Radios in a office

I hate it. Work in a call centre and it’s hard enough to hear as it is with everyone else on the phone and people constantly in and out

Using a radio in your office requires the business to pay for a PRS licence annually. The same is true for many other workplaces. For an idea of the costs...
Audible Area in Square Metres
1 - 600sqm = £195.40
601 - 650sqm = £212.32
and so on...
More details at: https://pplprs.co.uk/themusiclicence/sectors/offices-workplaces/

Maybe the bosses will get rid of the radio if they find out they have to pay for it to be on?

Very very old school. That is what ear phones are for. I hy should that whole office be inconvenienced because some want it on.

I would just say ‘I’m struggling a bit to concentrate with the radio on. Can we turn it right down or use earphones?”. Not being a party pooper - people are there to work.

I like the radio playing in the background. Luckily, so do my colleagues. I don’t avidly listen to it. It’s just on in the background.

I don’t see why people are saying they should be banned!

I couldn't cope working in an office with the radio on. I've got long Covid with brain fog (plus menopause) and that would just fry my brain. I can't think straight if there is music playing. It is all I can focus on, however quiet.

You are not being unreasonable at all. It's mainly the DJs or adverts that I hate. But I think radios should be banned from offices!

We had a very entitled person join our team who informed me that he would be having the radio on in our shared office. I informed him that we would not and he could use headphones if he wanted to listen to something. Drives me nuts.

I’ve never worked in an office with a radio but also never worked somewhere that’s as silent as the grave, either. There are always conversations going on between colleagues and sometimes it can get quite noisy, other times it’s much quieter, but rarely if ever deadly quiet, even when only half of us were in during Covid times. About 35 people in the office.

Radio would go down like a bucket of cold sick.

TBF it's never occured to me that people wouldn't like background noise in an office. The radio at least prevents every single little conversation and cough being heard.
If I have the radio off I can hear every time someone opens a door or puts a pen down.
Mind, I work in an office by myself but with plenty of people coming and going.

If I had earphones in, I couldn't answer the phone or respond to colleagues or answer on the radio

Other people’s choice of radio would really annoy me. Added to that people talking over it and then me trying to talk on the phone would tip me over.

At home I always wear AirPods.

MIL always has the radio blasting out gold in her car and tried to talk to me when she is driving and I am sat in the back. If I say I can’t hear over the radio she won’t turn it it down she will shout louder!

I hate calling restaurant to book because of the back ground noise from radio.

I work mostly with DH and we have the radio on all day long. There is constant noise from machines/equipment/working so anyone calling hears background noise anyway, although we usually turn the radio down, or off for phone calls.
If I wfh I have to put the radio on as well

It isn't an office though, so probably different

I work in a busy noisy environment so the heavy machinery and trains are white nouse to me now. What does annoy me is people playing whatever is on their phones out loud and people not listening or talking over me. When I have time for myself in my office I put on Spotify for an audiobook or a podcast.

The last time i was in the office someone had music on coming from their phone or laptop. It wasn’t loud from where I was sitting but immensely annoying as all I could hear was the ringadingsing of it. Not great for people with hearing issues or neurodiversity, just inconsiderate.

I absolutely hated when I worked in offices where it was deathly quiet. I much prefer to have music on. It’s a big reason why I’d never choose to work in an office again - unless I was in charge and had say over it!

We all enjoy having the radio on at my workplace.

I hate having the radio on in an office, particularly if it's playing a genre of music I dislike or inane chatter. I find it very stressful and distracting, and I can't concentrate. It's also unprofessional. In general, I like my surroundings to be quiet and peaceful with no background noise or music at all, but I'm introverted and quite possibly ND. Thankfully, I'm lucky enough to work somewhere where I have my own quiet little office and don't have to tolerate other people's taste in music.

I banned radios in all offices - not only does it open the company to huge fines but it also sounds very unprofessional when on the phone and a raucous DJ can be heard in the background.

Not all workplaces allow employees to use earbuds. And not everyone can use them or headphones in general.

Yabu I'm afraid. I can't work in a quiet office. I need chatting and a sensible volume radio in the background to focus.

We had a quiet week this week (managers take priority) and I made loads of mistakes. The sound of silence and tapping on keyboards is unbearable to me.

It’s as if earbuds had never been invented.

Unless your business has the correct licenses there are big fines for having the radio play in an office and the regulator is very sneaky about finding out - might be worth mentioning

My radio is always on, but I am in my own in my office. It gets very lonely otherwise! If the radio isn’t on (forgot to turn it on, or the internet crashes) my brain fogs as everything starts bouncing around in there. The radio helps it to focus.