The Washington Monthly

January 8, 2005

MOZART FOR TEENAGERS....This is fascinating:

Co-op, a chain of grocery stores, is experimenting with playing classical music outside its shops, to stop youths from hanging around and intimidating customers. It seems to work well. Staff have a remote control and “can turn the music on if there's a situation developing and they need to disperse people”, says Steve Broughton of Co-op.

The most extensive use of aural policing so far, though, has been in underground stations. Six stops on the Tyneside Metro currently pump out Haydn and Mozart to deter vandals and loiterers, and the scheme has been so successful that it has spawned imitators. After a pilot at Elm Park station on the London Underground, classical music now fills 30 other stations on the network. The most effective deterrents, according to a spokesman for Transport for London, are anything sung by Pavarotti or written by Mozart.

I can think of loads of terrific spinoffs on this idea. Unfortunately, I'll bet the effect wears off over time. Too bad.

—Kevin Drum 1:04 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (0)

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