Is M&S right to scrap in-store music?

The news that Marks & Spencer is canning piped tunes will hit the right note with some shoppers, but experts say the silence may come at a price

In its increasingly desperate bid to revive its fortunes, Marks & Spencer has introduced some radical ideas in recent times - there was the pre-chopped avocado, then the celebrity designers. Now, it's getting rid of the music in its stores. In a few weeks' time, the tills will no longer be alive with the sound of muzak - good news if you view piped tunes as noise pollution of the worst kind, but the silence may give some of M&S's sadder stores a graveyard air. It was, says a spokesperson, "the result of extensive research and feedback from our customers and colleagues".

But silence may not prove golden. Professor Adrian North, head of the school of psychology at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and an expert on the psychology of music, says he disagrees with the move. "The research shows that music can have a double-digit impact on sales," he says, "so turning off that source of revenue is a poor decision."