Guides
Restaurants
February 7, 2024
7 min read

Background music for restaurants: An ultimate guide for your venue

music-for-restaurants

If you’re a restaurant owner or, for instance, a brand manager or art director, you do know how important it is to deliver an exceptional customer experience, provide a delightful atmosphere, and create a distinctive venue identity. 

Playing tailored background music for restaurants helps achieve these goals by affecting consumer mood and encouraging the desired behaviors. On top of that, music may have a positive impact on guest satisfaction, retention, and even income.  

In this post, we’ll consider what kind of background music will fit your specific needs. You will also learn what results music may bring to your business. 

Why background music is important for restaurants

Music is more than just a sound. It can affect consumer mood, emotions, perception of time, and even behavior. With brand-fit background music, it is possible to improve KPIs such as guest satisfaction, retention, and willingness to recommend a company. 

According to a five-month study conducted by HUI Research, restaurants that chose music reflecting their culture pushed up sales by more than 9%. Certain menu offerings showcased even superior results. Dessert sales, for example, spiked by over 15%, while the side dish sales climbed by more than 11%.

The survey of 2,100+ respondents found that brand-fit background music for restaurants can raise the prospect of guests purchasing additional items. Additionally, HUI Research identified that it is better to have no music at all than play random hits, as this may lead to sales decreasing by over 4% compared with silence.

Why using the same music for all restaurant types doesn’t work

Typically, background music for an Italian restaurant significantly differs—and should differ—from the music played at an Irish or German establishment. It is also obvious that people do not expect to hear classical instrumental compositions in a modern American restaurant, while rap and hip-hop may disrupt the atmosphere of a family restaurant. 

Playing irrelevant music may disrupt the customer experience and overall ambiance, leading to low satisfaction and retention rates.

So, the type of F&B place and customer preferences take center stage in selecting background music for restaurants. On top of that, it is crucial to take into account the time of day, situation (e.g., romantic dinner, business meeting, friendly lunch), and venue location.

How to select background music for restaurants

Different types of restaurants should stream different music. For example, a fine dining restaurant may opt for jazz or classical songs and compositions to create an elegant, sophisticated ambiance. A casual restaurant can play rock or country songs to provide a lively, entertaining vibe.

To select background music for your restaurant, you should consider the preferences and expectations of the target audience. If you cater, for instance, to young customers, upbeat and contemporary music reflecting their culture will be a surefire way.

When serving a more conservative clientele, it is advisable to play classic soft music. Depending on the venue type, you can also choose 70-80-90-00s pop, rock, and jazz.

Location is another important aspect you should take into account when deciding what music to play at your restaurant. If a F&B venue is based in a busy and noisy area, you should play fast-tempo music to evoke a sense of excitement. Additionally, it is advisable to make the sound louder in order to mask the external noise.

In case an establishment is located in a quiet place, it is better to select slow-paced music with soft volume to create a relaxed, peaceful atmosphere. 

By tailoring background music to the time of day and situation, it is possible to improve the customer experience and encourage the desired behavior, for instance, drinking or dancing. On top of that, it is essential to adjust the tempo and volume accordingly. 

If you want to increase table turnover while creating a lively mood during dinner time, a food and beverage venue can stream more fast, energetic tracks. To evoke a sense of fun and entertainment, you may add salsa, pop, country, electronic, and other genres to music playlists for restaurants. 

An example of a perfect music match 

Let’s imagine a classic European restaurant based in a not very noisy area in Poland. Customers prefer to come here for lunch or breakfast, on a date, or for a business meeting. The majority of diners want to have a calm, peaceful rest and relax. 

The goal is to create an elegant, sophisticated ambiance and a light mood for the daytime. In the evenings, the establishment is looking to provide a more entertaining and delightful vibe. Well, what kind of background music will become a perfect match for the venue? 

See what our DJs and local music experts recommend:

Want to find the best music playlists for restaurants? Sign up for Moodby Play or contact us via support@moodby.com to request a personalized music station.

How to ensure a seamless music experience at a restaurant

To make background music for restaurants an effective sales and branding tool, it is not enough to choose relevant songs at a certain tempo and volume. Ensuring a smooth music experience includes more tasks you should perform:

At Moodby, we undertake music curation and licensing issues. Our company provides Moodby Play, an all-in-one B2B solution for background music management. The product offers numerous playlists and stations composed by experienced DJs and customized to the requirements of different venues. 

Moodby Play enables businesses to manage music across many places via a simple interface. The service has features such as playlist scheduling, centralized music control, an explicit lyrics filter, and offline mode. Available on either mobile or web devices, Moodby Play lets you add team members to the platform.

Furthermore, you will have access to a jukebox app that allows diners to order their favorite tunes via smartphones. This kind of unique entertainment will help you boost guest engagement, build loyalty, and drive sales.

So, just sign up to Moodby Play to start streaming. It will take a minute, and you won’t have any commitments. Get a 30-day free trial.🎁 

Conclusion

To sum up, background music for restaurants is a vital element that can help improve consumer satisfaction, create a distinctive brand identity, and encourage positive feedback. By playing tailored music, restaurants can push up sales by 10%. 

However, to convert music into a powerful business tool, you should select it based on the restaurant type, target audience’s preferences, venue location, time of day, and situation. In addition, it is essential to consider various aspects, providing a smooth, uninterrupted music experience and ease of control.

* Please note that Moodby Play and Moodby Jukebox are currently available to public places and their customers in Austria, Poland, Ireland, Romania, Belgium, and Cyprus.

Diana Maltseva