PE01831: End the ban on background music

The ban on background music should NOT be lifted. Having someone else's choice of music blaring in a cafe or restaurant subtracts from the natural atmosphere generated by conversation and laughter. In pubs and clubs managers want loud music because it prevents people from talking and encourages them to drink more.

George Frederick Winter

10:52 on 19 Nov 2020

Offering Quiet hours might help for those who like socialising but cannot manage the music for varied reasons.

Helen Rowles

14:42 on 18 Nov 2020

Disagree with this petition. Canned music spoils many social occasions and is particularly disagreeable in hospitals. It tends to be chosen by young members of staff who have often different tastes in music from their elder customers.

Ian mckee

10:30 on 18 Nov 2020

I oppose this petition as I find 'background music' most irritating in cafes and restaurants, as I come to socialise and do not like shouting or straining to hear my companions speak. Glad it has been stopped because of epidemic. Music is often too noisy and intrusive. MOST young managers and waiters reluctant to turn it down but I am the customer.

penny mckee

23:57 on 16 Nov 2020

I oppose the petition and strongly feel that loud background music should not be permitted in enclosed spaces. If you need to shout then it is too loud. I find it intrusive and it spoils my experience of restaurants, cafes etc. so much so that I will leave a shop or restaurant where loud music is playing, thereby depriving the business of income they would otherwise have had. I know of many people who feel the same, regardless of whether or not they have underlying health issues.

M Ramage

16:56 on 16 Nov 2020

I oppose this petition. One of the few good things about the lockdown restrictions is that I can go into a pub or cafe (when they are allowed to open), and enjoy a quiet drink or a meal, or a chat with my friends, without having someone else's choice of music forced upon me. Don't get me wrong. I like music as much as the next person. In the same way, I like good food. But I don't want it to be forced down my throat everywhere I go.

Connie Reader

16:41 on 16 Nov 2020

I am in favour of keeping the silence, please. Many people with hearing and sensory problems suffer great distress from background music.

Anne Wellman

15:02 on 16 Nov 2020

As someone with a moderate hearing loss I am opposed to lifting the ban on background music in hospitality venues. The lack of this extra noise has been an absolute godsend and one of the few positive things to come from the virus. For someone like myself, background music means that conversation is a huge struggle and I often give up in despair. This is one of the reasons why hearing impaired people become socially isolated and prone to depression. As a paying customer, surely my needs are as important as everyone else? If background music has to be reintroduced, I would plead for venues to provide music free zones or, at the very least, to reduce the volume of the music to a low level.

Grace Wilson

14:30 on 16 Nov 2020

The ban on background music in restaurants and bars during the pandemic has actually been very welcome to a large number of us. Enforced background music is intolerable to many people with a huge range of, often hidden, health problems. People with autism, hyperacusis, ME, tinnitus, impaired vision, brain injuries, etc., find that non stop music in public places makes their lives a misery. People with hearing loss, about 1 in 5 of the population, over 70 per cent of the over-70s, struggle to hear others talk in noisy bars and restaurants. If venues do bring back music, please could they try to provide quiet areas where background music is not played. They managed to provide non smoking areas before smoking was banned completely in public places, so surely non music areas are feasible, too. Otherwise we will return to the situation which existed before the ban on background music, where many people with hidden disabilities were reluctant to venture into noisy venues and risked becoming more isolated as a result.

Dorothy Lewis

14:17 on 16 Nov 2020

I would like to state that I am opposed to ending the ban on background music in pubs and restaurants. As someone with a moderate hearing disability, I have found the lack of background music during the pandemic an absolute godsend. It has been one of the few positive things to come out of these hard times. Previously, background music has meant that I find it very difficult to participate fully in conversations and there is a tendency to become isolated and opt out of social situations. If music has to be reintroduced, I would plead for hospitality venues to provide music free areas or at least for a reduction in the level of noise. After all, people like myself are paying customers and should not be discriminated against.

Grace Wilson

14:04 on 16 Nov 2020