What Did You Say?

Ever been in a bar and wondered why the music was so loud?

The answer is $$$.

From Barking Up the Wrong Tree...

The results [of a study entitled "Sound Level of Environmental Music and Drinking Behavior: A Field Experiment With Beer Drinkers" from Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research] show that high level volume led to increase alcohol consumption and reduced the average amount of time spent by the patrons to drink their glass. [T]he "arousal" hypothesis and the negative effect of loud music on social interaction were used to explain our results.