After a long stressful day on the road, nothing beats the feeling of unwinding in a relaxing and lively laid-back atmosphere of a bar for a bit of decompressing.
Bars offer a vibrant, casual environment where the pressure of traveling can be left far behind and the low hum of music creates a sensory shift that helps you relax immediately.
Beyond the combination of comfort, drinks and social interaction, some bars make an impression the moment you walk through their doors, even if it is for your first time.
In fact, the first thing a person registers, even before the server says hello, is not the lighting, the decor, the smell but just the sound of music.
The right sound is one of the most practical tools a bar can use, but sometimes one of the most overlooked when thinking about music and how subtle tempo shifts can show attention to first time guests for an experience they are not likely to forget.
Pubs and taverns spend a great deal of time thinking about their service and design. Music deserves the same attention too, if not more.
Music is one big reason why memories of some drinking places may linger longer with you even before you have ordered your first drink, and sometimes well after the trip is over.
The importance of first impressions extends beyond a single visit. When guests enter a taproom, their senses immediately get to work and the first thing which reaches them within moments is the sound of music, which in turn develops expectations of the type of experience awaiting them.
Over time, music plays an important role in building guest comfort. Once the bar room has a well chosen sound, guests will begin to associate that feeling with that brand.
It becomes a part of a future return visit, even if they are not coming back this way again. Familiarity becomes the foundation of brand trust.
For watering hole operators, music for bars is much more than background noise. It is the sensory touchpoint between the guest and the brand owner, which when managed well can reinforce its brand identity with every visit.
Even small touches like barbershop music in toilets can make a massive impact. Such deft touches show attention to care and detail that guests are not likely to forget.
Apart from customers, the happiness of the staff can also be impacted by music. Happy staff means happy customers, so this is something to bear in mind while making playlists.To avoid playing the same songs day after day, change the playlist for your staff more than anyone else.
When a guest returns a second time and hears a similar type of music at a similar volume, it signals an enjoyable experience they had at first is still intact. This creates comfort, which over time builds into loyalty.
How to get it right
Managing music does not require a complicated system or a large budget. All it requires is intention, for which you need to keep some of these following things in mind:
- To give your brand name a clear identity, the music at the entrance should reflect the same. Guests should be able to hear the concept and not just see it.
- It is important to plan the music through the day. Day time crowds often prefer light, mid-energy music, while evening guests respond to richer tempos.The tones should get richer as the night progresses.
- Keep volume at check at the gate as the moment the guest walks in is not the time for high pitch volume.
- Review the music as often as your menu. Something a hit six months ago may not fit in your bar today. Music should not be treated like a one-time decision, instead it should be a living part of the experience.
- Getting the music right also depends on the size of the bar. A small intimate tavern will need very different acoustics than a large open hall. Adapting this approach to the space available will ensure that the music supports the room rather than fight against it.
- Licensing matters in order not to expose the property to legal risk. Consider hiring a reputable music service to handle this on the brand’s behalf in order to remove administrative burdens and loopholes entirely.
Music should be a part of the welcome
The music the guest hears the first time when walking into a bar should not be incidental, it should be a part of the welcome.
It should convey the guests that they are in the right place and set the mood for their visit.This also sends out a signal that the outlet has thought very carefully about imparting the right experience.
Getting the music right from the very first moment is one of the most straightforward ways to show guests how you appreciate their drinking with you, even before the order has been placed.
Most bar guests have an intuition of what the interior should sound like, even if they could not articulate it. The bars that get it right, can end up in having more table turn over, even if the impact is invisible to most customers.
The bottom line
Bar guests usually arrive with expectations of what they will hear, shaped by the culture and memory of any bar visit made before. They won’t always notice when the music is right, but they will almost always notice if it is bad.
Music not only fills the silence, it shapes the mood and how customers relate it with the brand identity. The most effective playlist is the one the guest doesn’t consciously think about because every tune supports the story the space is already telling them.
Understanding how music how bar music shapes guest perception from entry to exit is one of the most practical steps a brand owner can make to strengthen its overall guest experience.
This alongside regular visits to Indian jungles in search of the Royal Bengal Tiger, fueled her zest for adventure, nature and wildlife.
Now she is a renowned travel blogger, outreach expert and has worked with over 500 travel brands in the last 15 years.
