on the demographic at that time. I thought it was interesting.. Maybe coincidence.. maybe not.
I think some Starbucks have a little more agency. The one near my apartment in NYC is always playing a mid-00s hiphop/R&B throwbacks playlist. Definitely not the mainstream suburban mom stuff, but, ya never know, maybe they have separate "urban environment" playlists.
I've heard "Dare to Be Stupid" in one and I really doubt that would be a corporate-approved item, so there's got to be some kind of local variation.
Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#224Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like the ideal place for Tesla to run ads.
I am familiar with the expression "no publicity is bad publicity" but... honestly pushing your product in these sorts of swill advertising venues seems like it's in danger of building up customer distrust and anger.
Customer wouldn't have had to stop there if they had an EV, I think is the point.
Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
I ran into a pump in MI last summer that wouldn't even turn on until it finished playing the first 30 second commercial. Eventually, I could start pumping but it continued to play obnoxious ads throughout. I won't be filling up there anymore.
Just wait until they start adding cameras that detect whether you're actually looking at the commercial or not, and pause the commercial when you're not paying attention. I'd link to the relevant Black Mirror episode, but I'm sure we've all seen it.
Ha, "pause the video"... What you meant to say was "pause the video and gas".
> Dear ,
> Your gas filling experience has been subsidized by our advertising partners (though of course the price went up 10% because we have to build tech to support this), as a result we are currently unable to supply gasoline while the pump based advertising is not being observed. You may contact your local gas station attendant but sadly due to our desire to comply with they will be unable to abort the ad servicing. Please be aware that the Terms of Service for this pump may change without warning and that by using our gas pump you have agreed to purchase at least one item featured in the advertising roll - failure to do so will be considered a breach of contract and may result in a fine of up to $100,000.
> Here at Friendly Gas we're all about maximizing the value to the customer!
> Thank you for your service,
> John Smith, Friendly Gas CEO
And... it might be a bit hard to enforce the breach of contract portion, but pretty sure everything else in that is legal in today's world.
Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
I moved from the UK to Canada 20 years ago this September. Back in High School and University, I worked retail for about 5 years or so. By the time I left, I haaaaaated Christmas music. Couldn't stand it. Now after 20 years in Canada, I really miss it. Nothing here is the same as it is in the UK when it comes to Christmas traditions. There's no carolers, the smells aren't the same, the shops aren't the same. Everythi…
My children are in a primary school level 'English as a second language' program in Australia right now, and my son got a 'Spot's first Christmas' book to take home to read yesterday. So then I had to explain what 'Christmas carolers' are, and why they would be at Spot's door if they're only a thing on the other side of the world? And also - snow? In December, at the height of summer? So that quickly devolved into a…
In December I took a trip to southern California, and it struck me as really bizarre to have these songs on local radio repeatedly mentioning snow when it was a relaxed 70°F (≈21°C) on Christmas Day.
Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#228They modernized the gas pumps at our local Speedway by adding video players. Instead of news like I've seen in California they play endless commercials and the volume is loud. I remember stopping one time when it was twenty below zero this winter, no one was at the pumps and the same commercial was playing and not a single pump's sound was in sync with another. I felt like I was in a movie about a dystopian future.
> I felt like I was in a movie about a dystopian future. Actually, you're in the dystopian future itself, it's just that "it's unevenly distributed." https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Future+unevenly+distributed&t=fpas... The movie will come later.
> The movie will come later.
Assuming they'll still make movies afterwards.
Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
As with many things, it's profit-driven. As a related example, bars intentionally turn the music up loud enough that conversations are difficult because this causes patrons to buy more drinks.
OTOH, I find this also makes it difficult to order drinks.
That encourages making the drink orders simpler too, which means the bartenders can have a higher throughput
Re: Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven’t been to malls in a while, so maybe it’s done stateside too, but some overseas malls go the extra effort and make sure they pump it up to 11 (as if at a bar after hours) It's as if they’re trying to drive traffic out of their stores instead of trying to keep them in.
They're not trying to drive traffic out, they're trying to discourage loitering. If you're there to buy something you're likely to just go in and buy it despite the problem. And if you're on the fence, you're likely to just make a hasty decision instead of considering it if it's too loud to avoid. The big impediment though, is loiterers. If there is a problem with people loitering in or in front of your store that te…
I've read that classical music is traditionally used to drive away loiterers. I find that amusing, although I can't quite explain why.