Our store currently has about a 5 hour music loop.

I can tell because the chorus for "Best of Intentions" by Mutemath is ****ing obnoxious.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Our store currently has about a 5 hour music loop.

I can tell because the chorus for "Best of Intentions" by Mutemath is ****ing obnoxious.

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 Yes, I mentioned (on another thread a few weeks ago) that this totally trashy, obscure, annoying song is played INCREDIBLY FREQUENTLY for no apparent reason. I usuallyhear it about every 4 to  hours, and for some odd reason it comes on within MINUTES of my clocking in, no matter what time of day it is!! So strange. 

 

 It MUST be that someone at the In-Store Audio Network is related to one  of the band members?????????????   

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 I meant to write "4 to 6  hours" 

The current In-Store Audio Network is a distant cousin of the old P.O.P (Point of Purchase) Radio Corporation in the late 1980s and early 1990s. When I worked for Kroger between 1991 and 1993, P.O.P Radio and the In-Store Broadcasting Network were one and the same. The music was provided by Muzak and they provided the commercials/jingles. They were sent to the stores via c-band satellite. They provided music/ads/jingles to Kroger, Tom Thumb, Minyard Food Stores, and Eckerd Drugs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Because of financial difficulties, P.O.P Radio was purchased by Heritage Media sometime in the early 1990s. In the early to mid-2000s, it looks like were two separate companies: P.O.P Radio and In-Store Broadcasting (Audio) Network. They both merged into the In-Store Audio Network.

As I mentioned in a previous post, our store received non-instrumental music (Carpenters, Manilow, the Stylistics, REO Speedwagon, Neil Diamond, Whitney Houston, Air Supply, Eric Carmen, Cowsills, etc.). But, there was a time before this when we received an elevator/instrumental version of the satellite feed (Paul Mauriat, Herb Alpert, Zamfir, etc.)

Muzak by far picked fantastic music... plus they did not let the commercials/jingles play over the music. The music ended... Kroger jingle... a couple of ads... music played... music ended... P.O.P Radio ID jingle... a couple of ads... music played... music ended... In-Store Broadcasting Network ID jingle... a couple of ads... etc. over and over again. The music/ads/jingles played in a continuous loop about every 2 - 3 hours... might have heard the same song twice or three times in a shift, but it was great music. The music changed weekly but would rotate over and over again every three weeks. Therefore, you heard the sames songs only every three weeks.

If I worked for In-Store Audio Network... I could teach them a few things about music/ads/jingles. #1 Do not play ads over the music. #2 Pick the old standards (60s, 70s, and 80s... and only mix in a few of the 90s, 00s, and 10s). #3 Use a good studio to develop store specific jingles. FORTUNATELY, I was able to get a couple of the old Kroger, P.O.P Radio, and In-Store Broadcasting Network jingles/IDs on .mp3 several years back. Brings back good memories. I play a few songs from my store days... play a few of these jingles... and it is like I am back at the store. Good times.

Anonymous wrote:

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If I worked for In-Store Audio Network... I could teach them a few things about music/ads/jingles. #1 Do not play ads over the music. #2 Pick the old standards (60s, 70s, and 80s... and only mix in a few of the 90s, 00s, and 10s). #3 Use a good studio to develop store specific jingles. FORTUNATELY, I was able to get a couple of the old Kroger, P.O.P Radio, and In-Store Broadcasting Network jingles/IDs on .mp3 several years back. Brings back good memories. I play a few songs from my store days... play a few of these jingles... and it is like I am back at the store. Good times.

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 I'd love to hear some of those jingles...You should upload them to YouTube or something...Maybe do what this guy did...

https://boingboing.net/2015/10/11/this-guy-uploaded-a-collection.html

UnderPressure wrote:

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I work at a store that uses the InStore Audio Network and there is a song that a co-worker and I have been trying to figure out.  It appears that it is one of the super rare ones.  I don't know if anybody can help us.

The lyrics go something like
"I'm under pressure / keep fooling myself / I'm stressed / wherever I turn / whatever I do / got me feeling / that my life ain't going nowhere"

The song sounds very 80s synth-poppy.  I actually recording a junky version on my phone if needed, but I'm hoping somebody might know what I am talking about?

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 Most of the "music" I hear over the In-Store Audio Network has lyrics that are about 70%  unintelligible........... on so many songs, I really can't be 100% sure of what words I'm hearing. (You see, I actually like to understand the lyrics of a song........what a weird concept!)   

One of the songs I heard today has one especially unintelligible phrase repeated about 20 times, by  a girl who's voice is so whiny, shrill, and irritating,(sounds like someone singing in high-pitched "baby talk") it flabbergasts me that she was able to get a recording contract.   

However, the song lyrics you seem to be hearing are a perfect fit for the average Kroger employee..............probably no one in Corporate would be sharp enough to notice that.  And as the overly enthusiastic ISAN guy says:  "Sing along.......we don't mind!!!!!!"    

At my store there is a song I hear every now and then. I have been hearing this song for a while. I can never quite hear it because this particular song is like super quite for some reason unless you are right under the speaker. It I think says something like "ahh now honey oggie boggie" that's all I can ever seem to hear. Not even sure if that's right though or not as I can never seem to find it.

Could it be, "Summer Madness" by Kool and the Gang (1975)? I have heard that numerous times on our radio. I think it would be more typical of Emerson, Lake and Palmer than Kool. I really enjoy it when it comes on. 

In regards to the Boogie song, it's definitely the Baccara tune played often.

The one currently driving me insane not knowing is a song played fairly often as of late, chorus sounds something along the lines of "I don't need an alibi".. sounds early 90s pop ish. I believe they play another song by the same artist or at least sounds the same. Google turns up nothing but it gets stuck in my head often if anyone knows.

Anonymous wrote:

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One i've been hearing for months, can never hear the verses good enough just the chorus....basically "Woah..oh oh...oh woah OH OH.

It's a mellow song with a female singer.

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 "Woah..oh oh...oh woah OH OH."

Modern American songwriting at it's finest.    SAD. 

How bout that loud ass chime noise alerting us that a new jam is about to drop in the playlist? Got some bangers going lately like Eye of the Tiger and Welcome to the Jungle!

Anonymous wrote:

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Yupp, thats to keep us motivated to work harder.

 

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Not me.  I hate music when I'm working.  When the loud music comes on, I stop what I'm doing and complain about Kroger being run by a bunch of idiots.

Don't forget "Pump Up The Jam" by Technotronic, "Jump" by Kris Kross, "Let's Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas, "Centerfield" by John Fogerty and the ubiquitous "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" by the C+C Music Factory...

Anonymous wrote:

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If any of you guys want to read a history of this "background music", check this out...

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/nov/06/inside-the-booming-business-of-background-music

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 Interesting article. However, (predictably), it has no mention of our Bottom of the Barrel "In Store Audio Network" that Kroger uses.  Reading the article makes it clear that the streaming services available nowadays typically have easy access to "VAST" numbers of songs (millions?) of all genres, time periods and artists.  So why does ISAN have such a limited and repetitive playlist?  Because they are a low-grade company, and probably (one of the, if not the) cheapest one out there, since Kroger still insists on sticking with them....... for years on end. 

Anonymous wrote:

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In regards to the Boogie song, it's definitely the Baccara tune played often.

 

The one currently driving me insane not knowing is a song played fairly often as of late, chorus sounds something along the lines of "I don't need an alibi".. sounds early 90s pop ish. I believe they play another song by the same artist or at least sounds the same. Google turns up nothing but it gets stuck in my head often if anyone knows.

 

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 Heard this today around 6:15 AM, but no clue. Google has nothing.

Other lyrics heard include "on the run" rhyming with "begun". As mentioned, early 90s dance pop vibe..... female vocals, kind of comparable to Pebbles or Taylor Dayne who also are played but not them. A mystery.

Anonymous wrote:

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So this one is playing at my store a lot. It sounds joke this whiney female singer singing over what almost sounds like church music. It isn't good. It doesn't really flow. Can anybody help me identify it?

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 Half of of the songs In Store Audio Network plays on our music feed is a WHINEY FEMALE SINGER" or female group.  The other half is mostly whiny, shrill, stident, moany or growling male or male group.  The music STINKS!!!!!!!!

Commercials are getting recycled.  The loud, annoying woman screeching about the "beebee ale" (which, I guess, is loud, annoying womanspeak for "baby aisle") is bombarding us again in 2019.

Apparently, there is a company that runs these radio stations for stores. They are called The Feel Good Music or some ****. They play music depending on the time of day. For instance, in the afternoon they will play upbeat music to pump up the customers psychologically which somehow makes them buy more ****. In the morning, it will be suicidal increasing songs for the old people to not get too excited over. All in all, it is utter garbage.

Side note, I personally like the racist "Avocados from Mexico" theme song.

Anonymous wrote:

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What's racist about avocados from Mexico? 

 

Also we sometimes hear the same song back to back.  

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 The fact they got Mexicans singing it. Trust me. Lots of Hispanic customers here complain about it all the time but the managers can't do anything about it.