This online survey asked service workers for experiential and embodied information about working with background music. The data was collected in cooperation with the Service Union United PAM (n=747). The data includes four documents: - questionnaire responses in excel format - questions as docx file - a data sheet; and - a survey fact sheet. The questionnaire contained a total of 19 questions in three sections, excluding background information. The eight questions in the initial section asked respondents about their experience of the background music in their most recent workspace. The next six questions asked about more general views on background music, as well as shared discussions with colleagues and customers. In the final cluster of four questions, respondents were asked to describe their workplace PA technology and their experiences of using it. The final open-ended question encouraged respondents to write freely about issues the survey had overlooked. A large number of questions were answered in free text boxes. A significant amount of qualitative data ended up in the data, as the open questions were answered in large numbers. This extensive survey was conducted electronically in Spring 2021. Email addresses were extracted from the PAM membership register of working age and retired paying members who worked or had worked in the retail, tourism, hospitality and leisure professions. Respondents provided their occupation in a free text field. Around one in five respondents had experience in more than one area of service work. 722 respondents completed the questionnaire in Finnish, 10 in Swedish and 15 in English. The age range of the respondents is between 18 and 85 years. Around 84% of the respondents are women. In addition to the year of birth, the respondents were not required to provide any personal information, so it is not possible to estimate the geographical distribution of the data, for example. The breakdown of responses by sector is as follows. The distribution of the retail sector (485 responses) includes responses mainly from food, clothing and grocery retailing, but also from gambling outlets, street food stalls, pharmacies, and petrol stations. A large majority of respondents indicate their job description as a salesperson or "cashier". Respondents in the restaurant sector (139 respondents) work in bars, nightclubs and cafés in addition to food restaurants. They work with customers in the same acoustic space or in a separate kitchen. Hospitality workers (50 respondents) are from the hotel and tourism sector, and real estate workers (40 respondents) are from cleaning and logistics, security and maintenance staff. Excluded from these categories are responses from those working in office and clerical jobs (e.g. as telemarketers), hairdressers, laundry workers, amusement park and cinema workers, and those working in debt collection (33 responses), as well as responses where the sector was not mentioned (6 responses). The online questionnaire was part of the ACMESOCS project (Auditory Cultures, Mediated Sounds and Constructed Spaces), at the University of Eastern Finland ( 01.09.2019 - 31.12.2022). The project investigated urban sound cultures, the experience of music and space, and music listening. The project focused on economic, social, legal and technological factors and their impact on the historical formation of the Finnish background music industry, the construction of a modern urban sound environment, the use of mediated music and the ways in which urban residents of different ages and with different sensory faculties respond to music in public spaces.

2023