Seattle Times
The classical music blaring from speakers mounted on the light posts in a Rainier Beach parking lot keeps Richelle Reason walking. She never stops to hear the next song in the storefront symphony. “It’s kind of annoying,” she said of the music in the Saar’s Market Place parking lot on South Henderson Street. That’s exactly the point. The market started using classical music about three years ago to repel loiterers and vandals from their buildings. Dr. Daniel Levitin, professor of psychology and neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal, and author of “This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession,” said the musical mind games such as this are similar to the way department stores using different genres in each department attract diverse demographics. But Levitin cautioned about being elitist or ethnocentric in linking good behavior with classical music and other fine arts. “I think hip-hop or R&B or heavy metal, in the right circumstances, can make someone feel kind, sensitive or inspired,” he said.