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posted by Fnord666 on Monday March 04 2019, @01:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-just-employees dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Starbucks' music is driving employees nuts. A writer says it's a workers' rights issue | CBC Radio

You may not give a second thought to the tunes spinning on a constant loop at your favourite café or coffee shop, but one writer and podcaster who had to listen to repetitive music for years while working in bars and restaurants argues it's a serious workers' rights issue.

"[It's] the same system that's used to ... flood people out of, you know, the Branch Davidian in Waco or was used on terror suspects in Guantanamo — they use the repetition of music," Adam Johnson told The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.

"I'm not suggesting that working at Applebee's is the same as being at Guantanamo, but the principle's the same."

Earlier this year, irritated Starbucks employees took to Reddit to rage about how they had to listen to the same songs from the Broadway hit musical Hamilton on repeat while on the job. One user wrote that if they heard a Hamilton song one more time, "I'm getting a ladder and ripping out all of our speakers from the ceiling."

Johnson argues it wouldn't take years of research to understand that "yes, playing the same music over and over again has a deleterious effect on one's mental well-being."


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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Monday March 04 2019, @02:39PM (10 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 04 2019, @02:39PM (#809773) Journal

    Most Starbucks locations don't seem to be in a physical arrangement where employees would commit suicide by jumping to their deaths.

    Are there other protections Starbucks could use to prevent employees from committing suicide?

    Managers within the organization would find it very undesirable to have to train new employees. New hires and training involve additional costs. The organization would rightfully want to protect itself from these costs.

    Maybe there is a way to hypnotize employees to be immune to the music played in Starbucks? Or some kind of drug? But then, these would be an additional cost to the organization.

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    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by JNCF on Monday March 04 2019, @02:48PM (1 child)

    by JNCF (4317) on Monday March 04 2019, @02:48PM (#809776) Journal

    Maybe there is a way to hypnotize employees to be immune to the music played in Starbucks? Or some kind of drug? But then, these would be an additional cost to the organization.

    Lobotomies are cheap if you do them in-house.

    • (Score: 5, Funny) by DannyB on Monday March 04 2019, @03:03PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 04 2019, @03:03PM (#809784) Journal

      I'm sorry, I had the impression that Starbucks employees already had undergone this procedure as part of their new employee conditioning.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Monday March 04 2019, @02:51PM (2 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday March 04 2019, @02:51PM (#809777) Journal

    Maybe there is a way to hypnotize employees to be immune to the music played in Starbucks? Or some kind of drug? But then, these would be an additional cost to the organization.

    Hmm, well, stranger things have happened. There was, for example, the curious case of the Doublemeat Palace [fandom.com].

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by cykros on Monday March 04 2019, @04:11PM (1 child)

      by cykros (989) on Monday March 04 2019, @04:11PM (#809822)

      Some kind of drug? Like, maybe, all the free caffeine you can stomach? In my experience, once the mania sets in, listening to the same songs on repeat gets less annoying, and may even be something you start humming along to. Perhaps that's just me though.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday March 04 2019, @03:47PM (1 child)

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday March 04 2019, @03:47PM (#809809) Journal

    Time / training oneself to ignore repetitive sounds. That said, I've only ever worked one job that had a short-looped repetitive track system and yes I hated it too. One might make up one's own lyrics and think them in your head. "Who pours? Who steams? Who makes your latte?" I'd presume that the store has an amp somewhere. Convince your manager that it should be unplugged for a couple of hours, and then tell anyone who asks "yeah, the thing just goes down once in awhile. It's weird!"

    --
    This sig for rent.
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Monday March 04 2019, @05:10PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 04 2019, @05:10PM (#809863) Journal

      If Starbucks sound system is IoT based, then maybe some well-meaning customer could cause the sound to periodically go silent for a while.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday March 04 2019, @05:56PM (1 child)

    by bob_super (1357) on Monday March 04 2019, @05:56PM (#809883)

    > Maybe there is a way to hypnotize employees to be immune to the music played in Starbucks? Or some kind of drug?

    A friend of mine said the best sex she's ever had was when thoroughly stoned at a Starbucks because her boyfriend was closing the place.
    Which goes to prove that it is indeed possible to have fun at that place.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Monday March 04 2019, @06:32PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 04 2019, @06:32PM (#809903) Journal

      I would venture a guess that they had the annoying music turned off.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday March 04 2019, @06:32PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday March 04 2019, @06:32PM (#809902) Journal

    Most Starbucks locations don't seem to be in a physical arrangement where employees would commit suicide by jumping to their deaths.

    They weren't even trying to kill themselves, just escape.

    Unfortunately, where they landed is also a Starbucks so they failed.