Piped music: Let’s hear it for the sound of silence

A fair question to ask about any service or product is: Who’s asked for it? From whom, in other words, comes the demand that will give the supplier a viable business?

As Christmas approaches and ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ are once again heard on endless loops in shops, restaurants, and pubs, here are questions not asked often enough: Who in restaurants, shops, and pubs anywhere on this planet has ever — since 1954, when Muzak was first recognised as a registered trademark — asked for piped music? Who, on entering a department store or a café and hearing no background music, has pleaded for it to be supplied, backing up their request with the threat to leave without spending a cent if it isn’t?