The music they play at certain stores/places?

Question

Do you ever notice that they play the same stations at certain stores/restaurants, I notice that at Shopko, Super 1 Foods, McDonald's, Rite Aid, Burger King, Shari's Restaurant, Big 5 Store and Burlington Coat Factory they play the same stations over and over again and it makes me wonder if you can get that station from coast to coast.

Answer 1

The store that I work for has it's own "radio station" which is pumped into all it's stores across the country. When I call a store in L.A., for instance, and am put on hold I hear the same thing over the phone as I do in my own store. Most stores play similar music because it is all, for the most part, mainstream and "unoffensive" to the shopper. I imagine most places operate this way, with soft rock, mainstream country etc...

Answer 2

Playing music in a public building costs money. If a business plays a regular radio broadcast publicly, then they can be liable for royalties. It seems the people that sell "elevator music" have personnel ever on the lookout for any unauthorized public broadcasts and they will use any discovery about radio broadcasts to squeeze a sale of their canned variety. Mostly larger businesses.

A jukebox is within any public performance rules because a portion of those coins used to operate the machine is used to pay royalties. Connecting a radio receiver to a store's PA system is not covered.

Answer 3

There's a company where all these store/restaurants tune in to thought a satellite system, This music that they play is designed for you to be relaxed and feel at home, doing so you will buy more from there store.

Answer 4

The same station operates on a different frequency in different states, so it's still possible for them to tune in to a particular one station.

Answer 5

It is a recording, not live radio.