Music in the Grocery Store
Where to start, really? The problems with grocery store music started long ago and seem to be US-wide. It seems like the places I shop always use the same formula - oldies from 20 years previous.
When I was a little girl, it was 50s and 60s music. The music from my Mom's high school and college days. A year or so ago, it finally happened, they started playing music from my college and high school days. Sigh.
I couldn't believe it. Songs I hadn't heard for awhile shouldn't be heard in the grocery store. A grocery store should never have played The Cure or, worse, Echo and the Bunnymen. That stuff wasn't even on the radio, and somehow now it's ok in grocery stores? No, it doesn't make it cool, it makes it sad. For some reason, the pain and angst and hard won glory have been reduced to fluff while you shop.
It's almost unacceptable.
Before one has a chance to get over it, in comes the holiday music. Normally, I don't mind the holiday music coming in a bit early as I just love winter holiday.
However, I think that now having visited Singapore, it's finally over for me. These aholes have already started the Christmas music over here - complete with full decorations in the streets!
I had no idea Singapore had full on Christmas, with no bothersome Thanksgiving to get in the way. But of course what this means is that in the grocery stores they are playing Christmas songs, with only 6 weeks to go until Christmas.
Not to mention the Christmas trees everywhere, the sales ladies wearing Christmas corsages, the lights in the streets, the holiday flavored drinks, etc.
I was already on the verge of despising the stores that played music without regard to the listener. And there's the crux of it. It's all about manipulation with the grocery store music and my memories are being exploited because of it. I'll take Facebook over grocery store music any day.
Some say that major chord music sells more than minor, so why Echo and the Bunnymen and The Cure are used, don't get it. They also say that songs with certain beats help you buy more.
I just want some good music to create an overall happy experience, which is something I, personally, generally strive for anyway. I recognize that some people like other music better, and vice versa, but this problem isn't about that. This is about using music in ways that just aren't appropriate.
I nominate some lovely classical of some kind, or some jazz would be awesome. Do not play Christmas music 6 weeks before Christmas happens, for many reasons not the least of which is that not everybody is a Christian who observes, so if you're going to do it, how about maybe 3 weeks before at the most. And probably the worst, I don't want my age revealed to me in the harsh daylight of a commercial retail experience. Everybody knows what it means now, and it's doing the opposite, forcing me to get out of the place as quick as I can, and NOT leisurely shopping to get everything you want to sell me.
There are so many ways they could be innovative and provide a nice time while shopping. Sounds like a fun project, really. I wonder if any grocery store chain is even thinking about it? Or will they always be using this same formula that was tired before it even started?
When I was a little girl, it was 50s and 60s music. The music from my Mom's high school and college days. A year or so ago, it finally happened, they started playing music from my college and high school days. Sigh.
I couldn't believe it. Songs I hadn't heard for awhile shouldn't be heard in the grocery store. A grocery store should never have played The Cure or, worse, Echo and the Bunnymen. That stuff wasn't even on the radio, and somehow now it's ok in grocery stores? No, it doesn't make it cool, it makes it sad. For some reason, the pain and angst and hard won glory have been reduced to fluff while you shop.
It's almost unacceptable.
Before one has a chance to get over it, in comes the holiday music. Normally, I don't mind the holiday music coming in a bit early as I just love winter holiday.
However, I think that now having visited Singapore, it's finally over for me. These aholes have already started the Christmas music over here - complete with full decorations in the streets!
I had no idea Singapore had full on Christmas, with no bothersome Thanksgiving to get in the way. But of course what this means is that in the grocery stores they are playing Christmas songs, with only 6 weeks to go until Christmas.
Not to mention the Christmas trees everywhere, the sales ladies wearing Christmas corsages, the lights in the streets, the holiday flavored drinks, etc.
I was already on the verge of despising the stores that played music without regard to the listener. And there's the crux of it. It's all about manipulation with the grocery store music and my memories are being exploited because of it. I'll take Facebook over grocery store music any day.
Some say that major chord music sells more than minor, so why Echo and the Bunnymen and The Cure are used, don't get it. They also say that songs with certain beats help you buy more.
I just want some good music to create an overall happy experience, which is something I, personally, generally strive for anyway. I recognize that some people like other music better, and vice versa, but this problem isn't about that. This is about using music in ways that just aren't appropriate.
I nominate some lovely classical of some kind, or some jazz would be awesome. Do not play Christmas music 6 weeks before Christmas happens, for many reasons not the least of which is that not everybody is a Christian who observes, so if you're going to do it, how about maybe 3 weeks before at the most. And probably the worst, I don't want my age revealed to me in the harsh daylight of a commercial retail experience. Everybody knows what it means now, and it's doing the opposite, forcing me to get out of the place as quick as I can, and NOT leisurely shopping to get everything you want to sell me.
There are so many ways they could be innovative and provide a nice time while shopping. Sounds like a fun project, really. I wonder if any grocery store chain is even thinking about it? Or will they always be using this same formula that was tired before it even started?
Labels: grocery store, music, sad
