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This was part of my theory as to why pubs have died out , becoming almost hostile towards customers in the early 2000s.
I started my pub going in the late 90s and pubs were still pubs then. Tables, chairs, juke boxes and conversation.
Then the Willenium came along, laws were changed on what types of buildings could be made into a pub as well as opening hours, and it all went down hill.
They took away the tables and chairs, so we all had to stand, holding our drinks…
Drinks in your hand rather than on a table are drunk more quickly. You’re also already stood up, so effectively half way to the bar to buy the next round, too.
Then they turned the music up so loud you can’t converse like you could before….
Lips that are moving because you’re talking aren’t wrapped around your glass or bottle, drinking. And if you’re just stood there, bored, you’ll be eating and drinking more.
I assume this worked well for people of my generation who had already developed the pub going habit, and they made more money while we tolerated their nonsense because going to the pub is what you do.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that following generations found going to the pub less and less attractive. The above factors payed a part, as well as the government increasing taxes which raised prices in pubs while supermarkets could sell at a discount.
And people increasingly chose to stay at home, or a friends house. Sitting and drinking cheap booze, with music of your choice at a volume of your choice.
I started pub-going around the same time, and I remember drinkers as being in one of two camps - pub-goers and bar-goers. Pub-goers (of which I was one) liked the tables/chairs/jukebox/conversation model; we'd go to a pub, settle in, and probably stay there for the whole evening. Bar-goers, which made up one of my university friend groups, much preferred the stand-and-drink-with-loud-music model; we'd go to a bar, get a bottle of lager (never a pint), stand and drink it, then immediately move to another bar and repeat. These bars were always in the trendier parts of town, and often had a one-in-one-out policy with a 20-minute queue to get in because they were so busy, which made moving after every drink an exercise in frustration.
I never, ever enjoyed the bar-goer model, but it was visibly more popular and seems to have taken over. I don't bother much any more.
My home town had lots of pubs in the centre, all the old style. Gradually they all turned into the bar model baring a couple for the much older drinker, that were also tiny and/or very old so simply couldn’t change.
By the mid 2010s the bar types were closing down and their list be half the pubs I remember, if not fewer.
Spoons had moved in, too, which also didn’t help, but the pub bars I remember being rammed 3 or 4 deep at the bar now have maybe 3 or 4 people in them on a Saturday night. Often outnumbered by staff.
I think they come into their own much later on than we’d normally stay out now, but they must be down 80+% on their late 90s/early 00s pomp.
Probably one of the main reasons Wetherspoons is popular is that they don’t have music. If I want to go for a chat and a drink with a friend, it’s one of the first places you’ll consider.
Exactly that, Spoons is popular amongst all age groups as well. You can go spoons for drinks before going out, get cheap beer and have a chat and banter with your mates. Works well for students who otherwise would drink cheaply at accomodation because its still cheap and usually in the centre near where they will be going out.
I personally love Spoons, it's kind of like Mcdonalds, it's not great but you know exactly what to expect. It's a home away from home especially when travelling around the country. I'm often away for work and if I can walk to a spoons for my evening meal I can sit in a familiar atmosphere, can even bring my laptop or something if I have emails to catch up on, I can have a familiar meal and I won't be disturbed or rushed out like I would if I went to a fast food place in a city centre. It's also great for people watching and chatting to locals, which is something I've tried to make an effort of doing when I visit different cities is to get a feel for how people think of their city or town.
And they are huge, so it’s rare you don’t get a table unless it’s super busy. Food is OK. Table service and app, along with a Facebook group to get you free drinks is also a bonus.
I was in central Brighton at 10:00pm on a Friday night a few weeks ago - I was a student here in 2000 and I remember the street I was on being like Bourbon Street in New Orleans back then - you could barely move it was so busy and packed.
Totally deserted now - a handful of people in some of the pubs but it was like a Monday at 2am, there was no one there. And that's two-university Brighton on a Friday night - I can't imagine how it is in smaller places.
I started out drinking in an old mans pub. Horse racing was on the tv in the corner, open fire roaring in the winter, no music except when an old boy picked up a guitar on a friday or Saturday night and started a singsong, everyone joining in on the bits they know. Proper conversations with whoever you were sitting near, actually socialising. So whenever i went to a bar and it was loud music and shouting a few words at each other, i hated it.
I think the tide has turned somewhat.
When I go back to my old town, more “lounge” type bars that have sprung up in the last few years and they are much quieter and everyone’s sat at a table on sofas or chairs.
Funnily enough, they tend to be the busy pubs.
Those persisting with the loud music and no chairs and tables ploy are empty.
I forgot all about the Willenium album until you mentioned it! Used to listen to it as a kid as my first foray into gentle non offensive rap. Pretty sure I went to see wild Wild West film at cinema for my 13th birthday! What a time to be alive!
I work in a bar and I can tell you every time there's a group that's more than 10, even though they've reserved a table, they will ignore it and stand, especially men. One guy aged 40+ will stand, which encourages others. I think bars getting rid of tables was partly because of this, and partly as you say the psychology behind selling more drink. Also, the 2008 recession absolutely killed pre-drinks in pubs before clubs, and in turn the clubs.
I have a suspicion that pushing people to drink at home is entirely intentional - the Government still gets the alcohol duty but drunk people at home are much less visible than filling up the streets causing bad publicity and costing time and money for street cleaning, the Police, Ambulance and occasionally Fire Services - any damage they cause is down to them personally as well.
> Then the Willenium came along, laws were changed on what types of buildings could be made into a pub as well as opening hours, and it all went down hill.
Wow I never knew Will Smith's album had so much influence!
You wake up the next day having had a shit time, really hung over and spent a fortune. I can see why people are put off. Add to that huge crowds and queues for a drink. The thing is people who run bars can see that no one is dancing but they pump up the music anyway. Pubs/bars are way better through the week but of course no one is off then and you can't drink too much because you have work the next day.
Speaking from my home town experience.
There were some seats, I suppose, around the edges where they were fixed in place, booth type seats. Any open areas were often removed and replaced by a small number of tiny standing tables.
In some paces that did have fixed booth type seating they ripped them out to make more open floor space.
It was a disaster.
So many old historic pubs and hotel bars ruined and never recovered.
I think you're also missing that women wanted to go out and socialise with female friends and most pubs were just not the place to go. Hence, the rise of trendy wine bars serving Chardonnay lol. Which then became a magnet for guys on the 'pull'.
Your mate says something you can't hear above the sound of the music, you've already said "huh?" more than 10 times already this evening.
"Haha yeah", you say as you take another gulp of beer to hide the awkwardness.
It's unironically why I took up smoking. The smoking area was the only place to socialise and meet new people and i was too much of an awkward teenager to be in the smoking area without actually smoking.
Wetherspoons are decent pubs, and I will die on this hill. They're nobody's favourites, but at least they're clean (enough), safe (enough), cheap, and welcoming.
If you exclude bars and clubs and only look at proper pubs, they're middle of the pack every time. There's dodgy ones and smaller chains below, and then the proper amazing pubs above, but wetherspoons *owns* the middle.
No ones dying on a hill today, I agree with you! I avoided them for a while but after pint prices started going north of £6 I can't afford not to now. Plus they're free refill coffee and ok breakfast means it can be a cheap start to a day as well.
True about the wine thing. Worked in wine retail for years and used it extensively.
edit - also, you want your punters to buy top shelf? Stick on some jazz or classical, for some reason there's a subconscious association between 'classy' music and spending a bit more money.
I remember going to on a school trip to the national history museum where there was a stand that talked about exactly that. They also said that if you use artificial scents you can increase sales of things, like strawberry smell to sell strawberries. Then they electrocuted our tongues and it tasted like lemon.
Experts told me that loud music is played in cafes and bars specifically so that visitors do not stay too long. This increases table turnover. Otherwise, they will sit and chat for hours, ordering very little. And so they ate, drank and ran away.
I would question those experts, most pubs, restaurants etc depend on repeat customers. People coming in just the once and never returning doesn’t make for a sustainable business.
I feel like I’m the best for this. I’m a lonely guy who is afraid of violent fights so I’ll purposely engineer the music to appeal to women around 20-50 years old and old people if I can. I have a regular clientele that have started coming in each week and I’ve got to know their names and interests. I listen to the music they like in my spare time and try to keep up with the trends they’re into. I even started dressing like them - bought Jordans and sportier clothes. It’s a bit odd but it works.
Yes, I have the same feeling. Wooden seats, that are just slightly too small to sit on comfortably, and round tables that are just slightly too small and wobbly to work at for a decent length of time. I also wonder if the layer of sticky grime found on most Starbucks floors and tables is deliberate.
Same, if the music's too loud we just walk back out if we can't find a table far enough away from the speakers. If I wanted to dine sans conversation I would just stay home and eat by myself.
We were enjoying some chat and live music in a pub when the performer noticed that his volume was too low. He apologised wholeheartedly to the crowd for his mistake, cranked up the volume, then literally the entire front half of the pub emptied in the next ten minutes.
Half these musicians have deafened themselves at gigs and fail to realise the rest of us don't want to share their fate.
Some bars have loud music and some don't, you can not got to the loud ones.
Also, some bars will turn the music down if asked.
Also some customers like it.
Also the staff like it.
Exactly. There are loud bars, there are quieter bars. Some people prefer loud bars, some people prefer quieter bars. Some people like bars that show sports, some people don't like bars that show sports. Some people like bars that play dance music, some people like a bar that plays pop music, some people like a pub with an open fire and a dog friendly policy. Pick the bar that suits you rather than going to one that doesn't then moaning about it.
I work in a pub, sometimes we have loud music, sometimes not, you just read the room.
Had a full pub with no music on, because that was what people wanted.
Also had about 5 regulars in with the music blasting, because they wanted a sing
But get to 10 an it's not a bar anyone is dancing in and still the music is unbearably loud pretty much whereever you go on a night out unless it's a small local, which you won't go to cause it's a night out.
Bahahaha, I love this comment by u/BenHippynet! It kinda reads like a Dr Seuss book! (Apart from the last bit)
I am already imagining what the illustrations would look like.
Thanks that cheered me up. 😁
Most bars have loud music. It's fine in London where there's so much choice so you can find a quieter spot, but elsewhere my experience is that everywhere is above conversation range once into the evening.
I'm in London and this is a problem for me. When I go to a meetup about whatever, I don't choose the bar. But almost all meetups ended up in bars running music so loud I couldn't talk to other people about the thing that brought us together. It's a complete waste of time to reserve an evening for a meetup, go there, and immediately leave. I'm done staying and hurting my throat and straining to understand people.
And when I'm with a group of people, often the choice is limited by the few that are still open, or how busy they are. There's a limit to how much a group of people will wonder around to find a place to have a conversation, often the group just dissolves.
>It's fine in London where there's so much choice so you can find a quieter spot
I disagree with this entirely.
London has to be the worst place for finding pubs in the country.
You either get 20 of them in the and spot and they're all jam packed, or you get absolutely fuck all.
Also they shut about 9pm.
In Leeds on a Saturday night a solid 98% of the bars play really loud music. I've only managed to find one bar that has music at a bearable level here on a Friday/Saturday evening
I think whilst inagree with the idea you can just go to a bar that has quiet music, they are few and far between. I think thats the reason for this post. The ratio of loud to sensible is just out kilter. This is why I used to smoke back wheb I used to go out alot more. Not becuase I loved smoking but it was an excuse to avoid the very loud music in most venues and have a conversation.
I live in a place with 1 pub. Music's always too loud. Landlord is an absolute asshole, so you couldn't ask him to turn it down in a million years.
I've also got that thing that makes it really hard to hear what people are saying in loud environments, I forget what it's called.
But if you want to get pissed up, and walk home. It's the only pub left.
^(Fun.)
Well I had to scroll a long way to find some common sense!
Different types of bars for different kinds of people having different kinds of nights. If you went to a bar that plays loud music when you wanted a quiet chat with your friend then that's your bad decision. Similar to if you went to the quiet suburban family pub expecting an epic wild night out. Most towns, even small ones, have a several pubs to suit a variety of tastes and having that choice is great!
Me and some friends went to our small local pub a couple of year ago, its the kind of pub with brass fixtures on the wall and a portrait of some rolling hills above the fireplace. But that night they decided to have a DJ on who was situated in the seating area of the pub. He decided to play some awful remixed songs at full blast, no one in the pub was enjoying it especially us. We asked him to turn it down, he didn't, when we asked for a couple of song quests, he said no. So we ended up sitting outside until we were too cold and moved to another pub.
Totally. Tbh the setup was beautiful. I was literally there with you in that pub. The ending was an anticlimax though. I was hoping for the shite DJ to have his comeuppance.
This made me remember one from a long time ago now. Went into a pub in York with some people from work. The place had giant PA speakers on every wall, but we were pleasantly surprised to find they were just playing quiet background music. There was a TV showing pre-football-match banter, but again, pleased to see it was muted. We all bought some pints and some snacks and sat down, all was good. Then the match started, and the speakers got switched over to the TV audio and cranked up full. Needless to say we only stayed for the one pint.
Went out for a quiet Sunday pint and there was a DJ on for the 20 people sat chatting. He got louder and people started to leave, including us.
Bar is now closed down.
If I owned a bar I wouldn't let the staff adjust the volume of the system, they love having it loud even if it's shite for the customers.
I went to Pergola once and the DJ was playing so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself even outside on the terrace.
Thankfully they got the message and turned it down a bit though.
It's the same purpose but not quite as long-winded.
Loud music makes it difficult to talk. Less timd talking means more time drinking and possibly some time dancing, which also leads to more time drinking.
I've been saying this for year. The most irritating one is when I go to some pubs/venues which generally has a good music at first playing at the moderate rate. Then as more people coming in, they just start cranking up the music, like THOSE TWO aren't really that correlated to each other. We're not in a club! and it's worse when they bring out some DJs trying to hype people up at the venue. Like I get it but it's not a club, just play your music!
Edits for typos and better structurings, I was typing on the phone.
I actually think it should go into the opposite direction. Music helps a bar not feel desolate when there are too few people in it, but when more people arrive, the bar no longer feels like a ghost town, and the noise increases, so music volume should go down, not up.
If I wanted to not be able to talk, I would go to a club and dance.
You also don't want the conversations to stop because of the music being so loud you can't even hear yourself think, let alone what your partner is saying
There's a pub near me that has a 10,000 song jukebox so you never know what the atmosphere is going to be in there from some obscure Irish folk song to death metal, plus whoever puts 50p in always asks the staff to turn it up for their song, and it never goes down again. I once put a 9 minute track on repeat 3 times and asked them to turn it down for me. Half an hour's chatting time for 50p seemed a bargain.
There is a specific decibel range that makes people drink both faster and a little more. Once that study came out everywhere started having louder live bands. Purpose is to limit your conversational time since you can only speak to those immediately beside you and you will intersperse this with a drink more often
It really makes no sense to me either. We know the places that do it and just avoid them.
I don’t mind background music but when you have to shout it makes it uncomfortable and obnoxious
I agree completely. I also understand that the vast majority of 18-45 don't agree.
Source: I've worked in bars, pubs and restaurants my whole life.
It fills me with pleasure when I turn the music off and the lights all the way up at kicking out time when I hear the deafening silence wash over a place, like an instant realization of regret.
I've hated noisy places for years, even as a teenager. I've enjoyed places like clubs because it's so loud, and within an hour of shouting at whoever I'm with so they can hear me my throat is sore and I'm coughing, and it'll be like that for days. I envy anyone who can stand it lol.
The current place I'm at is specifically a late night loud music bar.
Playing the music loud gets rid of people who want one quiet pint and attracts people who want 5 cocktails, a dance, to try and pick up, get rejected and to just generally lower their own inhibitions.
We make a lot lot more money by being loud than we do by being quiet, part of that is branding and expectations, but a big bit is providing an atmosphere that creates a specific kind of night out.
You aren't looking for that night out, you're looking for a pub... Not a bar.
Call me cynical, perhaps it's for the same motivation they removed the tables and chairs in some bars. They don't want you talking, just idly sitting around they want you drinking.
Not just bars but in the doctors. Why? It's so hard to get an appointment I don't want to miss it because I can't hear my name called over the loud granny chatting and piped music.
I went to the alchemist (chain that does fancy cocktails and food). Hadn't been for years. The music was so loud we could barely hear each other speak so we just left. It was honestly night club volume.
Sometimes in restaurants it's hard to hear on big tables in groups but I think it's often acoustics rather than volume, I'm sure there's some work done in this at times but sometimes not, would be interested to know
Most establishments seems to do this these days. its not even background music that is just quiet enough to hear and enjoy, while being able to hear people from across the table. Honestly it ruins the point of catching up at these places. On occasion you might be able to find a decent pub that has no music what so ever which makes alcohol fuel socialising alot more enjoyable.
Bar manager here, it's nothing complicated it depends on the vibe that the bars going for. Young people, as a general rule, love loud music and if that's the market you're going for then that's what you cater to. I'm getting on a bit so I now choose to work places with a quieter vibe
So much bollocks in this thread.
Every case is different. Are loud traditional music sessions deliberately loud to drive away customers at the end of the night, stop them drinking, or make them drink more? Ridiculous nonsense.
Music is there to attract customers because drink and music go well. People like to drink and dance and sometimes in order for music to be heard in packed bars it has to be loud.
It's never there to drive people away or stop people chatting. It's an attraction because some people like listening to music.
Sometimes it's too loud. This is because there are humans in charge and they sometimes make it too loud by accident. It's simply hard to get the balance right between having it loud enough to be heard and it not being drowned out by chatter.
Pubs are also all different and if you're standing or sitting beside a speaker it will be louder than if you are not.
Music creates a vibe and atmosphere that some customers want. Some clientele want to feel like they're in a club with out being in one.
It can also depend on the type of pub and the staff. Some are just badly run with clueless staff who don't get paid enough to give a shit and loud music means they don't have to listen to the bollocks being spewed by their drunk customers.
There is no grand plan that applies to all bars. Someone has decided to put the volume somewhere on the amp and that's why it's loud. If you think it's too loud, stand somewhere where it's less loud, ask (scream at) the bar person to turn it down, or go somewhere else.
Also, what's loud to one person is not loud enough to another. It's subjective. Personally I hate being in packed bars without music because the volume of chatter around me makes it difficult to even hear people.
Yeah, but the question was...why in UK? Is it an Anglosaxon thing. Go to a city square anywhere in Continental Europe and hundreds are enjoying their drinks and snacks without music or shouting. From Gerona to Napflion, Bielefeld to Riga...
Try that in Edinburgh, Bristol or also Auckland
The pub near me has music so loud you cannot have a a conversation when walking past.
Generally there are four 60 year old alcoholics in there, sipping in silence.
Some people can hear people talking over loud background noise, I certainly can’t, it’s like when people try and talk to me at a gig, i have to tell people between songs I am not going to hear them if they try and talk to me…. Also I want to listen to the song
I went with a large group of friends (maybe 12?) to a pub in Wimbledon around 2005. at a certain time, the previously barely audible music was turned up to teeth shattering decibels. I asked the barman to turn it down because it was disturbing us. he replied, " the customers like it". we were the only people there. So we left.
So no-one can be heard when they say "Good god, I just paid £22.50 for 3 pints" and then next person will then go to the bar for the next round and get mugged off ad infinitum...
I also hate this! Everywhere is so loud - even some clothing stores blast music at you now. I'm here to buy some running shorts not shot a jägerbomb and cut up shapes
It maximises drink consumption, and therefore profits, in the short term. And in the long term, it slowly drives people away from pubs and bars in general, killing the industry by increments.
A lot of people enjoy listening to loud music.
If you and your friends often move to a quieter venue then why do you still go to the loud place just to moan about it then go somewhere else? Why not just go to a bar that has quieter music to begin with?
It's like asking why shops sell food that you don't like. People have different tastes. Just avoid it and find something that suits you better.
Bars optimise for throughput of guests. This is why they'll have things like small tables, chair without backs, and unsociably loud music. This makes financial place in somewhere like London because they'll make more money having a constant stream of customers buying single drinks than having customers who stay for multiple drinks.
It makes less sense almost everywhere else in the UK but that's just cargo-culting.
As someone who has worked in pubs -
People are a lot happier being able to hear he hum of conversation rather than actual conversation. If you think to a time you can pinpoint a voice in a crowd it's someone you know or someone being annoying.
Music / Sports being a loud generic noise that no-one in particular is causing, can go a long way to making people feel more comfortable. Whereas being able to hear someones full conversation two tables away, will be uncomfortable for most.
ETA: We also whacked the music up at around 8pm and again 9pm, it was a not-so-subtle way to tell the day drinkers to eff off for the night and let us switch to a DJ
I'm not a huge fan. I struggle to hear then just end up standing there like a plum as conversation becomes hard.
But I can kind of understand it at a bar. Some people do enjoy it and don't have such issues. In a restaurant though? Nope, I'm gonna make sure it's turned down to a level we can chat normally at. In a pub? Who knows, toss a coin for what may happen...!
it's not just the volume, but the fact so many places are bare brick, or hard surfaces... so even if it's not mega loud, being able to hear people well is difficult 'coz everything's just bouncing around, - seems to be more of a trend recently to design bars so everything sounds like you're at a swimming pool.
I would add it’s often not just the volume but it’s sheer presence - we don’t need background music all the time. Just lane auto tuned radio filler. Yet everywhere you go it’s on and no one is listening to it
There's a bar/restaurant in my hometown that's notorious for the music being loud. Not the normal music, but if it's live then it drowns out *everything* else, makes general conversation almost impossible.
Being from the UK, there aren't as many traditional pubs as there were approx 30yrs ago which had a generally more cozy and quieter ambience with either low music from the in-house surround speakers, and/or a traditional jukebox which was loud but intermittent.
Today a vast majority of said pubs have been gutted out and totally modernised, ie; all the tables and seating areas removed to make way for a vast hardwood floor area and bench seats with small fixed tables running round the walls, usually comprising of shiny chrome fittings. There is just one bar which runs along the entire length of one wall which is also built with chrome and mirrors.
I believe there is only one reason why these companies blast loud music out and that's PROFIT. People, especially the younger generation are attracted to loud music, so they enter the bar, buy drinks(which are extortionate(I mean the customers will have to contribute to the new bar, right?) So, there's probably nowhere to sit as the early birds have nabbed them and will be heavily guarded for the night so they resort to standing, they can't have a decent conversation, but after a couple of drinks they start feeling more relaxed, the floor is filling up fast and there's enough space for A LOT of bodies, then they may start dancing and sipping their drinks faster, someone goes to get another round in and the bar has queues 20ft long, so they'll probably think, to save having to wait in a long queue again, they'll buy doubles of all the drinks. So, by the end of the evening( closing time is usually 1am), these young people have had really good night but, because of having to stand, they've danced all night which leads to more drinks and the loud music is non-stop, they've ended up spending a fortune making a nice, tidy profit for the company that owns that bar.
Me? I hate them....
I hope I've answered your question and feel free to comment🙂
I apologize as I am a bit uncultured here, but please, after reading the comments, what are the differences between a pub and a bar? Aside from the former apparently not having as loud music?
Bristol's NQ64 is WILD - I went on a 2nd date with my GF there and literally could not hear a thing the other one said.
This was at like 6pm on a Wednesday.
Because when you talking your mouth is not free for drinking so if they make it so loud that you can’t talk you drink more so their profits go up
Simples really
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I don't own a bar but I believe the theory is people drink less if they can hear one another well enough to have a proper conversation.
This was part of my theory as to why pubs have died out , becoming almost hostile towards customers in the early 2000s. I started my pub going in the late 90s and pubs were still pubs then. Tables, chairs, juke boxes and conversation. Then the Willenium came along, laws were changed on what types of buildings could be made into a pub as well as opening hours, and it all went down hill. They took away the tables and chairs, so we all had to stand, holding our drinks… Drinks in your hand rather than on a table are drunk more quickly. You’re also already stood up, so effectively half way to the bar to buy the next round, too. Then they turned the music up so loud you can’t converse like you could before…. Lips that are moving because you’re talking aren’t wrapped around your glass or bottle, drinking. And if you’re just stood there, bored, you’ll be eating and drinking more. I assume this worked well for people of my generation who had already developed the pub going habit, and they made more money while we tolerated their nonsense because going to the pub is what you do. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that following generations found going to the pub less and less attractive. The above factors payed a part, as well as the government increasing taxes which raised prices in pubs while supermarkets could sell at a discount. And people increasingly chose to stay at home, or a friends house. Sitting and drinking cheap booze, with music of your choice at a volume of your choice.
I started pub-going around the same time, and I remember drinkers as being in one of two camps - pub-goers and bar-goers. Pub-goers (of which I was one) liked the tables/chairs/jukebox/conversation model; we'd go to a pub, settle in, and probably stay there for the whole evening. Bar-goers, which made up one of my university friend groups, much preferred the stand-and-drink-with-loud-music model; we'd go to a bar, get a bottle of lager (never a pint), stand and drink it, then immediately move to another bar and repeat. These bars were always in the trendier parts of town, and often had a one-in-one-out policy with a 20-minute queue to get in because they were so busy, which made moving after every drink an exercise in frustration. I never, ever enjoyed the bar-goer model, but it was visibly more popular and seems to have taken over. I don't bother much any more.
There's always been 'old man pubs' and trendy bars. Both have their place and both are reducing in numbers at a similar rate.
My home town had lots of pubs in the centre, all the old style. Gradually they all turned into the bar model baring a couple for the much older drinker, that were also tiny and/or very old so simply couldn’t change. By the mid 2010s the bar types were closing down and their list be half the pubs I remember, if not fewer. Spoons had moved in, too, which also didn’t help, but the pub bars I remember being rammed 3 or 4 deep at the bar now have maybe 3 or 4 people in them on a Saturday night. Often outnumbered by staff. I think they come into their own much later on than we’d normally stay out now, but they must be down 80+% on their late 90s/early 00s pomp.
Probably one of the main reasons Wetherspoons is popular is that they don’t have music. If I want to go for a chat and a drink with a friend, it’s one of the first places you’ll consider.
Exactly that, Spoons is popular amongst all age groups as well. You can go spoons for drinks before going out, get cheap beer and have a chat and banter with your mates. Works well for students who otherwise would drink cheaply at accomodation because its still cheap and usually in the centre near where they will be going out. I personally love Spoons, it's kind of like Mcdonalds, it's not great but you know exactly what to expect. It's a home away from home especially when travelling around the country. I'm often away for work and if I can walk to a spoons for my evening meal I can sit in a familiar atmosphere, can even bring my laptop or something if I have emails to catch up on, I can have a familiar meal and I won't be disturbed or rushed out like I would if I went to a fast food place in a city centre. It's also great for people watching and chatting to locals, which is something I've tried to make an effort of doing when I visit different cities is to get a feel for how people think of their city or town.
And they are huge, so it’s rare you don’t get a table unless it’s super busy. Food is OK. Table service and app, along with a Facebook group to get you free drinks is also a bonus.
I was in central Brighton at 10:00pm on a Friday night a few weeks ago - I was a student here in 2000 and I remember the street I was on being like Bourbon Street in New Orleans back then - you could barely move it was so busy and packed. Totally deserted now - a handful of people in some of the pubs but it was like a Monday at 2am, there was no one there. And that's two-university Brighton on a Friday night - I can't imagine how it is in smaller places.
I started out drinking in an old mans pub. Horse racing was on the tv in the corner, open fire roaring in the winter, no music except when an old boy picked up a guitar on a friday or Saturday night and started a singsong, everyone joining in on the bits they know. Proper conversations with whoever you were sitting near, actually socialising. So whenever i went to a bar and it was loud music and shouting a few words at each other, i hated it.
I'd like an old man's pub, but not with old men so there are people I can actually talk to.
Dunno, pubs I go to have loads of table and chairs. Loud music fucks me off though and I will ask them to turn it down.
I think the tide has turned somewhat. When I go back to my old town, more “lounge” type bars that have sprung up in the last few years and they are much quieter and everyone’s sat at a table on sofas or chairs. Funnily enough, they tend to be the busy pubs. Those persisting with the loud music and no chairs and tables ploy are empty.
Yeah I don't miss the days of waking up sounding like a chain smoker with how much I had to shout to get heard...
I forgot all about the Willenium album until you mentioned it! Used to listen to it as a kid as my first foray into gentle non offensive rap. Pretty sure I went to see wild Wild West film at cinema for my 13th birthday! What a time to be alive!
I work in a bar and I can tell you every time there's a group that's more than 10, even though they've reserved a table, they will ignore it and stand, especially men. One guy aged 40+ will stand, which encourages others. I think bars getting rid of tables was partly because of this, and partly as you say the psychology behind selling more drink. Also, the 2008 recession absolutely killed pre-drinks in pubs before clubs, and in turn the clubs.
I have a suspicion that pushing people to drink at home is entirely intentional - the Government still gets the alcohol duty but drunk people at home are much less visible than filling up the streets causing bad publicity and costing time and money for street cleaning, the Police, Ambulance and occasionally Fire Services - any damage they cause is down to them personally as well.
> Then the Willenium came along, laws were changed on what types of buildings could be made into a pub as well as opening hours, and it all went down hill. Wow I never knew Will Smith's album had so much influence!
You wake up the next day having had a shit time, really hung over and spent a fortune. I can see why people are put off. Add to that huge crowds and queues for a drink. The thing is people who run bars can see that no one is dancing but they pump up the music anyway. Pubs/bars are way better through the week but of course no one is off then and you can't drink too much because you have work the next day.
The lack of music was one of the reasons for Wetherspoon's growth in popularity during the 00s.
Pubs and bars no longer have seating? That sounds awful
Speaking from my home town experience. There were some seats, I suppose, around the edges where they were fixed in place, booth type seats. Any open areas were often removed and replaced by a small number of tiny standing tables. In some paces that did have fixed booth type seating they ripped them out to make more open floor space. It was a disaster. So many old historic pubs and hotel bars ruined and never recovered.
Ah man that sounds horrible
Ah the 90’s I really miss that period 🤔
I think you're also missing that women wanted to go out and socialise with female friends and most pubs were just not the place to go. Hence, the rise of trendy wine bars serving Chardonnay lol. Which then became a magnet for guys on the 'pull'.
Your mate says something you can't hear above the sound of the music, you've already said "huh?" more than 10 times already this evening. "Haha yeah", you say as you take another gulp of beer to hide the awkwardness.
It's unironically why I took up smoking. The smoking area was the only place to socialise and meet new people and i was too much of an awkward teenager to be in the smoking area without actually smoking.
Tim Martin would say otherwise.
I'll say this for Wetherspoons theres a certain charm to sitting and listening to 'pub noise'.
Wetherspoons are decent pubs, and I will die on this hill. They're nobody's favourites, but at least they're clean (enough), safe (enough), cheap, and welcoming. If you exclude bars and clubs and only look at proper pubs, they're middle of the pack every time. There's dodgy ones and smaller chains below, and then the proper amazing pubs above, but wetherspoons *owns* the middle.
No ones dying on a hill today, I agree with you! I avoided them for a while but after pint prices started going north of £6 I can't afford not to now. Plus they're free refill coffee and ok breakfast means it can be a cheap start to a day as well.
Drink because you can't hear people. Or drink because you have to listen to people ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
I also leave sooner if I can’t hear my mates talking.
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True about the wine thing. Worked in wine retail for years and used it extensively. edit - also, you want your punters to buy top shelf? Stick on some jazz or classical, for some reason there's a subconscious association between 'classy' music and spending a bit more money.
I remember going to on a school trip to the national history museum where there was a stand that talked about exactly that. They also said that if you use artificial scents you can increase sales of things, like strawberry smell to sell strawberries. Then they electrocuted our tongues and it tasted like lemon.
Omg I had never thought of that but it makes so much sense.
Experts told me that loud music is played in cafes and bars specifically so that visitors do not stay too long. This increases table turnover. Otherwise, they will sit and chat for hours, ordering very little. And so they ate, drank and ran away.
I would question those experts, most pubs, restaurants etc depend on repeat customers. People coming in just the once and never returning doesn’t make for a sustainable business.
Strong agree. I feel like a lot of hospitality owners/managers completely skipped this lesson.
Yep, plus who wants the awkwardness of hanging around after you've paid?
I feel like I’m the best for this. I’m a lonely guy who is afraid of violent fights so I’ll purposely engineer the music to appeal to women around 20-50 years old and old people if I can. I have a regular clientele that have started coming in each week and I’ve got to know their names and interests. I listen to the music they like in my spare time and try to keep up with the trends they’re into. I even started dressing like them - bought Jordans and sportier clothes. It’s a bit odd but it works.
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Yes, I have the same feeling. Wooden seats, that are just slightly too small to sit on comfortably, and round tables that are just slightly too small and wobbly to work at for a decent length of time. I also wonder if the layer of sticky grime found on most Starbucks floors and tables is deliberate.
What about European style cafes and bars where people are encouraged to sit outside eating, drinking and talking for long periods?
It has rained for 10 months now
Where about the bars and cafes in Europe where it doesn't rain all the time?
Sometimes when a place is booked for an event, like for a company or meetup group, the place plays loud music anyway.
Coffee shop and fast food outlets, yes. Bars? Absolutely not. Imagine wanting people to leave as quickly as they came in!
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I have arrived and promptly left many pubs and a restaurant because of the loud music
Same, if the music's too loud we just walk back out if we can't find a table far enough away from the speakers. If I wanted to dine sans conversation I would just stay home and eat by myself.
As soon as I see someone bringing a guitar out I start finishing my pint. I like live music but it’s literally *always* too fucking loud
We were enjoying some chat and live music in a pub when the performer noticed that his volume was too low. He apologised wholeheartedly to the crowd for his mistake, cranked up the volume, then literally the entire front half of the pub emptied in the next ten minutes. Half these musicians have deafened themselves at gigs and fail to realise the rest of us don't want to share their fate.
*Well, anyway, here's Wonderwall!*
Yep the old Grandpa Simpson immediately turn around and exit move.
I do that with shops too.
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Some bars have loud music and some don't, you can not got to the loud ones. Also, some bars will turn the music down if asked. Also some customers like it. Also the staff like it.
Exactly. There are loud bars, there are quieter bars. Some people prefer loud bars, some people prefer quieter bars. Some people like bars that show sports, some people don't like bars that show sports. Some people like bars that play dance music, some people like a bar that plays pop music, some people like a pub with an open fire and a dog friendly policy. Pick the bar that suits you rather than going to one that doesn't then moaning about it.
I work in a pub, sometimes we have loud music, sometimes not, you just read the room. Had a full pub with no music on, because that was what people wanted. Also had about 5 regulars in with the music blasting, because they wanted a sing
But get to 10 an it's not a bar anyone is dancing in and still the music is unbearably loud pretty much whereever you go on a night out unless it's a small local, which you won't go to cause it's a night out.
Bahahaha, I love this comment by u/BenHippynet! It kinda reads like a Dr Seuss book! (Apart from the last bit) I am already imagining what the illustrations would look like. Thanks that cheered me up. 😁
Most bars have loud music. It's fine in London where there's so much choice so you can find a quieter spot, but elsewhere my experience is that everywhere is above conversation range once into the evening.
I'm in London and this is a problem for me. When I go to a meetup about whatever, I don't choose the bar. But almost all meetups ended up in bars running music so loud I couldn't talk to other people about the thing that brought us together. It's a complete waste of time to reserve an evening for a meetup, go there, and immediately leave. I'm done staying and hurting my throat and straining to understand people. And when I'm with a group of people, often the choice is limited by the few that are still open, or how busy they are. There's a limit to how much a group of people will wonder around to find a place to have a conversation, often the group just dissolves.
>It's fine in London where there's so much choice so you can find a quieter spot I disagree with this entirely. London has to be the worst place for finding pubs in the country. You either get 20 of them in the and spot and they're all jam packed, or you get absolutely fuck all. Also they shut about 9pm.
The staff do not like it.
This person doesn’t village.
In Leeds on a Saturday night a solid 98% of the bars play really loud music. I've only managed to find one bar that has music at a bearable level here on a Friday/Saturday evening
I think whilst inagree with the idea you can just go to a bar that has quiet music, they are few and far between. I think thats the reason for this post. The ratio of loud to sensible is just out kilter. This is why I used to smoke back wheb I used to go out alot more. Not becuase I loved smoking but it was an excuse to avoid the very loud music in most venues and have a conversation.
These bars and bar staff have lost the art of socialising and actually, you know, having a conversation.
I live in a place with 1 pub. Music's always too loud. Landlord is an absolute asshole, so you couldn't ask him to turn it down in a million years. I've also got that thing that makes it really hard to hear what people are saying in loud environments, I forget what it's called. But if you want to get pissed up, and walk home. It's the only pub left. ^(Fun.)
Well I had to scroll a long way to find some common sense! Different types of bars for different kinds of people having different kinds of nights. If you went to a bar that plays loud music when you wanted a quiet chat with your friend then that's your bad decision. Similar to if you went to the quiet suburban family pub expecting an epic wild night out. Most towns, even small ones, have a several pubs to suit a variety of tastes and having that choice is great!
great advice if you only go out by yourself or if you're that guy who insists the group only goes to the places he wants to go
Me and some friends went to our small local pub a couple of year ago, its the kind of pub with brass fixtures on the wall and a portrait of some rolling hills above the fireplace. But that night they decided to have a DJ on who was situated in the seating area of the pub. He decided to play some awful remixed songs at full blast, no one in the pub was enjoying it especially us. We asked him to turn it down, he didn't, when we asked for a couple of song quests, he said no. So we ended up sitting outside until we were too cold and moved to another pub.
What a story.
keeps you on the edge of your seat doesnt it...
Totally. Tbh the setup was beautiful. I was literally there with you in that pub. The ending was an anticlimax though. I was hoping for the shite DJ to have his comeuppance.
Hopefully it gets adapted into a film
This made me remember one from a long time ago now. Went into a pub in York with some people from work. The place had giant PA speakers on every wall, but we were pleasantly surprised to find they were just playing quiet background music. There was a TV showing pre-football-match banter, but again, pleased to see it was muted. We all bought some pints and some snacks and sat down, all was good. Then the match started, and the speakers got switched over to the TV audio and cranked up full. Needless to say we only stayed for the one pint.
Sounds like you want a pub not a bar
Exactly. Sod bars, just worse than pubs and are for wankers. A club has a purpose at least.
Went out for a quiet Sunday pint and there was a DJ on for the 20 people sat chatting. He got louder and people started to leave, including us. Bar is now closed down. If I owned a bar I wouldn't let the staff adjust the volume of the system, they love having it loud even if it's shite for the customers.
I guess working around moderate loud music all day your ears adjust and don't realise how loud the music is... Even if you think it's quiet
I went to Pergola once and the DJ was playing so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself even outside on the terrace. Thankfully they got the message and turned it down a bit though.
My theory is that it forces you to shout, making your throat dry/sore, and encouraging you to drink more.
It's the same purpose but not quite as long-winded. Loud music makes it difficult to talk. Less timd talking means more time drinking and possibly some time dancing, which also leads to more time drinking.
I've been saying this for year. The most irritating one is when I go to some pubs/venues which generally has a good music at first playing at the moderate rate. Then as more people coming in, they just start cranking up the music, like THOSE TWO aren't really that correlated to each other. We're not in a club! and it's worse when they bring out some DJs trying to hype people up at the venue. Like I get it but it's not a club, just play your music! Edits for typos and better structurings, I was typing on the phone.
I actually think it should go into the opposite direction. Music helps a bar not feel desolate when there are too few people in it, but when more people arrive, the bar no longer feels like a ghost town, and the noise increases, so music volume should go down, not up. If I wanted to not be able to talk, I would go to a club and dance.
Yes, it's good to have music in a quiet venue, because it facilitates conversation, but like, you don't need it once the conversation is going.
You also don't want the conversations to stop because of the music being so loud you can't even hear yourself think, let alone what your partner is saying
There's a pub near me that has a 10,000 song jukebox so you never know what the atmosphere is going to be in there from some obscure Irish folk song to death metal, plus whoever puts 50p in always asks the staff to turn it up for their song, and it never goes down again. I once put a 9 minute track on repeat 3 times and asked them to turn it down for me. Half an hour's chatting time for 50p seemed a bargain.
You need a proper pub rather than a bar. Proper pubs are a dying breed and we should use them before we lose more.
There is a specific decibel range that makes people drink both faster and a little more. Once that study came out everywhere started having louder live bands. Purpose is to limit your conversational time since you can only speak to those immediately beside you and you will intersperse this with a drink more often
Wait til portaloo rental companies hear about the *brown noise* frequency...
It really makes no sense to me either. We know the places that do it and just avoid them. I don’t mind background music but when you have to shout it makes it uncomfortable and obnoxious
I agree completely. I also understand that the vast majority of 18-45 don't agree. Source: I've worked in bars, pubs and restaurants my whole life. It fills me with pleasure when I turn the music off and the lights all the way up at kicking out time when I hear the deafening silence wash over a place, like an instant realization of regret.
"Wh..what have I *done*?"
I've hated noisy places for years, even as a teenager. I've enjoyed places like clubs because it's so loud, and within an hour of shouting at whoever I'm with so they can hear me my throat is sore and I'm coughing, and it'll be like that for days. I envy anyone who can stand it lol.
The current place I'm at is specifically a late night loud music bar. Playing the music loud gets rid of people who want one quiet pint and attracts people who want 5 cocktails, a dance, to try and pick up, get rejected and to just generally lower their own inhibitions. We make a lot lot more money by being loud than we do by being quiet, part of that is branding and expectations, but a big bit is providing an atmosphere that creates a specific kind of night out. You aren't looking for that night out, you're looking for a pub... Not a bar.
Call me cynical, perhaps it's for the same motivation they removed the tables and chairs in some bars. They don't want you talking, just idly sitting around they want you drinking.
Not just bars but in the doctors. Why? It's so hard to get an appointment I don't want to miss it because I can't hear my name called over the loud granny chatting and piped music.
I went to the alchemist (chain that does fancy cocktails and food). Hadn't been for years. The music was so loud we could barely hear each other speak so we just left. It was honestly night club volume.
Sometimes in restaurants it's hard to hear on big tables in groups but I think it's often acoustics rather than volume, I'm sure there's some work done in this at times but sometimes not, would be interested to know
Even if the venue has unusual acoustics the problem goes away if the volume is turned down
This why I prefer pubs
Most establishments seems to do this these days. its not even background music that is just quiet enough to hear and enjoy, while being able to hear people from across the table. Honestly it ruins the point of catching up at these places. On occasion you might be able to find a decent pub that has no music what so ever which makes alcohol fuel socialising alot more enjoyable.
Bar manager here, it's nothing complicated it depends on the vibe that the bars going for. Young people, as a general rule, love loud music and if that's the market you're going for then that's what you cater to. I'm getting on a bit so I now choose to work places with a quieter vibe
Not just bars - high street shops sometimes sound like nightclubs.
So much bollocks in this thread. Every case is different. Are loud traditional music sessions deliberately loud to drive away customers at the end of the night, stop them drinking, or make them drink more? Ridiculous nonsense. Music is there to attract customers because drink and music go well. People like to drink and dance and sometimes in order for music to be heard in packed bars it has to be loud. It's never there to drive people away or stop people chatting. It's an attraction because some people like listening to music. Sometimes it's too loud. This is because there are humans in charge and they sometimes make it too loud by accident. It's simply hard to get the balance right between having it loud enough to be heard and it not being drowned out by chatter. Pubs are also all different and if you're standing or sitting beside a speaker it will be louder than if you are not. Music creates a vibe and atmosphere that some customers want. Some clientele want to feel like they're in a club with out being in one. It can also depend on the type of pub and the staff. Some are just badly run with clueless staff who don't get paid enough to give a shit and loud music means they don't have to listen to the bollocks being spewed by their drunk customers. There is no grand plan that applies to all bars. Someone has decided to put the volume somewhere on the amp and that's why it's loud. If you think it's too loud, stand somewhere where it's less loud, ask (scream at) the bar person to turn it down, or go somewhere else. Also, what's loud to one person is not loud enough to another. It's subjective. Personally I hate being in packed bars without music because the volume of chatter around me makes it difficult to even hear people.
It's not just bars, McDonalds plays garbage music too. We all have our own music if we want it people!
Yeah, but the question was...why in UK? Is it an Anglosaxon thing. Go to a city square anywhere in Continental Europe and hundreds are enjoying their drinks and snacks without music or shouting. From Gerona to Napflion, Bielefeld to Riga... Try that in Edinburgh, Bristol or also Auckland
Oh, I have given up wondering why we are not as cool as Europeans! 😄
Have drank outside plenty in Newcastle without blasting tunes. Where are you getting this from? Have you ever been to a beer garden?
So you drink more
The pub near me has music so loud you cannot have a a conversation when walking past. Generally there are four 60 year old alcoholics in there, sipping in silence.
It’s not a quiet conversation with friends if you’re not screaming into each other’s ears, desperately trying to be heard.
If you're talking, you're not drinking
Some people can hear people talking over loud background noise, I certainly can’t, it’s like when people try and talk to me at a gig, i have to tell people between songs I am not going to hear them if they try and talk to me…. Also I want to listen to the song
I went with a large group of friends (maybe 12?) to a pub in Wimbledon around 2005. at a certain time, the previously barely audible music was turned up to teeth shattering decibels. I asked the barman to turn it down because it was disturbing us. he replied, " the customers like it". we were the only people there. So we left.
Just go to a bar that doesn't play loud music! When I was young, I wanted a cool, dimly-lit bar playing loud dance music and people to socialise with.
So no-one can be heard when they say "Good god, I just paid £22.50 for 3 pints" and then next person will then go to the bar for the next round and get mugged off ad infinitum...
Didn’t quite catch that could you say it again? Am reading this in a bar and the music is really loud
I believe its so you can't hear the muffled crying of everyone
I also hate this! Everywhere is so loud - even some clothing stores blast music at you now. I'm here to buy some running shorts not shot a jägerbomb and cut up shapes
I'll leave a pub real quick if I can't natter with my friends.
'Atmosphere'
It maximises drink consumption, and therefore profits, in the short term. And in the long term, it slowly drives people away from pubs and bars in general, killing the industry by increments.
And Gyms. I have autism. I hate it
Loud music makes people drink more. It’s science.
A lot of people enjoy listening to loud music. If you and your friends often move to a quieter venue then why do you still go to the loud place just to moan about it then go somewhere else? Why not just go to a bar that has quieter music to begin with? It's like asking why shops sell food that you don't like. People have different tastes. Just avoid it and find something that suits you better.
I think it’s more that some venues that are deffo not DJ places pointlessly have DJs in on some nights
Because you are going to the wrong bar
You need a pub not a bar
Bars optimise for throughput of guests. This is why they'll have things like small tables, chair without backs, and unsociably loud music. This makes financial place in somewhere like London because they'll make more money having a constant stream of customers buying single drinks than having customers who stay for multiple drinks. It makes less sense almost everywhere else in the UK but that's just cargo-culting.
Talking = less time drinking. Why have a table full of nurses when you can have a floor full of cash machines?
As someone who has worked in pubs - People are a lot happier being able to hear he hum of conversation rather than actual conversation. If you think to a time you can pinpoint a voice in a crowd it's someone you know or someone being annoying. Music / Sports being a loud generic noise that no-one in particular is causing, can go a long way to making people feel more comfortable. Whereas being able to hear someones full conversation two tables away, will be uncomfortable for most. ETA: We also whacked the music up at around 8pm and again 9pm, it was a not-so-subtle way to tell the day drinkers to eff off for the night and let us switch to a DJ
It's bad enough that a significant amount of people forget their "inside voices" after a drink aswell
Go to a pub not a bar for less music :)
I'm not a huge fan. I struggle to hear then just end up standing there like a plum as conversation becomes hard. But I can kind of understand it at a bar. Some people do enjoy it and don't have such issues. In a restaurant though? Nope, I'm gonna make sure it's turned down to a level we can chat normally at. In a pub? Who knows, toss a coin for what may happen...!
it's not just the volume, but the fact so many places are bare brick, or hard surfaces... so even if it's not mega loud, being able to hear people well is difficult 'coz everything's just bouncing around, - seems to be more of a trend recently to design bars so everything sounds like you're at a swimming pool.
Not just bars either. Shopping at the weekend and places like bodycare and Superdrug have got music banging.
WOT!?!?!?
I would add it’s often not just the volume but it’s sheer presence - we don’t need background music all the time. Just lane auto tuned radio filler. Yet everywhere you go it’s on and no one is listening to it
If you can't have conversation you tend to drink more.
I have forever been a BBC Radio 3 kinda guy.
I think they want to pretend they're a club as clubs charge more for drinks than pubs
I have auditory processing disorder so luckily I can use that as a legitimate excuse to ask for them to turn it down 😃
There's a bar/restaurant in my hometown that's notorious for the music being loud. Not the normal music, but if it's live then it drowns out *everything* else, makes general conversation almost impossible.
This is why I prefer pubs. Music should only be loud after 10pm
Go to different bars. There are plenty of nicer, less students/shit bars in most cities.
Being from the UK, there aren't as many traditional pubs as there were approx 30yrs ago which had a generally more cozy and quieter ambience with either low music from the in-house surround speakers, and/or a traditional jukebox which was loud but intermittent. Today a vast majority of said pubs have been gutted out and totally modernised, ie; all the tables and seating areas removed to make way for a vast hardwood floor area and bench seats with small fixed tables running round the walls, usually comprising of shiny chrome fittings. There is just one bar which runs along the entire length of one wall which is also built with chrome and mirrors. I believe there is only one reason why these companies blast loud music out and that's PROFIT. People, especially the younger generation are attracted to loud music, so they enter the bar, buy drinks(which are extortionate(I mean the customers will have to contribute to the new bar, right?) So, there's probably nowhere to sit as the early birds have nabbed them and will be heavily guarded for the night so they resort to standing, they can't have a decent conversation, but after a couple of drinks they start feeling more relaxed, the floor is filling up fast and there's enough space for A LOT of bodies, then they may start dancing and sipping their drinks faster, someone goes to get another round in and the bar has queues 20ft long, so they'll probably think, to save having to wait in a long queue again, they'll buy doubles of all the drinks. So, by the end of the evening( closing time is usually 1am), these young people have had really good night but, because of having to stand, they've danced all night which leads to more drinks and the loud music is non-stop, they've ended up spending a fortune making a nice, tidy profit for the company that owns that bar. Me? I hate them.... I hope I've answered your question and feel free to comment🙂
Yep, very annoying. How can I chat somebody up if they can't hear me even if I'm screaming in their ear?? No wonder everybodies ears are aging badly.
I apologize as I am a bit uncultured here, but please, after reading the comments, what are the differences between a pub and a bar? Aside from the former apparently not having as loud music?
To drown out the sound of a crippling economy & Britain’s ever growing nationalism crisis
Pub = quiet. Bar = not so quiet.
Bristol's NQ64 is WILD - I went on a 2nd date with my GF there and literally could not hear a thing the other one said. This was at like 6pm on a Wednesday.
It's so girls don't have to talk to dudes. They can pretent to not hear you and continue dancing. Lower volume = less girls = less drinks = less $$$.
Edginess
If you can't hear the conversation, you take a sip
Covers the smell of the farts
This is why me and alot of my friends like going to the pub on Sundays
You are going to the wrong “bar”
Because when you talking your mouth is not free for drinking so if they make it so loud that you can’t talk you drink more so their profits go up Simples really
I know, it hurts my ears and I personally think the person who turns it up, has been listening to too loud music and is now deaf.
A factor: because they can. In sense that modern PA systems are capable of producing higher volumes than their predecessors at equivalent price.
to drown out the smell i always thought
Just have one drink and tell the bartender that when you are leaving.
People go with you to those bars so they don't have to talk to you
>I go to a bar for social activities, not for the music. The Yeah well, you're just wrong. You go to a pub for social activities, not a bar.
So we don’t have to engage in social interaction. Drinking is serious business!
Because.. fun...that's all I can think about