Every morning, I have a coffee at a cafe. It feels incredibly luxurious and it is my time with myself. I’m not a late night person and have not been that much of a jogger of late, so in the morning, I take 45 minutes to sit, to think, to write. All within the confines of a cafe.
With reflection as my project, the music in the cafe has a profound effect. I notice it: it makes me happy, frustrated or put my earphones in.
A new study conducted by the University of Hamburg on the impact of in-store music has found that the presence of such music, compared to its absence, resulted in mixed effects on a customer’s mood: sometimes positive, sometimes negative, and sometimes non-significant.
I am the sort of customer for which the impact is significant (which leads me to another study, that of the highly sensitive person for whom any form of music or noise will have an effect.)
So I write this to advocate for the effect of music in cafes. If coarse hip hop is playing at 7am, I feel stressed. If the music is subtle, soft, appropriate for the morning, I am rendered incredibly happy.
And that’s not to say I don’t like in-store Hip Hop music. It’s at 3:30pm and it’s time for a pick-me up, I’m all for it. There is a reason why elevator music is all smooth jazz. And why ColesRadio is generally pop. (It makes shopping more fun!)
There we go: my musing on morning cafe music.
she, the sojourner 