Last night I went shopping at the Jewel-Osco (a grocery store) near me. Usually they play inoffensive (if crappy) music, but yesterday they were playing country “music.” This isn’t Arkansas, for Christ’s sake. When I got home, I actually called the store manager and let him know that if they keep playing country “music,” I will no longer shop there.
I hear ya. But, I must admit, in my local Super Stop n’ Shop they regularly play Faith Hill’s song This Kiss. I have to admit: that is a well-crafted piece of Country-Pop confection. I tip my hat - sometimes a great Big Mac is a great Big Mac 
No. I have actual problems in my life to worry about.
I was looking for tools at Harbor Freight and the awful noise coming from the ceiling speakers drove me out before I could find everything I needed. It was really that bad.
Sometimes the music is bad, but it’s pretty rare and I can’t think of a time I’ve encountered it twice in the same store. I think the awful/too loud stuff tends to be the choice of a noob or low-caste manager while the boss is away. Or even a supervisor left in charge for an hour.
There are businesses that have AM rant radio as their ambience. I don’t go back a second time even if it means driving 20 miles to an alternative.
The only time I ever complained about background music was several years ago, when my favorite local barbecue place started playing country music instead of the blues and I e-mailed management about it. Someone paid attention - I’ve never had that slop ruining my digestion again.
And yet you spend time posting on the Dope. 
::snerk::
…but, dude!
I usually have my earbuds in so I rarely notice what music a store is playing, except for during the checkout process.
Slight hijack that can be ignored, but restaurants that promote a noisy ambience lose my business, sometimes before I’m seated the first time. I understand that there’s a thought that some kinds of patrons find the “nightclub” roar appealing and that it promotes a lively, kewl kind of vibe, but I’ve sat in too many places where we couldn’t hear each other across a dinner table. Max’s [Opera] Cafes out west, and Macaroni Grill come to mind. It’s not music, it’s worse: it’s noise, and it’s intentional.
Only really in bars. If I go to a bar and they blast KISS till the windows shake I know it’s not my kind of place. I really don’t get put off as much by the selection as the volume.
I can’t imagine having such a large stick wedged up my ass that I would stop shopping somewhere because of the type of music they played. I could understand if the music was blaring or if the lyrics were outright offensive but I can’t really understand hating a style of music so much that you can’t be around it while you’re shopping.
Did you let the door hit your ass on the way out?
It’s called “vote with your wallet.” If the business doesn’t want to make their premises inviting and comfortable for you, they don’t deserve your patronage. A lot of people find specific genres of music annoying or distracting, and I’d put CW at the top of that list (well, maybe after thrash metal and that awful high-pitched Japanese stuff). If they have to have music, something that is intensely offputting to some good percentage of their customer base is pretty stupid.
I really, really don’t understand the attitude that retailers should be allowed to treat customers any damned way they want - economically, environmentally or socially - and that we as customers are just supposed to suck it up. That someone who would object to music many of us find obnoxious, or objects (as in other threads) to endless upsell and pestering, is somehow at fault. We’re not. And speaking up about it - to the manager or owner - is not inappropriate.
Sometimes I’ll dislike a song so much when I’m in a store that I’ll walk out of the store, but I won’t stop coming to the store.
I do hate it when businesses start playing Christmas music on November 1, though. But I won’t stop going to those places (partly because one of them is my pharmancy.)
There is a local bar that I haven’t been to in a while because the music there is often too loud, but it’s not the type of music that offends me.
Music in a bar defines the atmosphere. Jazz or classic rock pretty much means I’ll want to visit. Hip hop or rap means I’ll leave. There are way too many bars in the Chicagoland area to put up with lousy music.
There’s a local joint called Killer Burger. They play some pretty loud metal rock in there, but the burgers are so freaking awesome, that I’m willing to put up with it.
I think the difference is that we all have a list of songs we hate; we are probably in some general minority unless the song is “Muskrat Love” or “Dancing Queen.” A whole genre that a significant number of people find annoying is another story.
I wish more businesses would wait UNTIL November 1. I can’t express how weary I am of the retrograde march of the reindeer.
I switched gyms because of the volume. I work out early, and at 4.30am, with only half a dozen people in the gym the music was loud enough that it drowned out my ipod. You could hear it in the parking lot.
Only if it’s Christmas music in October. Then I go border-line postal.
The Dope can solve a lot of problems. I’ve gotten a lot of good information off this board in the past few years, and some of this information has been of considerable benefit to me financially, academically, medically, and time management-wise. Even if I still had to plunk down the $15/year, I’d be here.