The local 99 Cents Only store keeps repating a handful of music. Every time I am in there, I hear “What’s Love Got To Do With It” and “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart”. I am developing a loathing for Tina Turner and Kiki Dee. I am starting to dislike Elton John, and that is going too far.
What reason could they have? Is there some bargain basement package from Muzak that only has enough music on the loop for the average shopping visit? Wouldn’t the royalties be the same regardless of how many songs they use? Or is there some nefarious conspiracy to fatten the royalty checks of Tina, Elton and Kiki? It makes no sense to me.
It is a chain, so next time I am in another location, I will check if it is the same. http://www.99only.com/
I spoke to an employee about it, and she didn’t know, but it was clear it was slowly driving her insane. :eek: Isn’t this cruel and unusual punishment for the workers?
How long has it been going on for? I read in one of the threads here that Muzak (or one of the other similar companies) will pipe in the same songs over and over for a few weeks and then swap it out for a new selection.
Or maybe the manager just dropped a 99¢ CD into a sound system that feeds the speakers and put it on repeat.
The stores can be made to pay ASCAP fees for playing music. If you use the same five songs, it keeps the expenses down – you only have to pay for the five songs instead of a blanket license.
Years ago, I worked in Spencer Gifts and they had a tape that played one song – “Every Picture Tells a Story.” I started to really hate Rod Stewart.
It may drive the employees at that store insane, but my guess is that the average 99 cent store doesn’t have many customers who stay around more than a short time. If most customers just come in, buy a handful of items, then pay and leave, 15 minutes worth of music is plenty. The customer will surely be gone before the first song is played again.
For a period of almost a year, I worked about 20-30 hours a week at a gas station/quickie mart. During that time, the same 10 or so songs were played constantly. It was almost painful to endure after a point. Even now, over ten years later, if any of those songs come on the radio, I get horrible flashbacks to working there and have to immediately change the channel. So, you need to save those dollar store employees. Don’t make them suffer the same musical PTSD I have had to endure.
