# Aaahh! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965 "2010-07-25T19:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bpelta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/1 "2010-07-25T19:00:11Z")
So I’m trying to get some last minute schoolwork done and I use Starbucks for internet, they know me, but I don’t buy anything more than a drink. And they’re playing, at high volume, the Chemical Brothers’ “Believe.” And everybody else in the place is acting calm, like nothing’s going on…times like these I wish I hadn’t lost my darn headphones, don’t have cash to buy until next month… ---
**Author:** ![Bpelta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/2 "2010-07-25T19:08:35Z")
And we’re on a Chemical Brothers playlist…now its gone to “Come Inside.” … ---
**Author:** ![Bpelta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/3 "2010-07-25T19:21:02Z")
And somebody asked them to turn it down and it’s pretty much just as loud now anyways… ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/4 "2010-07-25T19:25:39Z")
I wonder why Starbucks programs their music to play the same songs at the same time each day. I like to go there at lunch for my usual iced green tea and to check my e-mail, but my enjoyment is diminished by having to hear the same songs all the time. There was one week where they always played a cover version of that “houses made of ticky-tacky” song about noon or so. By Friday I was ready to strangle the baristas. Fortunately they switched to the new Sarah McLachlan album on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/5 "2010-07-25T19:29:04Z")
Maybe if you didn’t have to be so trendy you could have used the free internet at the public library instead. I bet it’s a lot quieter there. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/6 "2010-07-25T23:06:30Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > I wonder why Starbucks programs their music to play the same songs at the same time each day. I used to work at CPK, and the same issue came up. What we were told: there are a set number of songs approved by the corporate office that are allowed to be played during working hours. Each of these songs are carefully vetted and screened as to not cause controversy (i.e. no dirty words/images) and to not offend the target customer base (big difference here whether you are targeting teens or families or old people.) Then, any legal or copyright obligations are attended to (my assumption here is that the artist gets a royalty for the amount of time that the song is used in their stores.) Then, custom CD’s are burned and sent to stores. New CD’s are issued regularly, usually monthly but sometimes quarterly. The corporate office even issues guidelines about volume ranges. This also explains why new songs take several months to be played in the stores. When I worked at CPK, it was a vetted version of the Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 40 from twelve months ago. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/7 "2010-07-26T01:33:18Z")
If you hate their music so much why do you know the song titles? I’m picturing a Clockwork Orange-style torture chamber, except using your ears. I thought this thread would be about Real Monsters. It’s spelled right and everything, except for the number of exclamation marks… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/8 "2010-07-26T02:32:32Z")
Wait, they play the Chemical Brothers in Starbucks now? Let me know when they start turning up in their crap CD compilations, so I can start looking for a suicide booth. And OP: If you a regularly choosing to spend your time and money at Starbucks, you might consider looking for a suicide booth now. PM me with the coordinates so I can be prepared when the music I listen to finally completes its transition to utter banality. ---
**Author:** ![initech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/439d5e/32.png) [@initech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/initech)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/9 "2010-07-26T02:34:38Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Maybe if you didn’t have to be so trendy you could have used the free internet at the public library instead. I bet it’s a lot quieter there. Starbucks? Trendy? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/10 "2010-07-26T02:49:34Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Maybe if you didn’t have to be so trendy you could have used the free internet at the public library instead. I bet it’s a lot quieter there. Ha! Libraries are NOT as quiet as they used to be. People, including the freakin’ librarians, all talking in normal tones. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/11 "2010-07-26T05:39:48Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > > [@Rigamarole](#): > > > > Maybe if you didn’t have to be so trendy you could have used the free internet at the public library instead. I bet it’s a lot quieter there. > > Ha! Libraries are NOT as quiet as they used to be. People, including the freakin’ librarians, all talking in normal tones. WTF? Really? I’m enrolled in college now so I go to the university library much more often than public ones (less chance of stinky homeless people) and it’s always quiet as a graveyard there. Sad to hear that there may have been a paradigm shift elsewhere though. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/12 "2010-07-26T06:15:41Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > If you hate their music so much why do you know the song titles? I’m picturing a Clockwork Orange-style torture chamber, except using your ears. The OP doesn’t say he hates the Chemical Brothers. Hell, I _love_ the Chemical Brothers, but if I was trying to study and their music was blaring nearby, I’d be kind of annoyed as well. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/13 "2010-07-26T13:07:49Z")
I too came into this thread expecting/hoping for Real Monsters. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/14 "2010-07-26T14:19:13Z")
You can usually find cheap ear plugs for a couple of bucks at CVS or even cotton balls cheaper than that. They make flights, waiting rooms and other public places bearable. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/15 "2010-07-26T23:56:03Z")
I’m paying hard-earned money to listen to the Chemical Brothers at the Hollywood Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaahh/547965/16 "2010-07-27T00:06:51Z")
> [@Bpelta](#): > > So I’m trying to get some last minute schoolwork done and I use Starbucks for internet, they know me, but I don’t buy anything more than a drink. And they’re playing, at high volume, the Chemical Brothers’ “Believe.” And everybody else in the place is acting calm, like nothing’s going on…times like these I wish I hadn’t lost my darn headphones, don’t have cash to buy until next month… Can you afford some earplugs? (the good foam kind used for those working in loud conditions? They sell them at my local supermarket) Even wads of tissue paper stuffed in tight works pretty well. I feel your pain…recently was trying to study for a final on the train and this insipid BITCH sitting behind me just kept talking and talking LOUDLY about nothing important on her cell phone the whole ride and, try as I did, I couldn’t tune her out. :smack: I have made it a rule to always carry foam, industrial grade ear-plugs with me (to movies, concerts, train rides, where-ever, just in case). As Stuart Smalley says, “It’s better to put on slippers than try to carpet the whole world.” 😃