At Collective Agency we've developed some guidelines for what works for us.
The measurable goals I look at for playing music is:
- to maximize the number of people who choose to not wear headphones, and
- to maximize the number of people who say they enjoy the music a lot and
that it helps them focus.
Music that works for what our members expect:
- music without words in English (other than Christmastime or Ella
Fitzgerald-era jazz). If people understand words, it's distracting. World
music with other languages works well too.
- music without a strong bass.
- our defaults are jazz and classical radio stations.
- we have some members who change the stations (very rarely, a couple times
a week total) if they don't like the song that's playing.
- There's a sheet on top of the stereo with these guidelines on it, so
people know how music is chosen.
For volume, there's a very specific range where it's not loud enough to be
distracting, and not quiet enough where most people have to strain to hear
it. Radio stations tend to moderate the songs to a pretty tight volume
range. Having music on within that range when someone new walks in
definitely increases the percent of people who sign up and become members
here, compared with when music is too quiet or not on.
My main joy from having music on is because it leads to smoothing out the
sound in the main room, for more conversations spoken in normal voices, and
because all that leads to more people signing up.
Alex
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Alex Linsker
Collective Agency's Community Organizer / Proprietor
(503) 517-6900 http://collectiveagency.co
Tax and Conversation's Statewide Community Organizer
(503) 517-6904 taxandconversation.com
(503) 369-9174 mobile (503) 517-6901 fax
322 NW Sixth Ave, Suite 200, Portland, Oregon 97209
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