Philadelphia gas station keeps blasting opera music -- but why?

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- If you've stopped by the Speedway gas station on Chelten Avenue in Germantown in the last 24 hours, chances are you've heard opera music blasting through their speakers.

Neighbors and customers are confused by what's going on.

"I went out to feed the dogs and I heard all this music, I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Loud, it was unbelievable that time of night," said Clinton Barnes who lives nearby.

The opera music can be faint or quite loud at times, according to neighbors who live a block away.

"It was as loud in my room as if someone had turned on a television and cranked the volume all the way up," explained a neighbor who didn't want to be identified.

The neighbor said he first heard it around 6 p.m. Tuesday. Initially, he thought it was one of the churches nearby but that wasn't the case.

Although the gas station wouldn't comment on the matter, the neighbor said the opera music is being used as a tactic by gas stations across the country to deter homeless people from loitering.

"I love opera, don't get me wrong, but I don't understand why. I don't think it's a deterrent. They have to find something else," said Karen Clark of Germantown.

Customers who live close by say it's not the homeless people need to worry about.

"Safety I am concerned about here, not homelessness. I'm talking about shootings and guns," explained Flower Otuderro of Germantown.

Employees at the gas station declined to comment on the matter.