Restaurant music increases revenue and customer satisfaction. One study found that revenue increased 25% on nights where eateries had live music planned. You might not be able to have a live band every night, but you can offer a dining experience that keeps people coming back.
Start with the main feel of your eatery, which starts with matching the ambiance to the music you play.
Restaurant Ambiance to Match the Music
What type of cuisine do you offer? For example, if you’re an Italian restaurant, your guests will expect Italian music to be playing in the background. Your eatery has a theme that it can follow to create a cohesive atmosphere that resonates with guests.
Immersive dining may include:
- French ballads in a French bistro
- Upbeat Latin music in a Mexican cantina
- Romance music in an Italian eatery
Don’t underestimate background music for restaurants. Experiment with multiple options and survey your guests to see what they prefer.
Over time, you’ll have a pulse on the restaurant ambiance your guests want and can offer it to them.
Poll Your Target Audience
Your audience knows their own preferences, so why not ask them what you can add to your restaurant playlist? Different demographics can offer insights that are easy for you to overlook. For example, you can run a survey to ask:
- The genre of music guests would prefer
- Ratings of your current music selection
- Families what they would like to hear
- Young professionals what they prefer
Families may gravitate towards classical music, while the young professional wants something more upbeat. You can take all of these recommendations into consideration to create a playlist that touches on everyone’s preferences.
If you match the dining music to your audience properly, you’ll quickly notice how word of mouth increases.
Depending on your location and the type of eatery, you can create theme nights for different age groups, too.
Adjust Your Music to the Time of Day
Music for a cafe that serves breakfast is going to be more tranquil and relaxed. Dinner? Lively music may fit the night’s feel better. Don’t be afraid to have a different selection for:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
If you don’t know where to start, opt for soothing music because it’s universal and does well in almost any atmosphere. Flexibility and adaptability start with a curated playlist. Over time, phase out songs that are going stale and add new ones into the mix.
Keeping your list updated based on the response of your guests is one of the best ways to keep people coming back. Every few months, solicit feedback from guests to align the list with their preferences.
High Tempo vs Slow Music and Your Guests
What’s the best music for restaurants? It depends. Fast music brings up the energy level of the space and your guests. Eating pace and the duration of the visit is faster when the music is upbeat and keeps people on their toes.
Turnover is faster when the music is upbeat.
But what if you want people to stay longer and their check averages to be higher? In this case, consider slower music. Slower music has been shown to keep people in their seats longer so they spend more money.
If you have a lot of couples who frequent your eatery, consider slowing down the pace of the music and see how they react.
Slower music does have an effect on perceived value and a person’s willingness to spend more on meals.
Work with your chef and manager to create a playlist that brings the food and atmosphere of the restaurant together.
Music Types and Experiences
Music means a lot of different things to different people. For example, you may opt for live music, streaming services or a curated list. Each of these options offers you great music for your guests, but the right one will depend on your location and the demographic you attract.
Streaming Services
You have plenty of streaming options to choose from that allow you to instantly change your playlist. While technically possible to stream on your personal account using Apple Music or Spotify, it is illegal .
Read through the terms of service, and you’ll realize that you need a commercial license to stream music.
Your business license covers public performance rights, which is worth the additional cost to prevent you from being sued. Anytime you play music in your restaurant, you must consider the ramifications of copyright laws.
Copyright laws are such that playing music in a public space constitutes a public performance.
Business accounts ensure that you have the right licensing to freely play music in your eatery.
Curated Lists
You can purchase the rights to certain tracks to create your own curated list of music. While this method works well, especially for fine dining restaurants, streaming has made it less popular. Your curated lists require frequent updating and keeping licenses up to date.
But if you don’t mind these nuances, there are a lot of benefits:
- Volume control
- Consistency across your list
- Enhanced dining experience
For eateries that are heavily focused on branding, curated lists work best.
Live Music
If you have the space for live music and live in a location where it’s popular, it’s worth having specific live music nights that you promote. There are a lot of perks to consider:
- Revenue is shown to be 25% higher when live music is the entertainment
- Bands will promote the event, filling your seats and drumming up new business
- Locals tend to come together more when live music is playing
Supporting local musicians is rewarding in itself. You’ll be surprised how many locals come together when their favorite band is playing.
Music is just one of the elements that you can control in your restaurant. Once you have music playing in the background and the dining experience matches your target demographic, it will help you create a cohesive experience that keeps guests coming back.
Experiment with your dining music and be sure to maintain a pulse on your patrons so that the playlist is always up to date.