Starbucks seems to be a victim of its own success. There are coffee houses everywhere now where I live (Manhattan). I used to go to Starbucks on an almost daily basis until the ones in my neighborhood began turning up the volume of the music--mostly rap and rock--to ear-splitting, headache-inducing volumes. On a couple of occasions I pol…
Starbucks seems to be a victim of its own success. There are coffee houses everywhere now where I live (Manhattan). I used to go to Starbucks on an almost daily basis until the ones in my neighborhood began turning up the volume of the music--mostly rap and rock--to ear-splitting, headache-inducing volumes. On a couple of occasions I politely asked the baristas to turn down the volume. On one occasion, the barista gave me a cold stare and did nothing. On the other occasion, the barista told me she didn't know how, an obvious lie.
I believe that the music, both style and volume, is set from a central location now. I asked the same question as you a few years back, and was told they had no control over it in the store. All driven by what corporate felt was the best for marketing.
That's interesting. It sounds exactly like the centralization that nearly killed Barnes & Nobel. People used to bitch about centralized planning in the USSR, but we've got it with our oligopolistic chains in the US. We Americans used to joke about Bread Bakery #35 in Moscow, but how often to we go to a store with just a number, not a name?
Yeah, listening to good music at ear-splitting volumes isn't preferable. Listening to the garbage music SB sources from who-knows-where is unbearable. Maybe they're trying to turn tables and get people to leave more quickly instead of camping out and blogging all day?
Rick: Maybe the music is centrally planned, but it varies from region to region. I spend weeks at a time visiting my mother, who lives in a small town in Canada, where there's a Starbucks that I visit every day. The music played there is mostly contemporary and classic pop. I told the barista about my problem with the music at New York City Starbucks. She said they don't play rap because small-town customers find the lyrics offensive.
Starbucks seems to be a victim of its own success. There are coffee houses everywhere now where I live (Manhattan). I used to go to Starbucks on an almost daily basis until the ones in my neighborhood began turning up the volume of the music--mostly rap and rock--to ear-splitting, headache-inducing volumes. On a couple of occasions I politely asked the baristas to turn down the volume. On one occasion, the barista gave me a cold stare and did nothing. On the other occasion, the barista told me she didn't know how, an obvious lie.
I believe that the music, both style and volume, is set from a central location now. I asked the same question as you a few years back, and was told they had no control over it in the store. All driven by what corporate felt was the best for marketing.
That's interesting. It sounds exactly like the centralization that nearly killed Barnes & Nobel. People used to bitch about centralized planning in the USSR, but we've got it with our oligopolistic chains in the US. We Americans used to joke about Bread Bakery #35 in Moscow, but how often to we go to a store with just a number, not a name?
Yeah, listening to good music at ear-splitting volumes isn't preferable. Listening to the garbage music SB sources from who-knows-where is unbearable. Maybe they're trying to turn tables and get people to leave more quickly instead of camping out and blogging all day?
Rick: Maybe the music is centrally planned, but it varies from region to region. I spend weeks at a time visiting my mother, who lives in a small town in Canada, where there's a Starbucks that I visit every day. The music played there is mostly contemporary and classic pop. I told the barista about my problem with the music at New York City Starbucks. She said they don't play rap because small-town customers find the lyrics offensive.