the purpose of irritating music in gyms

I've lived in many countries and realised that in some there's no music in gyms, everybody can listen to their MP3 or to no music at all, in others irritating music is obligatory, and even when you're alone in the gym in most cases they won't turn the music down at your request.

In gyms they might have different rooms, some empty, but all are equipped with stereo which you can sometimes turn down, but not off and not to make it quite enough-still the music is loud and soon makes you tired, not from exercising, but from the irritating noise.
When you're in the changing room, after 'working out', or actually enduring the noise, you feel like runing away, even without changing clothes.

You can't complain to the owners and it's pointelss to complain to the managment who themselves are fed up with that crap music, but are trained to respond for the owners benefit.

Of course, there are members, who don't mind, there are even some, who like it, but it is not because of them that they play that crap, because as I mentioned before, you sometimes can be alone in one of the rooms, and still you're forced to listen to the 'MUSIC'. They paly it because it's profitable for them, and no complaints would change it. Not necessarly loud but irritating music at gyms, if there are no gyms around with other conditions, generate higer profits. Members get tired not by using the equipment, which is good, saves money for maintance, but by the music and members' time expectancy at the gym are considerably lower, I would guess about twice, so the profits are two times more than for a gym which doesn't play irritating music supposedly 'for his members'.
 
Music can help us be more motivated in what we are doing, but if the music becomes an annoyance, somehow it can distracts on what we are doing.
 
The cardio/resistance machines end of my local gym has the radio playing, hugely distracting and rubbish. If I'm doing anything there I use the i-Pod Shuffle.

The free-weights section is off in a slight "dungeon" area is music free. The way it should be.
 
Music is very personal, and as our neighbouring gladiator says no music in a gym is likely best.
I have played some of my calmer music to a colleague who reacted with, 'god that's heavy' so I decided not to show him what I think real heavy metal is.
I would say most serious trainers take their own music because we are all motivated by different tunes, those who don't are able to block out everything and I envy them.
Worst gym tune I have heard, was so inappropriatte I paused mine to be sure I hadn't misheard it in the gap between my songs. Celine Dion on a gym floor.
 
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I used to always train with my mp3 player going, because gym music is...gym music. However, since 2010 I've left the mp3 player at home for strength training, and will only use it for LISS cardio. The reason I started training without the mp3 player at first was because the cord kept getting in the way. It wasn't a problem when the leg press was my main lower body movement; it became a problem when power cleans became my favourite exercise. The reason I've continued to lift without my music going is that nowadays I find music that I want to listen to is distracting. If there's music going that I actually want to listen to, then my mind will be on the music rather than on what I'm doing, and my technique will suffer for it. So when the set begins, I mentally blank out the music that's playing.

In saying all that, I do remember back in 2011 some time, instead of the usual gym music, one day they put on a playlist of lame kids pop music from the 90's, and oddly enough I got really pumped up (without losing focus) to Aqua, the Spice Girls and Hanson.
 
We must get connected to the music to enjoy it the most.
 
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