Thanks for all your responses. Hadn't thought about the royalties issue, but now you mention the FR techno music, I do remember thinking it sounded like something MOL had thrown together on his synthesizer at home. Now it all makes sense.
I emailed customer services at BA this morning and got a standard reply back informing me that there will be a delay in responding to my complaint due to "recent industrial action and volcanic ash activity." That ash just won't go away... But Tightslot's idea of an online petition sounds good - it would be interesting to know how many people do in fact sit there silently grinding their teeth. I also avoid the same shops and restaurants as Capetonian - if only one had that choice in the air.
One of the last times I flew with IB I asked the CC if it was possible to turn off the music - this was well into the cruise. He told me it wasn't possible, and that they could only turn it down to a certain level. Sounds strange to me - can anyone who works/worked for the company confirm?