By Chad Everaert
With its unique ability to elicit emotions, recall memories, create specific moods and influence decisions, music truly is a superpower of the world. It can be charismatic and boisterous, or barely perceptible. It can transport us into the future, or the past. It can be awe inspiring or uninspiring. We listen for enjoyment & confidence, consolation & escape. Regardless of intent, it’s undeniable that music is the architect of the soul.
Since the early days of radio and phonograph technology, playback of recorded music has influenced the masses. Today, background music is used by wide-ranging retail businesses to create positive customer experiences. By pairing your retail environment with the right music to match your brand, you can increase customer comfort, the time they spend in-store, and even how much money they spend per stay. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, theoretically you could take advantage of this concept by simply hooking a radio or mp3 player up to your speakers but the advantages of using a professional service far outweigh the DIY solutions and there are some important considerations to take note of:
1. Licensing
Whether it be a radio, mp3 player or webstream, when you broadcast recorded music in a retail establishment you are required to pay licensing fees to the performing rights societies and failure to do so can result in hefty fines. Professional background music services cover these fees as part of your subscription for all the music contained within their broadcast library. In many instances, the subscription cost is comparable to the cost of licensing your business yourself.
2. Control
Professional overhead background music services provide you with total control of the content you broadcast. Unlike a radio station or webstream, there are no commercials from third parties so there is no risk of ads from competitors. You can control the genres of music you wish to broadcast and even daypart them to specific times of the day. For instance, your music could be slow tempo jazz in the morning and transition to up tempo pop in the afternoon to meet your changing demographic. You can create custom playlists and remove specific songs from the stream so that they never play again. This is a great feature to guarantee that no offensive content is being broadcast.
3. Marketing & Branding Announcements
Arguably the biggest benefit of using a professional background music service is the ability to incorporate branding and marketing announcements. Not only can you pick the perfect genre, playlist and songs for your brand but you can mix in customized advertisements and create your own virtual radio station. In-store messaging has been proven to increase sales, but it also very effective in directing traffic to specific areas of your store, informing customers of important notices and policies and special events.
So the next time you catch yourself drumming on your cart handle or tapping your toe to the beat while shopping, know that behind that involuntary action is a carefully mapped out background music program.
