Should You Play Music in Your Bar?

Without a doubt music can play a key role in creating the environment appropriate for your business. Playing dance music at a morgue might be inappropriate, but its perfectly acceptable on Saturday night at a college bar.

I'm going to be speaking mostly to bars, restaurants and coffeeshops but this could possibly apply to other businesses as well.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT VOLUME

The music should never bee too loud. But the term "too loud" is relative. The volume of your music at a live music club should be drastically louder than an upscale bistro. The goal is to play the music at a volume that your customers expect it to be at.

Turning the music up a bit when your business is slow can help fill in the silence gaps and make the few customers you have feel less awkward for being there. Bringing the music down when you are at the peak of rush will also help guests communicate with each other better since your business will most likely already be full of sound from peoples voices.

CREATE A UNIQUE PLAYLIST

Spotify is cheap. There's no reason why you cant create your own playlists. The radio doesn't know your business and doesn't care what kind of "feel" you're going for. Creating a custom playlist of songs is the best way of maintaining your brand essence. It might even be refreshing to add songs that are not on every other playlist out there.

Choose your songs wisely. A few bad songs playing continuously can kill the mood and drive customers away. Music resonates with people, make sure you're aware of how your music is making people feel.

UPDATE YOUR PLAYLIST REGULARLY

 Not everyone is a regular, but your regulars will appreciate you switching it up every so often.

If you don't want to constantly change it, add 200-500 songs to the playlist. About the time you hear the same song for the 10th time is when you're going to want to change it up. The longer the playlist; the longer it will be until you need to change it.

LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

Just because you love your cousin's ska band doesn't mean everyone else will love them too. Also, you love the song doesn't mean it's the right song to be played in your business.

Music is the glue that holds your essence together, and if an overwhelming amount of customers say they don't like the music... you need to change it.

Don't let your pride get in the way of building a successful business. You would be surprised at how much of a difference a couple small changes can make on your bottom line.