Why is music so loud in restaurants? (Serious)
Why is music so loud in restaurants? (Serious)
I got my hearing professionally checked today and all is normal. But I have difficulty hearing people I am dining with, talking in restaurants. Is it me, or is the music just too damn loud?!
It's to encourage you to eat faster and leave, so your table is available for the next victim.
This is it. It's why seats/stools look nice but feel uncomfortable after 20 or so minutes.
I remember seeing this on the news a few years ago. If I remember right, they were interviewing a design firm that does interior design for fast food and fast casual restaurants, and they were talking about all of this. I was really surprised at how candid they were being, since you would think that they would want this to be an industry secret.
The high stools with no back, the music that is too loud, the lights that are a little too bright and kind of hanging down in your field of view: all intentional, so that you're just ever so slightly uncomfortable and you leave a few minutes sooner.
As a person with digestive problems that lead to hemorrhoids, this one in particular feels like a big fuck you.
I have ADHD and I find I have lots of difficulties with auditory processing in high noise floor situations. Also got my hearing checked because I couldn't understand people in loud spaces. Turns out ADHD brains just don't handle processing all that noise well. If I understand it correctly it's because we need to process everything at the same level instead of some things being easy to leave on autopilot. Might not be your case but it sounded familiar so, that's my two bits.
Wow this sounds so familiar. I need to learn more. Any resources you could recommend?
https://screening.mhanational.org/screening-tools/adhd/ This seems like a useful test to me for getting a better idea if you should talk to a psychiatrist or not. It's ups and downs getting diagnosed, especially as an adult. I had one psychiatrist give me their full test and questionnaire and decided I was borderline but wouldn't diagnose me or prescribe anything, (I was already on a med that helped but not any of the controlled ones) The next psychiatrist I went to a few years later didn't even have me do the test, we had an in person appointment, (which I was late to) and after we'd talked for about 20 minutes I asked "so, when do we schedule the ADHD assessment?" He said "Oh, no, we don't need to do one, you very clearly have ADHD." XD Honestly though I learned more about it from the experiences of people on social media who had it than I ever learned from a doctor. I'd start with searching ADHD hashtags and see if you resonate with other people's experiences.
So you're basically saying we're doing manual processing of the output stream instead of using pipewires inbuilt filters, like in the PulseAudio days?
I just don't go to restaurants/bars with loud music anymore because of this. Buying beer and snacks somewhere else and sitting in public parks with my friends is better and much cheaper.
Same here, stimulant meds help a lot with it. I also have troubles understanding lyrics in songs. English isn't my first language and I really thought that I just don't understand this accents. Turns out that I can understand the lyrics way better when on meds, without it just sounds jibberisch - I can hear the syllables but they don't make any sense.
That! My Boo has the hardest time figuring out if I've listened to a song or not because he tells me the name of the song and the artist and I go "I don't fucking know dude", so he tells me some of the lyrics, and I go ¯\(◉‿◉)/¯, so he plays me the song and within the first two notes I'm like "oh yeah I've heard this a billion times" 🤦♀️
That was one of my biggest revelations last year. Figuring out I have ADHD and that's why it's hard for me to understand people, especially in crowded and loud spaces. Sometimes I found myself simultaneously listening to music, other people's conversations and my own conversations. Makes it quite difficult sometimes.
Apparently, these restaurants want to make your dining experience unpleasant, so you won't linger over your meal. The sooner you leave, the sooner they can replace you with another paying customer. You probably shouldn't give these places your business.
exactly, hence why coffee shops in particular play the same three obnoxious Christmas songs on repeat during the season. They don't want you to stay, they want you pay and leave.
I will say that this tactic is just forcing people to invest in better headphones, but I lament that we're now in an auditory arms race for merely existing in a public space
"Simply . . . Having . . . a Wonderful Christmas Time!"
/sorry
At one restaurant this week a woman was playing and watching a video on her phone very loudly, oblivious to bothering everyone, and a foodworker came and asked her to turn it down. The woman replied, “You can here THAT?!” She turned it down and the foodworker went back to her station screaming orders are ready out to other customers. The video-watcher proceeded to walk around and stand near people’s tables to watch her video.
What is going on with this world?
That's what I have done. Entered and then walked right out without ordering anything.
Tile or concrete floors, hard surface walls, glass windows all reflect sound. As people start talking, if they are drinking they get louder, so then each table is trying to talk over the tables around them. Without acoustic damping, it can get pretty loud.
That's a big part of it, but some people are just loud and some restaurants just play their music way too loud all the time.
Some bosses want to make sure you can hear the music at a decent volume at the back tables. Meanwhile the front tables:
This is exactly why during my solo shift I turn off the music completely. I want silence. Beautiful, delicious silence.
Bless you my sweet baby child.
Hmm. Processing disorders are a thing.
Some restaurants do have damn loud music, though. Most don't where I live but that's probably regional.
Everyone keeps mentioning them, but no one links to the information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_processing_disorder
One of potential symptoms is indeed "Difficulty hearing in noisy environments"
I have a nice workaround: good earplugs. They lower the overall volume, and all of a sudden I can understand spoken words again. Too bad they actually increase for me the sound of my own chewing.
My work was evacuated once for a fire alarm (false) and we all kinda stood around waiting for the firemen to come and let us back in. While we waited we chatted. But I realised that I couldn't understand what the people four feet away from me were saying. I could hear the noises coming from their mouths, but I couldn't understand them. When the alarm was switched off, I could understand them.
Brain is weird.
Thank you. I would have linked it if I realised.
Because you choose to keep going to restaurants where they play loud music. No idea why you're doing that
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that so many places don't adjust the volume properly to the amount of people in the place. If I go to a sports bar near me for happy hour, they have the music the same volume as when a big game is on and the place is packed.
It seems the music is set for the staff instead of the customers too.
“Turn it up loud enough we don’t have to hear these assholes complain”
You may have just nailed the motivation.
It's not you. If I'm at a RESTAURANT and can't hear my friends, I leave. I won't spend money at a place I have to yell to be heard (unless there's a band I specifically want to see or I'm at a bar, but even bars have limits).
Often because the staff is bored silly and want music to get through their minimum wage shift.
They've said restaurants though, not fast food joints.
Correct. A lot of restaurants pay staff that can get tips minimum wage, since they can make $100+ of extra income during the shift.
Some backward countries even have a lower minimum wage for people who can get tips.
I personally avoid such places. There are many who make live music a selling point, which always plays super loud to the point where any chat can only happen by shouting into someone else's ear. How people like this is beyond me
Pro-tip: Even in a loud place you can (and should!) speak with your normal voice (e.g. no shouting) when having your mouth an inch or two from the other person's ear. They will hear you just fine, even if you can't hear yourself.
Talking customers take longer to gtfo their tables so they can stick someone else in .
Might be relevant, but I find that American restaurants are generally louder compared to European ones.
Side note: And why is ithe music always fucking neo-country? Sure, I've mostly been to Texas, but I have several albums in my CD collection as a testament to y'all making good music too.
My experience in American restaurants is that the music is usually whatever is currently popular, so there's a lot of hip hop and pop songs about dancing and fucking.
Last time I was out to eat with friends, the restaurant was playing an easy listening version of Welcome to the Jungle. That was a lot to process.
The US and it's people are often super loud. I say this as one who traveled and now lives in Japan. I didn't notice right away and had to work hard to lower my normal volume
It's too loud most places.
They blast loud because if you start talking with your friends and eat slowly and spend a lot of time their eating little.
In India, restaurants generally play smooth music at near audible levels.
I once read that it's an epigenetic thing and it can be found across the animal kingdom. Some animals are born more sensitive and others less and this is important for the species or social group as a whole. This actually happens on a neuron level.
The less sensitive kind needs to actively search out stimulation, whereas you can leave the more sensitive one alone with a flower and they'll be a happy camper.
And there's so much more to it, for example developmental. Have you ever noticed the difference in sound levels in people's homes? In some places it's just like a warzone. TV on max, dogs barking, kids screaming. Imagine growing up with that. Like a fish in water.
And then there's all the processing disorders..
You can train yourself though if you value it. I enjoy encounters and it bothered me a lot, so I just kept going to busy cafés and bars until my brain finally got the memo. It keeps surprising me how my hearing has become like a sort of precision microphone.
Off topic, but related to unwanted noise. Why do white waitstaff/restaurants interupt you when you are talking to someone to ask you "How is everything? Everyone doing ok?". removed look at the plate. I haven't touched it since you gave it to me 30 seconds ago. Take a note from Asians. Silently fill the water, observe the vibe, and go if no one says anything. Or some Latino restaurants where they won't do anything unless you explicitly call them over and ask. I'd take loud music you have to shout over if Cindi with a 'i' doesn't interupt conversations.
That shit annoys me too. I was just at a restaurant today where the waitress would not only interrupt but then linger to babble on and on. Like bitch I'm on a date, fill my drink and fuck off.
I agree, asian places have the best service. Super respectful and I do appreciate that.
It's to ensure your food is up to expectations. Mistakes happen, and a busy dining room dictates a server will help you when they can, not necessarily when you try to flag them down.
Definitely an american thing. I always find it annoying when I travel there. Also, bringing the bill with desert. Let me finish my meal first before giving me hints to get the fuck out
I can understand where you are coming from, from the other perspective, I have gone into places gotten my food, got my dessert, they don’t bring the bill. 40 minutes later I’m asking a different waiter to get me my check because my waiter never came back.
I’d rather they bring the check right away so I can pay them leave when I want.
Rant incoming:
“Fast casual” has ruined dinning. The concept is a volume play of moving as many customers as quick as possible while still giving “personalized service” with the least number of servers possible. Naturally this becomes a race to the bottom with “service” taking the biggest hit since it is the most subjective experience and thus the hardest to measure. The worst part is that most American diners we are slowly lowering expectations in which allows for further reductions in service and makes the experience even worse, but “with prices like these, what can you expect?”
You'll want to smash both your arms as loud as possible on the table while dominantly starting at them.
Works for me every time.
'murica
Yes they constantly interrupt. Definitely feels like you are there for them versus they are there for your service. Whole new subject.
It doesn't seem to be a super common, general thing where I live. However, there are some more prone to it than others, like places that have a bar and/or otherwise serve alcohol. Typically though it's only the nights they do live music and that's most often weekends and around specific holidays.
Mostly I just avoid pretty much any establishment if they've got live entertainment for the night and I'm there to eat as well as talk with others. I avoid any that are particularly egregious in terms of loud music. I have been with a group where we asked if the volume could be turned down on the speakers one night at a live event where we were one of only a few tables in the entire place and it was clear that nobody was particularly interested in damaging their hearing. The manager slowly slinked over to the performers about 5 - 10 minutes after the request, and they stopped playing shortly after.
Most respectable places have music that is loud at the beginning of service when there are few diners, but then the music gets lower as time goes on and the place fills up.
....not that I reread this, I'm really not implying you dont go to reputable places....really
In some crowded places they do it, so it doesn't feel like a central station.
You guys don’t like the terrible cover band that comes and blasts their rockin tune?
Switched on Pop: Gastropod: Why are restaurants so loud? Plus the science behind the perfect playlist
Episode webpage: http://www.switchedonpop.com
Trashy people like loud music while eating at a restaurant? At best it's a college town? Or maybe a beach town? That would make sense.