Is M&S right to ban piped music in its stores?

I HAVEN’T been campaigning against the scourge of piped music for as long as John Humphrys (Mail) but, like him, I was delighted at M&S’s decision to switch it off. What mystifies me is how the music licence collectors have managed for so long to persuade businesses to play background music when so many people clearly dislike it or, in the case of people with conditions such as hearing loss, ME and autism, have health issues with it. Many shops and restaurants admit they rely on the ‘research’ provided by the two main music licence collectors, PRS For Music and PPL — the private companies with a vested interest in getting them to play background music in the first place. Are shops, restaurants, banks and medical premises really so gullible? Surely empirical evidence alone demonstrates that businesses which don’t play music, such as John Lewis, Primark and Wetherspoons, do very nicely without it, and are saving themselves quite a bit of money.

DOROTHY LEWIS, Edinburgh.

I’M NOT aware of my local M&S branch playing anodyne ‘lift music’, but it does play chart and pop music, which I still enjoy at 40. I fear that without this joyful accompaniment I’ll be forced to listen to more unpleasant sounds such as mobile phones and loud conversations. I love listening to music wherever I am. I’m aware that not everyone shares my passion, but music brings a sense of soul to an emotionally barren urban landscape. Perhaps Mr humphrys fails to appreciate that the ‘insidious din’ derives from the hardship of Detroit in the early eighties. I hope this policy is not extended to other shops as I loathe the sound of ‘ringing tills’ in complete isolation. Mrs DEBORAH HIGGINSON,

Knowle, W. Midlands.

MUSIC in public places isn’t a modern phenomenon. Roman frescoes show musicians playing during feasts. The Vikings had saga-singers in their halls, the Old Welsh had their bards. Medieval great halls had minstrel galleries. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the ballad sellers and barrel organs played the latest songs. In the 19th century, public dining rooms had orchestras playing all day. I still hate ‘Muzak’, but it’s nice to think generations of my ancestors might well have been making exactly the same complaints as me.

ROBIN CROSS, Maidstone, Kent.