Stop M&S reintroducing piped music!

Marks and Spencer, which two years ago decided to stop piped music after years of mounting protests, may be having second, very foolish, thoughts. Reports suggest it is ‘trialling’ piped music in 35 stores around Britain. As such trials are sometimes carried out by agents of the piped music industry itself, and anyway will not count all the shoppers who turn on  their heels the moment they hear piped music, the results will very probably be skewed.  M&S is presumably desperate to reverse the fall in sales afflicting every High Street chain, but this is a commercially suicidal move that will drive repel more shoppers than it will attract. It will also affect thousands of people with hearing and other problems besides upsetting many members of their own staff.  If you only make one protest this year, make M&S your target.  Write in cogent protest (citing facts from the Fact Sheet) to their CEO Steve Rowe. His email is steve.rowe@marks-and-spencer.com

Morrisons introduce Quiet Hour for shoppers with autism

Morrisons, the supermarket chain, is introducing a Quiet Hour every Saturday morning. Its 439 UK stores will turn off their piped music, dim lights, avoid using the tannoy and turn down check-out beeps  from 09:00 to 10:00. Morrisons is the first major supermarket chain to roll out the scheme to all stores nationwide.

The National Autistic Society called it a ‘step in the right direction’. It is indeed only a step because, although Morrison’s initiative is welcome, one hour per week of quiet shopping is not nearly enough! Nor are the estimated nearly 700,000 people (1% of the nation) with autism the only ones who find piped music deeply upsetting. The 15% of the population with hearing problems – which can include everything from tinnitus, presbycusis and misphonia to moderate deafness – also detest piped music. So of course do many people with perfect hearing.

Other chains are considering following suit. Asda said a number of its supermarkets across the country already worked with local groups to run quiet hours on a regular basis. It added it was working with specialist charity groups to ensure its stores were inclusive for all.

Tesco said it was not planning on rolling out the initiative nationwide, but store managers were welcome to introduce it if they felt it appropriate – as one store in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, did last year. And Sainsbury’s said more than 600 of its stores took part in the National Autistic Society’s Autism Hour in October last year and will be doing so again this year. In three of its Liverpool-based stores, where staff have received training, parents can request a number of store modifications when they begin their shopping trip, it added.

All such moves should be applauded and the chains concerned urged to extend their Quiet Hours greatly. Write to David Potts, CEO of Morrisons, congratulating him and urging him to extend the scheme to other days/times of the week.  david.potts-ceo@morrisonsplc.co.uk

 

Red buttons to mute television music?

A recurrent complaint about otherwise excellent television documentaries is their intrusive, often inappropriate music. (For some reason this is particularly bad on wildlife programmes but it mars many other documentaries too). For years the relevant authorities, especially at the BBC, have shrugged off complaints with bland or irrelevant comments (such as suggesting you use subtitles), leaving frustrated viewers having either to mute the programme or to turn it off .

NB All music, along with other sounds including ‘natural’ noises, is dubbed in later. 

Now, news arrives that the Red Button on the remote control can be used to mute the commentary. If it can be used to mute commentaries, it can surely be used to mute music too, something Pipedown has long urged. While this may require further adjustments, it cannot be technically impossible.

Yet the BBC does not want to know! Its management prefers to ignore the fact that many of its viewers are likely to be over 50, and thus annoyed by piped music of any sort. 

Complain via the BBC website bbc_complaints_website@bbc.co.uk”  It is not possible to email any person directy .

Quiet Corners revamped!

Quiet Corners, which lists muzak-free pubs, hotels, restaurants, shops etc has been rejigged by our heroically indefatigable hon webmaster Chris Chinnery. It is now possible to type in your location and see what tranquil places have been suggested (by members) within 10, 25 or 50 miles. At present this revamp is not quite complete but it soon will be. Ultimately it should be possible also to download an app to your mobile. Seehttps://quietcorners.org.uk

The Coop chain is voted our next target – and so is the Nationwide Building Society

The Coop supermarket chain has won the wooden spoon of being voted the worst  offender for piped music. Although the chain is not everyone’s choice of shop, it is often the only place that the most vulnerable in society – those who cannot drive for whatever reason, for example – find they have to do their shopping. It is also a chain that loudly proclaims its ethical ideals.               So whether or not you shop there regularly, write in protest to its CEO Steve Murrells steve.murrells@co-operative.coop

(NB: Not every branch of the Co-op is controlled by the London HQ. The East Anglia and Midlands branches have some autonomy, so it is wise to check the status of a branch before making a protest.)

Email steve.murrells@co-operative.coop

The Nationwide Building Society, which until recently prided itself on not  having piped music, is now introducing it, doubtless misled by the mendacious propaganda of the piped music industry. Email  www.nationwide.co.uk/support/contact-us/make-a-complaint or  by post to The Complaints Team, Nationwide Building Society  NW 2020, Swindon SN38 1NW    As the Nationwide is still  converting once pleasant branches to muzac-filled places of torment, it is well worth writing NOW.

 

Local and global: new Pipedown groups formed

In Australia Warren  Fahey, who is  well-known in the musical world,  has set up a splendid new website pipedown.net  for Pipedown Australia. Anyone living in or ever visiting Australia who detests piped music should contact him through it or directly at wfahey@bigpond.net.au

In the USA  the Ann Arbor, Michigan group, with its fine new website, has been getting noticed in the local and national media. See http://quietannarbor.org

Meanwhile in London Carol Caplan has held the first meeting of Pipedown London.  She is planning to leaflet concert-goers at the Proms Season at the Albert Hall  this summer, realising that lovers of real music freely chosen are among those most likely to hate the unwanted piped sort. Do support her by offering to help leaflet on some evenings – this should only  take at most 30 minutes.  Or make other suggestions. Her email address is pipedown@ossian.me.uk

In Germany Lauchsprecheraus! under new guidance continues to combat piped music in Germany. See   pipedown.de/

 

The address for Pipedown UK’s HQ remains  newpipedown@btinternet.com

 

 

Noise Exposure Linked to Heart Disease, Strokes and Diabetes

A  review in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology,  reports that  high levels of noise are very bad for your heart. A connection between noise pollution and cardiovascular disease has been observed in numerous studies over the years,  the review said. High noise levels from road traffic and aircraft are connected to high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, stroke and heart failure even after allowing for other factors like air pollution and socioeconomic status.

But despite growing  evidence, little is known about how noise pollution contributes to heart problems. To shed light on that question, researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany compiled and analysed findings from dozens of previous studies on noise and various health outcomes.

Their new review suggests that noise disrupts the body at the cellular level. Researchers say it induces stress responses and activates the sympathetic “fight or flight” nervous system. This causes a spike in stress hormones, which eventually lead to cardiovascular damage. Noise is  is a driving factor in oxidative stress and metabolic abnormalities which contribute to other diseases like diabetes. For people with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, living in a noisy environment could accelerate atherosclerosis.

“The important point is that noise is not just annoying,” lead author Dr. Thomas Munzel, director of the department of internal medicine, said. While his paper focuses largely on cardiovascular and metabolic implications of noise, he points to the growing evidence that chronic noise can  cause mental health problems (including depression and anxiety), and can harm children’s cognitive development.

One way noise pollution affects heart health is by disrupting sleep. In studies, night time noise has been linked to an increase in blood pressure,  even when people didn’t wake up or even realise their sleep had been disrupted. ‘You can can close your eyes but not your ears,” Munzel said. ‘Our body will always react with a stress reaction.’

Even chronic noise during the day will  have major effects on the body, said Dr. James O’Keefe, a cardiologist at the Mid America Heart Institute, Saint Luke’s Hospital, in Kansas City. ‘When we’re exposed to loud noises, the sympathetic nervous system dominates,” said O’Keefe, who was not involved in the new review. “That can really put your system on alert and makes you jumpy, which can wear down your resilience — just like any other type of physical or mental stress.” O’Keefe said that, as a cardiologist who focuses on prevention, he’s read a lot about the connection between noise pollution and heart health. “But I don’t really think it’s something the average physician or cardiologist is particularly tuned into,” he said. Munzel said people in cities around the world should worry about noise pollution, and that the problem is getting worse. “It is important to note that no one can develop tolerance to noise,” he said, despite what many  believe. In fact, people’s cardiovascular systems actually seem to become more sensitive to noise — and so more easily damaged — over time.

While there’s no volume threshold established for heart-disease risk, Munzel said that chronic exposure to anything over 60 decibels (the level of a typical conversation in an office) has the potential to harm the cardiovascular system. A telephone ringing produces about 80 decibels, a jackhammer 100, and an aircraft at takeoff a 120.

Most background music is between 80 and 90 decibels, well over the threshold at which damage to the cardiovascular system has been observed if below that at which damage to hearing becomes apparent. 

“I hope that in future politicians will make laws that protect the people from environmental stressors,” he said. A reduction in overall noise pollution, he said, “will be a factor that can be influenced by politicians only and not by patients and doctors.’

 Pipedown, in association with other groups, intends to keep pressing politicians on this vital issue. In the longer run, it is indeed a matter of life and death.

 

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SAVE QUIET CARRIAGES ON TRAINS!

Recent reports indicate that several train companies are considering dropping Quiet Carriages on trains, on the grounds that such carriages are difficult and expensive to police and not really very popular. Write in to the heads of the relevant rail companies around the UK and tell them just how wrong they are.

Originally Quiet Carriages were established because of the noise caused by passengers talking non-stop on their mobiles, and by their ring tones. Now, as more and more people use text or email rather than talking to communicate, this particular problem has shrunk but the need for carriages that are quiet overall (with no very loud conversations, for example) grows as the world itself grows ever noisier.

Write also to the newspapers and even to your MP.

Andy Mellors is the top personage at South West Railways, and his email address is andy.mellors@swrailway.com

For Virgin, which has already stopped having Quiet Carriages in First Class, David Horne is the CE, david.horne@virgintrainseastcoast.com

Other rail CEOs’ e-addresses can be found at https://www.ceoemail.com/index-search.php

Piped music one of the most hated aspects of hotels today, new survey finds.

‘The omnipresent curse of annoying muzak’ is the fourth most commonly hated aspect of hotels today, reports The Good Hotel Guide in its just published 2018 edition.  (Poor Wifi reception, dim lighting in bedrooms and  ‘captive’ coat hangers were the first three most hated things in modern hotels.) The Good Hotel Guide,  one of the few such guides to remain wholly independent and impartial, gives full details about the piped music – or lack of – in each hotel reviewed.