I live in America, and the insistence on playing music at every location has long bothered me. It tends to never be music that I care much about, and the volume

I live in America, and the insistence on playing music at every location has long bothered me. It tends to never be music that I care much about, and the volume often makes it difficult to hear other people when you're in larger groups. I don't mind music at clubs, but consistently playing music at bars, for example, makes it difficult to go to bars and have a conversation with friends. I've heard a number of justifications for the existence of the music, but I don't often find any counter-examples (places without music) here in the US. I'm half Finnish, and travel to Helsinki relatively often, and if you want to see what its like to not have music constantly playing, go there. It's incredibly refreshing to be able to go to a bar or a restaurant and not have music playing (if its not a music specific venue). My wife, who is not Finnish at all, noticed it immediately as well, and thought it was great. I really wish some places in the US would actively encourage a quieter environment.