Noise about Noise

Just a rant …

What’s the deal with the loud music OUTSIDE stores now? Trying to walk into a Circuit City store forces you to wade through a wall of noise … music loud enough that the bass is badly distorted … before you reach the “inner sanctum”, where the music is still too loud to pick out a clock radio or stereo. Perhaps that’s the goal; deafen the customer before they enter the store, and then leave the music on loud enough so they can’t differentiate between good and bad systems. No thanks, I’ll go someplace relatively quiet where I can actually hear the product I’m buying. Best Buy, Frys, Radio Shack … at least you can hear what you’re planning to buy there.

Its an unsettling trend. I noticed the BJ’s Restaurant in my home town had a similar arrangement. Music projected outside the doors. Well, they have to page dinner guests, I thought, and then I opened the door. Loud music washed over me, and I fought the temptation to stagger backwards. It took three tries for the hostess to get my name right (“Frank” sounds like “Brian” and “Rick” when accompanied by loud Goo Goo Dolls music). Luckily, we were seated far from the hostess station, where the ambient noise was in the normal range for a “sports bar” type of restaurant. Which is to say it was loud enough already.

So what’s the deal? Is this a new fad like the heroin-addict models they were showing in ads a few years back? Is it a commentary on the short attention span of our populace, with constant and intense stimulation is required to induce buying impulses?