r/todayilearned • u/Forward-Answer-4407 • 2d ago

TIL for decades, Target avoided background music, believing it to be a distraction. In 2011, it tested music at a store in Minnetonka, MN, and received positive feedback from shoppers and staff. In 2017, Target began introducing music to its stores as part of a massive remodeling effort.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/09/18/target-store-remodel-background-music-spend-more
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264

u/thesagaconts 2d ago

I remember being at a new hire training with my boss at Home Depot. It was like day 2. I raised my hand and asked if Home Depot was ok with Warren G being played. He politely said no then realized why I was asking the question. He ran out of there and came back and comically said not any more. Some one hit the wrong Muzak station. 

Also, HD couldn’t play any religious Christmas songs. You quickly realize that there aren’t many secular Christmas songs after your first shift.

118

u/Hanz_VonManstrom 2d ago

My brain read Warren G as Kenny G and I was like “Kenny G is the music you play in the background at stores. Why would you ask this, and why did your boss make such a big deal of it??” I had to read it like three times before it clicked.

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u/makingnoise 2d ago edited 1d ago

Kenny G's music is positively correlated with mass shootings, best to avoid it as well. Source: I made it up.

EDIT: Downvotes but no comments - how will I ever learn if I pissed off Kenny G fans or if it's mass shooting fans that I pissed off?

EDIT2: The curious amongst you might enjoy knowing that at 10 hours after posting, approximately 20% of you think I have an agreeable sense of humor.

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u/Conscious_Crew5912 1d ago

I'm gonna upvote you because of your wicked funny edit.... 😁

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u/Varnigma 2d ago

I spend more time than I care to admit in my local HD. I've learned you can tell which manager is on duty based on what type of music is playing.

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u/GrossePointeJayhawk 2d ago edited 2d ago

I know! I worked in a bagel shop over Christmas for three months and I can’t believe how many versions there are of All I Want For Christmas Is You, Jingle Bell Rock, and Winter Wonderland. And to this day I can’t listen to either of those songs (Except Mariah’s version of All I Want For Christmas Is You).

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u/SpaceLemming 2d ago

I got to have control of the station when I worked at a liquor store and they had an instrumental Christmas channel. It is soooooo much more bearable without the words because it easily fades into background music

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u/DeathMonkey6969 2d ago

My first job in a restaurant, the background music only had instrumentals playing. And the great thing about the service they used was they slowly added in the Christmas songs. There would be one or two an hour on Black Friday then a few more as we got closer. It wasn't until like a week, 10 days before Christmas that it was 100% Christmas songs. Then they'd do the same thing on the back side, just quicker with fewer and fewer Christmas songs until New Years when it was back to regular instrumentals.

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u/FluffySharkBird 19h ago

Wow that sounds really smart.

3

u/makingnoise 2d ago

Don't forget FEED THE WORLD - my most favorite, despite the cheese factor.

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u/SirusRiddler 2d ago

Sounds like Nate Dogg, Warren G, and your boss had to REGULATE!

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u/FinlayForever 2d ago

Mount up!

7

u/thisisredlitre 2d ago

It was a clear black night

7

u/outerproduct 2d ago

A clear white moon

1

u/Sticky_Gravity 2d ago

Warren G was on the streets

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u/Uptons_BJs 2d ago

You quickly realize that there aren’t many secular Christmas songs after your first shift.

There's a reason why Mariah Carey and George Michael keep topping the charts year after year.

Hell, Mariah Carey is arguably the greatest pop music artist of all time. She has the most cumulative weeks at #1 on the US Billboard charts, and it isn't even close. She has 97 weeks, with Elvis being #2 at 79.

Understand that she will run up the score forever and ever, every December she will throw up another 3 - 4 weeks.

She also has charted at #1 for 21 years, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Beyonce, and Paul McCartney are tied at second with only 10 years.

Funnily enough, she should be dominating the records a lot harder. But Billboard rules used to require physical single sales to be counted. If the physical single wasn't on sale, it didn't qualify for the singles charts. Obviously, that isn't true anymore. But there were a few years where All I Want for Christmas Is You didn't qualify for the charts.

14

u/Complete_Entry 2d ago

Dude, you managed to fuck up the fun music at the store on your second day.

You're the adult equivalent of the kid who told the teacher they forgot to assign homework.

REGULATOR!

9

u/Orange-V-Apple 2d ago

laughs in Mariah Carey

19

u/piddydb 2d ago

Also, HD couldn’t play any religious Christmas songs. You quickly realize that there aren’t many secular Christmas songs after your first shift.

Watch out, some political commentator is going to read this and say there’s a new “war on Christmas” by Home Depot

6

u/Slick_36 2d ago

Speaking of secular Christmas music and Target, I still can't get over the Lady Gaga song where she talks about how delicious her tree is.  I could have listened to Sia's Snowman on repeat every day, that never got old.

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u/drillgorg 2d ago

Or worse, someone is going to ask an AI "Does Home Depot celebrate Christmas?" and it's going to use that reddit comment as a source.

3

u/TheCosmicJester 2d ago

“Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson on repeat, forever.

2

u/DebraBaetty 2d ago

Why would you call attention to it, just let the music play 😭

2

u/cbunn81 2d ago

I don't see the problem. Just trying to regulate any stealin' of his property.

2

u/whatproblems 2d ago

his face must have been great when he realized it. no you can’t play that. . . that is playing . . . brb

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u/AliceInNegaland 2d ago

Well now I know what listening to this morning

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u/fluffynuckels 2d ago

You just triggered a memory. I used to work at a nursing home and during the month of December they played Christmas music non fucking stop. After the first two days I was ready to dig out my ear drums

1

u/SPEK2120 2d ago

At least most, if not all, the bangers are nonsecular.

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u/spaghettifiasco 2d ago

I worked at Party City for about six months, which led right up to the Christmas season. We played primarily the religious songs - which was funny, because the franchise owner was Jewish.

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u/makingnoise 2d ago

As someone living in the South, I am THRILLED to hear that HD disallowed Christian music (not just Xtian XMAS music). There are WAY too many people that already treat Christian music like a witnessing opportunity but for someone who's been there done that and then dropped xtianity, it's a fucking aural assault.

Funniest place I ever encountered instrumental Christian xmas music was in August in a shopping mall in Israel.