Specifically, loud music may work better than salty pretzels and peanuts to get you to drink more quickly at a bar, a French study has found.

How much more quickly? Oh, about three minutes faster on a mug of beer. In percentage terms, it was 20 percent faster.

Consumption went up, too, by almost one full beer per person.

So, going back to my college days and remembering bar noise levels, did bar owners and bartenders already intuitively know something then?