people who play loud music at the office

[rave]

They're really annoying. This is an office environment, for crying out loud. People need to do some critical thinking and playing loud music does not help.

I'm getting the impression that these loud music players are living out a self-appointed fantasy role of the office's disc jockey or something. Well, for their information, most other people do not appreciate what they are doing.

To make matters worse, they play only the cheeziest music. It would be okay, I guess, if they play smooth jazz, acoustic tracks or light rock. Maybe that would ease up the stress. But no. They prefer to play Matchbox Twenty, Vertical Horizons, that "Superman" song, Linkin Park, and all those canned, overplayed, not-necessarily-good stuff you always hear on MTV and Campus Radio. I've even developed an annoyance to The Corrs' music because they're so overplayed here already.

And to top it all off, sometimes more than one person does this. At times, it seems as if they seek to drown each other out in terms of volume, so that they could hear only their own music. I happen to be positioned in the middle of two such people, and it's driving me to the verge of insanity. Sometimes, I'm tempted to play my "Eraser Engine" MP3 and other loud techno tracks at full volume to drown them both out at the same time. Sheesh.

Don't get me wrong. I like loud music. You can give me metal and hard techno anytime; but please, not at the office during core hours.

Ilagay nyo naman sa lugar.

-----

Just speaking my mind here. Are you in similar predicaments? Post here. :)

[Frances_Bean]

i guess i could say that i had the same experience when i attended this 1 month training in our company. there were 10 of us plus the two instructors in a quite spacious training room. whenever our instructors give us a break, all the 10 PCs would start playing their mp3s, all at the same time! what's worse is we play different genres. some are into alternative or heavy rock, while others are into r&b, techno and cheesy songs! we would drown each other's sound by turning up the volume. the room sounds like it has 10 competing stalls selling pirated cds! :scream:
oh well...i can't really complain because i'm as guilty as they are. :D
now, i don't have to endure my competing neighbors' songs, we all have our headphones on! ;) Maybe you can suggest that to your two officemates as well. :)

off-topic
isn't this thread supposed to be in the Buhay Pinoy or Working Filipino forum? Just asking. :rolleyes:

[rave]

Originally posted by Frances_Bean
off-topic
isn't this thread supposed to be in the Buhay Pinoy or Working Filipino forum? Just asking. :rolleyes:
You may be right. We could just put it like this: I'm more comfortable with the people and topics in Music and Radio than in those two forums, so I put the thread here. It is about music anyway. Well, sort of. :teehee:

Then again, if the mods decide to move this one, I'll respect that decision. :)

[tina11]

Originally posted by Frances_Bean

now, i don't have to endure my competing neighbors' songs, we all have our headphones on! ;) Maybe you can suggest that to your two officemates as well. :)


the only problem with that is that people with headphones on might get too "into" the music they're listening to... and start singing... softly at first, then louder... :lol:

[nance]

Hi rave,

Instead of "just speaking your mind here", why don't you tell your officemates to turn down the volume? That's what I do when the music at my office gets too loud.

I know that most Filipinos prefer the non-confrontational approach to solving office problems, but in this case, I suggest taking the direct approach. I don't mean that you have to be rude to your officemates ("Hoy! Hinaan mo nga ang tugtog! I can't hear my own thoughts!"), even if you already feel like smashing their computers.

I've learned that a short, simple, direct, and polite request works best, as in "Hi Bhoy/Bhaby! Pwede paki hinaan? Thanks!" or "Uh, guys? Paki hinaan naman, o? Thanks!"

Don't forget the "thanks!". And be cheerful and sincere when you ask; don't let any trace of sarcasm or irritation show.

Try it a couple of times or even for a week. If your officemates still turn up the volume despite your requests, your next step would be to bring up the matter with your boss (If it's your boss who plays loud music, ewan ko na :) ). Ask your boss to require people to bring earphones if they want to play music at the office. (Note: Make sure that your boss doesn't ban playing music or else your officemates will resent the ban, and you.) Your boss will likely be sympathetic to your plight, especially if you let him/her know that the loud music is affecting your productivity.

As for songs playing over and over, well... It's tricky business, messing with other people's tastes. I still haven't figured out how to ask people to modify their playlists. That's why I'm also allergic to The Corrs now. Hey! Baka officemates tayo :D

[rave]

nance: Just because I posted this at PEx does not mean I'm not doing anything about it in real life. I give feedback whenever I feel it necessary. It's just that this could be an interesting PEx topic. When I heard my officemate blast away again this morning, I knew this just had to be put in PEx. :)

In any case, you sound a lot like a typical employee from my past office. Either that, or the feedback and escalation culture you're describing is standard now among companies. :)

[rave]

Originally posted by tina11
the only problem with that is that people with headphones on might get too "into" the music they're listening to... and start singing... softly at first, then louder... :lol:
In the place I used to work in, they banned playing of music in the office, even through headphones. The main reason was safety. Baka raw hindi marinig yung mga alarms, more so kung naka-headphones ka.

Ok naman yung justification, pero some see it as too harsh. Come to think of it, they could have just made employees play at a lower volume. But then again, that would be harder to implement as a policy. :)

[Fairy_nd_meadow]

Hmmm.... Either your officemates are disrespectful or management allows this kind of practice. You know, I heard this story before in our office.... Each one in the department has his own radio and each one was listening to their own station.... Until one day the Vice President went to their area and shouted at them to turn off their radios.

On the other hand, music does help people relieve pressure and does help in soothing their minds. But if it becomes too loud, I agree that it does become annoying.

Why don't you discuss this with someone in authority so that they can tell those people to at least tone down their radios a bit, so all of you can concentrate. You don't have to be the devil's advocate, and it's not like you're squealing on them, it's just that you're annoyed and it's but right to do something about it. :mad:

[nance]

Originally posted by rave
Just because I posted this at PEx does not mean I'm not doing anything about it in real life. I give feedback whenever I feel it necessary. It's just that this could be an interesting PEx topic. When I heard my officemate blast away again this morning, I knew this just had to be put in PEx. :)


Sorry, I thought you were asking for advice. Ako naman 'tong si feeling-helpful, naglagay pa ng step-by-step how-to :rolleyes: Sorry if I sounded, um, pedantic.

Anyway, you're right. This is an interesting topic and a problem that a lot of Working Filipinos probably have, especially those in IT companies.

Originally posted by rave
In any case, you sound a lot like a typical employee from my past office. Either that, or the feedback and escalation culture you're describing is standard now among companies. :)

Syempre I have no idea how a typical employee from your former office sounded like so I don't know if this is positive or negative. I'll shut up now.

...retreats, puts a Beethoven compilation in the cd drive, sets the volume to level 2...

[rave]

nance: I meant it in a good way, of course. Actually, having been exposed to that kind of office culture myself, that's exactly how I'll respond if I was in your place. I found it a nice coincidence, hence that remark. :)

[rave]

There have been rumors that our workstations here will be upgraded soon. I shudder at the possibility that those new computers will be equipped with sub-woofers.

On a more positive note, however, I hear that heavy metal music sounds simply glorious with the bass pumped up. Oooh, temptation. Maybe I should be thankful that there are no clear music playing policies yet down here. :evil:

[rave]

Originally posted by Fairy_nd_meadow
Why don't you discuss this with someone in authority so that they can tell those people to at least tone down their radios a bit, so all of you can concentrate. You don't have to be the devil's advocate, and it's not like you're squealing on them, it's just that you're annoyed and it's but right to do something about it. :mad:
Yup. Right now, I'm thinking to just wait for the "open forum" session. That way, it would be more objective and formal, not to mention constructive. After all, it's not like a fire that needs to be put out immediately.

nance also has a point to take care not to let it go as far as banning the playing of music. Apektado rin ako nyan eh. I play Depeche Mode songs to no end after 6PM. :D

[Rachel1013]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to share my thoughts :)

In our office, playing of music is also banned.. even the sounds of Microsoft windows is not allowed.. Even the wearing of headphones is discouraged..

Although I find it too harsh.. especially the headphones wearing part.. Coz my job involves writing a lot of business reports.. that sometimes, other disturbances in the office (especially in a small room) breaks my train of thought.. and in our case when our marketing agents are all in the office.. it becomes a circus.. so I use the headphones just to be able to focus on my work.. i think that's better than not being productive at all.. IN fact, while wearing my headphones... I was able to finish one chapter! :)

It was great! :)

Me so bad!! :lol:

Rachel

[the_poll_master]

can you imagine yourself listening to destiny's child's eight days of christmas, abba's dancing queen, the teeth's laklak, and gorillaz' clint eastwood simulateously?:dizzy:

grabe!

here naman kasi it's not banned kasi it's part of our job.... :D

sometimes its okey but when their timing's off, all i do is play my very own - badburn! :rocker: in full volume!

otherwise, a little yelling helps.... something that goes like would you mind?!!!

:blowsmoke:

[mac_bolan00]

...are fools.

[tr|n|ty]

don't you think even if it's not office policy "to wear headphones", it's common courtesy? i've interned in top firms in the Philippines and they are very unprofessional about certain "common sense" work etiquette like music, outfits, way of speaking, etc.

[ohmy]

i guess depende din sa work mo.. i havent really been in a coporate type of working environment. but for the type of work that i do, kailangan talaga ng music in the workgroup.

we've also been through:
1) headsets
2) centralized music playing (unahan sa CD playlist)
3) to each's own
4) no music at all

the office ended up making smaller workgroups in each's own room.. so the music problem isnt that big anymore.

oh, i used to have a tv monitor tuning on MTV the whole day while i work :D


:arcade:

[rave]

I'm actually for the centralized thing. Ang gulo kasi talaga pag sabay sabay eh.

Of course, the person who'll play the music should be responsible enough to see to it na ok lang yung tugtog nya. Baka kasi puro Linkin Park buong araw, araw-araw ang mangyari eh. :teehee:

[anaphoenix]

Sa office naman, hindi pwede ang mga headphones so ang ginagawa, bawat tao sa departamento ay binibigyan ng isang araw para magpatugtog ng sarili niyang piling musika... para fair. I hate it pag yung isang kasama ko ay nagpapatugtog ng "Superman" song paulit-ulit sa dalawang oras. Grrrr!!! Tapos susundan pa ng Bread!!! GRRRRR!!!!!

[rave]

...tapos susundan ng Lifehouse, Matchbox 20 at Linkin Park. :teehee:

No offense to the fans, of course. It's just that they're so overplayed here. :)

[rave]

Now that I'm Music and Radio moderator, would it still be okay to continue this thread? :teehee:

Anyway, one of my officemates is playing Eminem's album right now. You know how things go in that album, yes? All those rapping and syncopated vocals and occasional screaming do not necessarily help in stimulating your mind to do technical work.

No offense to Eminem or his fans, of course.

And yes, until now ay naghahanap pa rin ako ng timing to give my comments. Fault ko rin siguro ang hindi pagsasalita. You see, I have this feeling that my officemate is one of those "musically sensitive" individuals, so I figured that I may have to tread carefully.

Nyek, this has become my web log. Anyway, until next time. :)

[rave]

Actually, there are times when I'd race for being the one to play music first.

Kasi kung ako yung nagpapatugtog, I see to it that the music is set to a decent volume and the music itself is unobtrusive (smooth flowing, no belting, no shrill instruments, etc.).

Ang problema nga lang, if you set your music at a low volume, the others may turn up their own audio. Hehehe grabe talaga. :D

[KuyaDanny]

OFF TOPIC

From all Working Filipinos, congratulations to rave on his appointment as moderator. :handsdown:


ON TOPIC

Yes, rave, it is perfectly OK to continue this thread.

[rave]

Thanks, KuyaDanny! :D

[pigarotti]

same experience here. someone's playing beatles, led zeppelin and some voltes v theme over and over and over again. i love music--from jazz to metal rock. but overlooping it like hell is not good. i never liked listening to the famed beatles anymore because of that. count the corrs in..

i don't mind them using headphones and singing along.. better than hearing it loud and clear over and over. GRRRRRRR

[cherub_08]

Originally posted by rave
I've even developed an annoyance to The Corrs' music because they're so overplayed here already.


guilty ata ako dito :glee: . . . i'd always play Corrs stuff but i don't put my pc volume to the max. as much as possible, i play my mp3s softly so as not to disturb anyone. ok na sa 'kin basta marinig ko sounds ko. i dont need to let anyone and everyone hear it kasi i also get annoyed when someone here is playing their music loudly kulang nalang mabingi ka.