Pub-goers have said that background music is the thing most likely to spoil a nice quiet pint, closely followed by noisey children running riot.

The quibble was revealed in The Good Pub Guide 2017, which says that their readers have constantly railed against noisy drinking holes throughout the publication’s 35-year history.

They’re now warning publicans to ‘turn off the music, it’s driving your customers mad’.



Fiona Stanley, The Good Pub Guide editor, said: ‘Piped music, canned music, muzak, lift music, airport music - call it what you will, it’s there and our readers loathe it in any shape or form.

‘It enlists bitter complaints from our readers and has done so ever since we started the guide 35 years ago.

‘It’s such an issue that we have always asked every Main Entry pub since 1983 whether or not they have it, and then clearly state this in each review.’

One pub-goer who contributed to the guide, advised: ‘At best it’s bad manners foisting a random choice of music on you that you have not chosen and do not want to hear, at worst, it interferes with people’s hearing.’

View photos



Another said: ‘People go to pubs to meet their friends, be sociable, have a drink or a meal and discuss the problems of the world.’



But not all publicans are willing to listen to their patrons, with a significant amount believing that music actually plays a positive part in their business.

‘In the end it comes down to the question we’ve been asking for years’, Mrs Stanley said.



‘Do good pubs need piped music and do the majority of good pubs’ customers want it?

‘And hand on heart, of all the thousands of pubs we have visited over the many years of producing The Good Pub Guide, it’s pretty rare for us to feel our pub experience has been heightened by what is being played through the speakers above our heads.

View photos

‘It’s clear our readers agree so surely it’s time for all publicans to take note and turn it off.’

But it’s not all bad news in the pub world, as the national survey also found that the average price of a pint had increased by just 1p to £3.47, compared with last year’s 15p rise.

The guide also awarded the coveted pub of the year title to the 300-year-old Horse Guards in Tillington, West Sussex, which boasts ‘beams, panelling and open fires in rambling rooms, inventive food, local ales and a charming garden’.