Classical music being used to drive away youngsters from loitering in public places

Church music in Lohja, Verdi in Tampere shopping mall

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By Irja Hyvärinen
     
      There is no firm evidence on the effect of music played to ward off bears or wolves, but apparently it is possible to keep unwelcome youth at bay using classical music. At least this seems to be the case in Tampere.
      A similar experiment is under way now in Lohja, where early church music is played in a park that has hitherto attracted loitering youths. According to the first results, it seems to work, too. "To be fair, we've only been trying this out since the summer", explains Dick Sobott, CEO of a real estate firm in the centre of Lohja.
      Vandalism, littering, and breaking of windows reached such a pitch in Lohja that people would have clutched at practically any straw.
     
Classical music has been played already for ten years to discourage loitering at the back entrance of the Koskikeskus Shopping Centre in Tampere.
      Young people do not much appreciate that kind of music, so they do not stick around.
      The idea was offered up by the local police, following complaints made by the mall. One of the entrances to the shoppers' paradise is covered and sheltered from the wind, and it gathers groups of young people who hang around and tend to intimidate the adults.
      The shopping centre listened to the police advice, which was based on experiences in the United States, and it did the trick. There have also been successful case-studies reported from the UK (see links).
     
During renovation work recently, the effect of the music in Koskikeskus was bench-tested. When the radio was switched off for a while, groups of youths began to congregate again.
      "All it takes is Classic Radio", reported property manager Risto Lukkari of Koskikeskus. The radio is powered up when the doors open in the morning and switched off at the closing of the mall, while the volume is kept low enough that it does not disturb the neighbours.
      In the Lohja experiment, the canned church music goes on from mid-afternoon until 22:00.
      Juha Kakkuri, programme director at Metroradio, which produces the Classic Radio programming, says he has heard of the practice, and that it is intended to make people who are just hanging out feel uncomfortable.
      He hazards the guess that the rhythms of classical music tend to jar the ears of young people who are more used to video games, TV-programmes, and pop music.
     
In the afternoon, a Verdi opera is being aired for those in Tampere.
      "Utter crap", says Pentti Meskus of the music, as he rolls a cigarette. "My musical tastes are a bit different."
      Those in the group do not seem to be unduly disturbed by the opera, however.
      "Yeah, it sounds pretty weird when you listen for a while", admit Pauli and Peter Kalenius. "But really you don't much notice it, when you are talking like this."
      Annmari Purola, Sini Seppänen, Juho-Lauri Laakso, and Mihail Kastruis are disposing of a takeaway pizza nearby.
      "I quite like this [music]. No, really, I do", says Purola.
     
The Koskikeskus manager Risto Lukkari has attempted to spread the gospel of classical music to other property managers, but thus far only Lohja has taken up the idea.
      In Helsinki, the CEO at the large Forum shopping mall downtown says that they have not even considered using music as a crowd-dispersal weapon of this kind. Meanwhile in Seinäjoki, the managing director of the Torikeskus mall suggests that maybe it could be an idea - to clear the place late at night, after the bars have shut.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 9.10.2006


Links:
  How Classical Music Can Reduce Crime, Benefit Your Mood and Increase Your Spending
  Barry Manilow as weapon of audio distraction?
  The Economist, Jan 5, 2005 "Twilight of the Yobs"
  Some responses on Washington Monthly

IRJA HYVÄRINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
irja.hyvarinen@hs.fi