Ryuchi Sakamoto hating the music at the place he sips miso soup is the inspiration and example for the author's argument: too many establishments treat music as an afterthought, and it's interesting to put some thought into it so that it complements the business. I agree, I can name a local coffee chain and a laundry near me at that use Pandora - complete with inserted advertisements - & it could be better. I have family that worked at A&F who brought home their music DVDs. Sure, there would be a couple indie surprises tossed in the playlists, but overall I associate their music with the lowest common denominator demographic. Starbucks was playing Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz when I recently walked in. These companies play "brand-establishing music, or the kind that makes you want to spend money". I don't think Mr. Sakamoto's goal is the same, he is choosing brand complementing music.
This is an utterly baseless and prejudicial sentiment. "I don't like the music therefore the owner didn't think about it." The restaurant owners I know sweat blood over the music - ask cgod. Meanwhile the large organizations you describe - A&F and Starbuck's - have entire teams of people focused on the music and whoever ultimately picks the playlist has to make them happy as well as serving the brand; we had a tie-in with AFI wherein we got their album a week before it dropped which meant we had to revise every Hot Topic playlist to use and compliment AFI while also preserving whatever else Hot Topic had going on. Then, of course, we had to explain how our system was "hacked" when the AFI album showed up on torrent sites; we had to deploy forensic investigators to point out that the audio files available had minute amounts of analog distortion because someone had unplugged our encrypted player from the amplifier and run the signal into their iPhone. Much like your Lil Jon issue. it doesn't take much to unplug the music and plug in your own. I think Mr. Sakamoto's goal is to listen to music he likes while sipping miso. And I think it's an insult to trades most people don't think about when they presume "oh, I hate the music therefore the guy who picked it is an idiot."too many establishments treat music as an afterthought, and it's interesting to put some thought into it so that it complements the business.
Because I've had to field calls that start with "if you ever play Dixie Chicks in our stores again we'll tear out all the gear and ship it back freight collect." The article is baseless. Interesting? Surely. But if I know something is deeply and completely wrong, am I supposed to shut up so I don't hurt your feelings?
In case you missed it, the article - and your sentiments - run directly contrary to that which I did for a living for 90 hours a week for 2 years. The "trade most people don't think about" was mine. Considering this whole discussion has been about how me and my former colleagues have no fucking idea what we're doing, I'd say I've been rather polite.
There's a coffee shop around here that I used to visit frequently and stopped going to altogether. Nothing about the place has changed, except for the fact that they have insisted on playing really weird, really experimental jazz. We're talking about syncopated beats, hard to follow melodies, almost zero structure, all that kind of stuff. Coffee is supposed to be relaxing, that music counter acts it.