Private music played louder than the radio

[rachellenore]

Background: I work retail in a stock room with 5-8 coworkers and supervisor is in and out of it all day. There are three speakers throughout he room which play preprogrammed music setlists at random. We hear the same songs once a day every day.

One of my coworkers who works in a corner away from others has started to play music on her phone outloud, and also turns the work radio down so she can hear hers better. The rest of us can't hear her music clearly, it mixes with the work radio. So it's a loud cacophony.

Would you lovely ladies be bothered by this or was I just in a bad mood today?

[amylouky]

That would drive me batty, and I'd have to go to her (or a supervisor) and ask that she not turn down the work radio, and wear headphones so that her music didn't mix with the other music.
I'm weird about sounds when working, I can't tune them out and I wouldn't be able to handle that at all.

[snowdragon]

That would drive me batty, and I'd have to go to her (or a supervisor) and ask that she not turn down the work radio, and wear headphones so that her music didn't mix with the other music.
I'm weird about sounds when working, I can't tune them out and I wouldn't be able to handle that at all.

This.  I would have a headache that drove me to tears very quickly. 

[Coley]

On one hand, the pre-programmed set lists would bug me after a while, so I can empathize with the coworker for wanting to listen to something else. (I don't listen to commercial radio anymore because I find the repetitive programming to be bothersome.)

On the other hand, it sounds like she is turning her music up so it's drowning out the pre-programmed music for herself, which is creating a problem for others around her. Not okay, IMO. This would also bother me tremendously. I'd have trouble concentrating.

I agree with amylouky that headphones or earbuds could be a solution. That or she needs to turn her music down. I'm not sure she should control the volume of the pre-programmed music. That strikes me as somewhat entitled. I'd go to her first and suggest some compromises with empathy for her situation -- she must be tired of the piped-in music. If she refused to compromise, I'd take it to a supervisor. Depending on the supervisor's response, I might bring in my own music and headphones.

Another solution might be to let everyone take turns throughout the day to play their preferred music.

[Zilla]

Did she ask if she could do this?  If she didn't, I would approach her and tell her that you rather hear the general music.  If she did and no one disagreed, I say you are stuck with it or still approach her and say you changed your mind and that it's too discordant to your ears.

[rachellenore]

I agree that you all offered good suggestions, the problem is that this person is a friend and she takes things like this VERY personally. I know if I said anything that she would just shun me and turn other people against me. I'd rather just stay on her good side because it's not worth making work miserable, I just wanted validation on here. What gets me is that she spends 90% of her time talking about how stuff other people do is so rude.

[cheyne]

A friend doesn't "shun me [you]" and "turn people against me [you]", nor do you have to work to stay on their "good side". 

If the music bothers you, go to your supervisor privately and request that Friend not turn down the general music.  If supervisor doesn't care, go yourself and turn up the general music. 

[auntmeegs]

I agree that you all offered good suggestions, the problem is that this person is a friend and she takes things like this VERY personally. I know if I said anything that she would just shun me and turn other people against me. I'd rather just stay on her good side because it's not worth making work miserable, I just wanted validation on here. What gets me is that she spends 90% of her time talking about how stuff other people do is so rude.

1. re: the bolded, that's not a friend

2. the other people probably feel the same way you do so how sucessful would she really be at turning people against you?

[Twik]

... the problem is that this person is a friend and she takes things like this VERY personally. I know if I said anything that she would just shun me and turn other people against me.

These two sentences are not congruous.

[amylouky]

Agreed.. if she's such a good friend, you should be able to say, "Friend, it's really bothering me hearing both the standard music and your music. Could you maybe wear headphones?"
If she shuns you and tries to turn people against you (actually, if she does that at all, not just over this issue), she's not that great of a friend. Friends don't do that to each other.
I do understand though that you don't want to make your work environment uncomfortable. I think that I would probably go to a supervisor with my concern and ask that it be kept anonymous. If you're still worried about fallout, then I think you're going to have to just bring your own music and headphones.

[Cami]

If you are afraid of retaliation -- and really, a friend does not retaliate -- you can go the passive-aggressive route by going to the supervisor and ask if it's permissible to wear ear plugs at work since the competing music is giving you a headache.

[BeagleMommy]

This would make my teeth start to hurt.  I want to hear one piece of music; not overlapping different ones.

If this person is going to get bent out of shape over someone asking her to use headphones or turn her music down I would go to the supervisor and let them handle it.

[Deetee]

That is exactly the sort of thing that would drive me batty. Those overlapping noises are impossible for me to tune out.

I don't care what I listen to, so for my survival (if she was crazy-pants-and I agree with everyone else that this is a not a friend) I would turn off my own speakers.