Is Your Restaurant's Music Too Loud?
Industry writer Jackie Mitchell talks to Action on Hearing Loss, the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), Ed Rex and The Gate restaurant about the issue of loud noise in restaurants, pubs and cafes.
Should you turn down the music in your restaurant?
food on the plate. It’s a social occasion and if you can’t communicate easily with your companions or the waiter, then that’s one of the key ingredients ruined. We will encourage our members and the industry as a whole to engage with the Speak Easy campaign to ensure that unnecessary noise doesn’t prevent anyone from enjoying eating out.”
When Ed Rex, who has a hearing loss, visits a venue where the background music is turned up loudly, he says it’s like a “wall of noise thrown at me. The music takes over and I can’t hear properly and have to rely on lipreading. This is hard work and it’s exhausting. It means I miss the punchline of the joke, I’m not part of the conversation and I become isolated. I just want to go home.”
In these situations, Rex has asked restaurants and cafes to turn down the music, “which they do and then five minutes later it’s turned back up.”
Going on a date is particularly difficult when there’s loud music “because it creates a sense of awkwardness as you’re constantly having to ask the other person to repeat themselves,” he adds.
Speakers behind the bar are a major concern for Rex because he can’t understand what the bar staff are saying “and I can’t hear what the price is so I have to position myself at the cash register so I can see the display to know the cost of the drink.
“I’m not asking for the music to be turned off, but there’s no need to play it full blast. I think speakers behind the bar should be avoided. Quiet hours should be considered where music is turned off for a while so people can have a quiet dining experience.”
Music can be a Distraction
According to Rex, the JD Wetherspoon chain of pubs has got it right. “They don’t play background music and have carpet and soft furnishings that absorb sound.”
JD Wetherspoon pubs haven’t played music since they started in 1979 apart from a small number of Lloyd’s No 1 bars. Eddie Gershon from JD Wetherspoon says “Tim Martin the chairman felt that when people go into a pub, they want to chat and music can be a distraction.”
Autism Friendly
The Gate in Islington, London, a member of the SRA, recently became the first restaurant to be accredited as Autism Friendly by the National Autistic Society. One of many things the restaurant has done to achieve this is to provide autistic people with the option of a quiet dining experience. John Page, business director, The Gate, says he has walked out of restaurants because the music is too loud. “This is often when the manager isn’t in the venue at the time to monitor it,” he says.
Policies are in place at both Page’s restaurants in Islington and Hammersmith to control the music. “We have a restriction on the amps in Hammersmith and the volume controls are marked in Islington,” he says. “We have residents living above the restaurant in Islington and we’re next to a guest house in Hammersmith. If customers say the music isn’t loud enough, we explain about the neighbours and that tends to work best. I feel other establishments should opt for a similar policy in restricting volume.”
If autistic people or other customers require a quieter dining experience, the music can be separated and turned off or it can be quieter in different parts of the restaurant. “When taking reservations, depending on the time of day, we can give the customer a restaurant table in a quiet area where there is more light and space,” he says.
It should be self-evident if the noise in your restaurant is too loud, but you can also quantify this by using a decibel reader. Dixon from Action on Hearing Loss says there are several free or inexpensive smartphone apps which can provide decibel readings. “Any venue consistently recording noise of 80dB and over would be considered very loud.”
What Can Be Done to Reduce Noise Levels?
Here’s some advice from the Speak Easy guide from Action on Hearing Loss:
- Keep your music at 50dB or below so that your customers can hear and be heard
- Use furnishings that absorb sound – for example, upholstered chairs and sofas with soft materials such as padded leather and fabrics. Also, use table linen and lay carpets where possible
- Provide good lighting for lipreading – this is vital for people with hearing loss. Your venue needs well-lit spaces so that customers who rely on lipreading can follow conversation
- Install acoustic treatments – these come in the form of wall and ceiling panels and are effective in reducing background noise by absorbing sound
- Designate a quiet area with certain tables reserved for people with a hearing loss
By Jackie Mitchell