There’s that feeling the first time you realize you’re tapping your fingers on the shopping cart and singing along with a song being played in a supermarket. It begins with the pleasure of hearing a familiar song and it quickly morphs into a state of nostalgic gloom when you realize you’re now old enough to be the target listening audience for shopping music. In the blink of an eye you went from being in the mosh pit, drenched with booze, perspiration, and rebellious energy, to sweating to the oldies as you pull your glasses out of your fanny pack to read the ingredients on products shelved in the gluten-free aisle. Glory days, they’ll pass you by. The folks putting together these playlists are among the most data-driven DJs, and they think of everything. “One such consideration: the so-called ‘reminiscence bump,’ which is the phenomenon that the music people listen to in their teenage years is the music that they remember the best, and often like the most … Sometimes that reminiscence bump is passed from one generation to the next, with parents playing songs for their children that they loved during their teenage years, making it a smarter strategy to play songs from decades like the ’70s and ’80s in order to hit at least two generations with the same playlist.” Those two generations are known as old and older. The kids are wearing their Airpods. The playlists with the most crossover appeal feature holiday music. Hence, these tunes are dashing through the snow before the leaves even start to fall. CityLab goes deep into the tracklist: Retailers Know What Your Shopping Experience Needs: Holiday Music.