The document discusses best practices for choosing background music in retail and other commercial environments. It recommends against playing the radio, personal playlists, or letting employees choose music, as these options may include inappropriate songs or advertisements. Instead, businesses should curate playlists that fit their brand and target audience. The music's volume should also be at a background level that allows customers and staff to converse easily. The document provides examples of suitable music styles for different store types and offers tips on finding copyright-compliant music from licensing groups, local artists, or royalty-free sources. Proper music selection is important for enhancing customers' experiences without annoyance.

1. Managing Background Music
In Retail & Other
Environments
PresentationPoint.com

2. Music has a
huge impact on
our experience

3. It taps our emotions
• Uplifting
• Melancholy
• Make us want to dance

4. Music Can Soothe and Entice Your Customers

5. Or It Can Drive Customers Out

6. Your Music Background Choice is Critical

7. So What Music
are You
Serving?

8. So How Do
You Choose
The Right
Music?

9. Don’t Play The Radio
• Filled with advertising – including competitors
• Lots of talking rather than just music
• May throw in songs that are jarring for your environment
• Slight static can annoy auditory people

10. Don’t use
your personal
playlist

11. Don’t let your
employees
choose the mix

12. Monitor the music

13. Don’t Annoy
Your Staff

14. Not obtrusive
• Set volume to be truly
background
• If people can’t talk to each other,
music is too loud

15. Instrumental
vs
Voice/Lyrics

16. The Right Music
for Your
Venue/Brand
• Fit the theme and brand of your
business
• Who are you trying to attract?
• Are you
• Classy?
• Hard rock?
• Partying?
• Soothing?
• Ethnic?

17. Italian Restaurant

18. Youth Clothing
Store

19. Antique Shop

20. Luxury Boutique

21. Spa

22. Turning Popular
Hits into
Backgrounds
• Vitamin string quartet
• vitaminstringquartet.com

23. Average pop radio station
Won’t fit these venue themes

24. Holiday
Music

25. Avoid Bad
Christmas
Music

26. Copyright Issues – Legal Music

27. What music is illegal to play?
• Can’t just play Spotify
• Can’t play music you purchased in a commercial setting

28. Finding music
you can license
• Approach groups that handle
licensing
• ASCAP – US
• BMI – US
• GMR – US
• SOCAN – Canada
• Commercial business music
licensing services
• Sirius XM
• Pandora Business

29. Sell Music
• If you sell music, you are allowed to play prerecorded music to promote the retail sales (can only play music you are selling)
• A great way to partner and promote local artists
• You don’t have to be a dedicated music store for this – many coffee shops, gift shops, metaphysical shops, etc. sell music

30. Local
musicians
• Approach local musicians to
license and feature their music
and help promote local talent
• Or sell their music in your shop or
restaurant

31. Copyright-
Free Music
• Find public domain
music from Pdinfo.com
• Royalty free music
sources

32. Some sources to
license music
• bensound.com
• hooksounds.com

33. Managing Music
Backgrounds
• iPoint – Windows-based
system to manage audio
across your digital signage
network
• Handles MP3, WAV, WMA