Before deep-diving into the importance of music in coffee shops, let’s learn when the coffee house concept was originated.

History of Coffee Houses

According to historians, Coffee Arabica is the first species of coffee to be cultivated and traded. The Yemeni part of Arabia started producing coffee in the 15th century. By the 16th century, coffee was grown in Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey. According to historians, the first coffee house dates back to 1475, when a shop named Kiva Han opened in Istanbul (Constantinople).

During those times, in the Middle East, public coffee houses were places where people could listen to music, watch performances, play board games, and catch up on the latest news. Coffee houses were also important as a center for information exchange.

When the first coffee house in Europe opened in Venice in 1647, then in England in 1650, coffee houses became an essential part of European men’s lives as a social gathering point. Their presence acted as a catalyst for several cultural and political transformations during the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition to exchanging views and nurturing public opinion, they helped foster a sense of community. As a meeting place for like-minded scholars, the coffee houses were popular with natural philosophers, antiquarians, and historians who assembled there to share ideas, read, and debate. Political groups frequently used coffeehouses as meeting places. 

Today, cafes serve a similar purpose as they did back then: people go there to socialize, work, read, or simply to pass the time. There are about 65,000 coffee shops and cafes in the US alone. Source

With this growing interest in coffee houses, we now see multiple coffee shops and cafes in the same neighborhood. For that reason, coffee shop owners need to be creative to differ from others. It could be a loyalty program, organic beans, vegan options, and music.

Why Coffee House Music Playlist Matters

Researchers have found that coffee and music, specifically the tempo, influences the length of time the customers will spend at a café or coffee house. Generally, a fast-paced environment forces customers to grab whatever they want and leave quickly. On the other hand, slow-tempo music provides your customers with a sense of total relaxation. As a result, they will be spending more time and money at the coffee house.

The genres may vary depending on your clientele, from jazz to soft-rock, alternative to blues, or electronic chill. The playlists should be relaxing enough not to interrupt their work and conversations, but they shouldn’t be monotonous to make them sleepy and unenthusiastic.

Must Read: Coffee Shop Music Genres – How to Choose the Right Music for Coffee Shop?

Background music is an essential part of any establishment. When correctly used, it can positively impact your bottom line. For that reason, it’s crucial to evaluate your coffee shop’s atmosphere and choose the coffee house playlists accordingly. 

As mentioned above, a fitting coffee house soundtrack can influence a customer’s time spent at your shop. However, coffee and background music can do more than that. Let’s review a few of its benefits.

1. Increases spending 

According to studies, you can increase customer average ticket size with slow-tempo background music. Research suggests that customers buy more drinks and add-ons such as desserts or snacks in coffee shops when pleasant and slow-tempo music is in place. 

2. Increases customer satisfaction and patience

It’s scientifically proven that music affects our taste buds! For example, high decibel sounds decrease our taste perception, meaning the food will be less tasty when loud coffee and music is on. 

Additionally, other experiments show that coffee tastes sweeter when a test subject drinks coffee with a higher-pitch frequency. 

Slow to medium tempo music will help your customers enjoy the coffee shop’s atmosphere without interfering with their relaxed mood. 

Waiting in line for a coffee isn’t something everyone enjoys, but we all have to endure it from time to time. Introducing music gives the mind something to concentrate on, making the wait more bearable.

3. Sets the right mood

Song lyrics can affect how customers perceive your coffee house. Too sad or emotional tracks may bring customers’ moods down and even bring back negative memories. 

Playing slow to medium tempo music doesn’t mean sad songs. You can play instrumental tracks or tracks that are empowering. Knowing your target market will help you choose the fitting soundtrack for your coffee shop. 

4. Makes your staff happier and motivated

With pleasant music playing throughout the day, your coffee house workers are also more relaxed, less tired, and more welcoming to customers at the end of the day. Coffee and Music reduces stress and increases satisfaction. Not just for your guests.

It is essential to remember that your staff is there for long hours and almost every day. The playlists should have enough songs, so they don’t hear the same songs repeatedly. 

Bonus: How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for your Coffee Shop?

For coffee house owners: do this to get professional background music

It would be easy to think that all you have to do is turn on YouTube or Spotify, and the coffee and music playing from your speakers will make your guests instantly happy. But this is not the case. A coffee house music playlist can quickly become counterproductive if you don’t choose the right one.

The wrong genre or style of music can negatively impact your business. It is essential to consider your target group’s demographics, age, income level, and music preferences before selecting the type of music to play.

Not to mention the fact that if you use the sources mentioned above to play your background music, you could be subject to heavy fines. Spotify, Pandora music, or other personal use music providers are for our personal entertainment, not for the business environment.

Don’t worry; we have a solution below. Read on.

The solution is a business music streaming provider that gives you a commercial license, a huge selection of coffee and music, and other tools – such as curated playlists – to help you keep your background music professional.

Jukeboxy Music for Business gives you all this and more for a very affordable monthly fee. And with a 14-day trial subscription, it’s a must-try. Find details here: Jukeboxy Music for Business

Final Thoughts

Having background music in your coffee house is crucial. A fitting coffeehouse playlist can do much more than you think for your business. 

There is no one “coffeehouse music genre” that works for all audiences. Coffee shops must carefully choose them. For that reason, expertly curated playlists are essential, and the results are guaranteed for brand recognition, thus, increasing sales. 

The post Importance of Music in Coffee Houses appeared first on Jukeboxy Blog.

There are 200+ million people drinking coffee every day in the U.S. alone, which clearly indicates that there has never been a better time to open a coffee shop. There is a growing trend among Americans to visit their neighborhood coffee shops rather than drink at home.  

As of 2022, there are 65,410 Coffee & Snack Shops businesses in the U.S., an increase of 2.4% from 2021. Source

With many coffee shops or cafes in most neighborhoods, you don’t want to open the next one; you want to open the unique one that is different from the rest in many ways. Otherwise, it may be challenging to make your business a success. 

In this article, we want to help you do just that.

For a unique coffee shop to be successful, there are two main factors:

• thoroughly carrying out the basic design tasks
• creativity

The following are necessary, of course, but we won’t go into details because these are not the steps that will make your coffee shop unique:

• business plan: don’t start without it
• find the right location: considering expected pedestrian traffic and parking facilities
• file for permits and licenses: it is crucial to note that waiting for approval on your permits may take time
• finding suppliers

And now for the exciting part – the tasks you need to do if you want to open a unique coffee shop. Let’s go into more detail.

Importance of the layout

Try to focus on serving people efficiently, especially during peak times. A much-needed rule of thumb is to make sure that your floor plan for your coffee shop provides employees with sufficient space to work efficiently.

The two most important questions you should ask when planning your layout:

• Could your staff be moving around effortlessly?
• Is seating comfortably accessed?

The layout of your coffee shop tells your customers exactly where to go while drawing their attention to the products you want them to buy. Customers are more likely to purchase more than just a cup of coffee if bags of coffee or merchandise are placed in their line of sight as they put their order.

Create a space that’s Instagrammable and interactive

Studies show that the restaurant industry is still doing well because people like immersing themselves in experiences, such as going out to eat. Additionally, with the growth of social media, and platforms like Instagram that allow people to share their experiences, more people look for places that are “instagrammable.”

When you design the interior of your coffee shop with eye-catching, attractive elements, you are aiming for the best coffee shop experiences for your guests, but you could also be generating free social marketing.

If you have outdoor space, creative decorations like colorful flowers can attract the passerby, and the smell of freshly brewed coffee will sure make them purchase one.

MUST READ: How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for your Coffee Shop?

Choose a theme and build the atmosphere around it

Coffee shops should be decorated according to a theme to enhance their distinctive features. You can, for example, use colors and styles from the 1950s if you are looking to have a vintage-style cafe. Color trends from the mid-20th century include pastel colors schemes, black and white dots, pink, mint green, turquoise, blue and pale yellow. There was also a time when black, white, and red colors were in vogue. 

When designing a coffee house for a specific demographic, complementing colors and lighting – dim or bright – are also important considerations. 

Strong themes are sure to attract a specific type of customer base. An example of this would be a dog-friendly or cat-centric coffee shop, which would cater almost exclusively to pet owners.

Find furnishings and decorative elements – such as sculptures or expensive art – that enhance the mood of the theme. Large and impressive is fine, even if you must sacrifice a few seats. Believe us; you’ll be more successful if your café’s interior is unique than if you had three more seating available. Perhaps you should invest in some designer coffee machines or a counter—something you won’t find anywhere else in the neighborhood.

Internet access

It may not sound exciting or important at first, but believe us, it is. Your coffee shop must provide customers with Internet access in this digital age. Students and working professionals who need to check email, conduct online research, or write a complicated term paper often seek refuge at coffee shops. Customers choose coffee shops instead of libraries and book stores to accomplish their online tasks because they want a fresh alternative to a muted location.

Are your customers likely to spend a lot of time working on their laptops? How many electrical outlets do you have? Many people who work from their computers choose coffee shops based solely on whether they can charge their computers or phones. You can also differentiate your coffee shop by having the fastest Wi-Fi, the most outlets, and the most laptop-friendly space.

Put the cherry on top with the coffee shop background music

Suppose you’ve completed the previous steps diligently; there’s still one more thing to consider in order to achieve creating a really unique coffee shop! And that’s background music. 

What makes the background music in your coffee shop unique? If you don’t play the same coffee shop genres as everyone else.

Choosing the right type of music for your cafe depends on the mood you want to convey. Consider a relaxed/chilled environment. It will help if you design a place where your customers can feel at home and enjoy their coffee or snacks while having conversations with others. To create such an environment, you must have genres that promote this type of atmosphere—some ideas for the music genre: jazz, deep house, and lounge.

MUST READ: How to Choose the Right Music for Coffee Shop?

These days, there are plenty of online resources for playing music. These include YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify. However, they all provide a personal license, so you cannot use them in a business environment, including cafes, or you will face very high fines.

“Can I use Spotify, Youtube and Apple music as a commercial music provider? The answer is here.”

To solve this problem, you’ll need to select a business music streaming service that offers a wealth of tracks, curated playlists, and other helpful business features in exchange for a low monthly subscription fee.

One such provider is Jukeboxy Music for Business, which gives you the industry’s largest selection of music for $29.99 a month, and in a few minutes, you can have fitting music playing in your coffee shop. 

You can see what features are available with your subscription here:

Jukeboxy Music Features

Takeaway

To summarize, these are the areas to look out for if you want your coffee shop to be unique:

• design a great layout for your shop
• provide the fastest Wi-Fi and the most electrical outlets
• create an eye-catchy space for Instagram sharing
• choose a theme for your niche and build an atmosphere around it
• play coffee shop background music that is unique to your business

What makes a coffee shop unique?

A unique coffee shop stands out through a combination of a well-thought-out layout, fast Wi-Fi, ample electrical outlets, and an Instagrammable, themed atmosphere. These elements create an inviting space that draws in customers. Additionally, playing distinctive background music tailored to your café’s vibe can set your coffee shop apart. For a seamless music solution, consider Jukeboxy Music for Business, offering a vast selection of tracks and curated playlists for just $29.99 a month, ensuring your coffee shop’s ambiance is as unique as your brand.

The post How to Open a Unique Coffee Shop in 2022? appeared first on Jukeboxy Blog.

High-quality products, excellent customer service, fresh baked goods are key factors for a coffee shop’s success, but they are not the only ones. As part of the aesthetic element, the ambiance and music played in the background should also be considered. Having good background music helps create a relaxing mood within the coffee place. When people take a sip from their favorite coffee blend, the coffee shop soundtrack enhances their overall experience. Coffee Shop Music Genres;

When you ask coffee shop owners about the secret to their success, they will probably give credit to the music they play in the background. If you are a coffee shop owner or planning to open new one, you should consider implementing brand-fitting coffee shop background music.

How to create a coffee shop playlist?

Looking to develop a better customer experience at your coffee house? Make sure to avoid the two common mistakes coffee house owners make when choosing the type of music to play:

• following the latest trends
• playlists are created based on the preferences and tastes of them or their staff

While both seem logical enough, they have little connection to what you want to accomplish. It’s not about creating a different sound, but rather about boosting your business. So, what are your options when it comes to coffeehouse background music?

For your cafe to have a certain mood, you’ll need to choose the right music. While your customers enjoy their coffees and snacks, they also want to read or chat with their friends, at least at most coffee shops. Choosing a chill and relaxed vibe would be a good choice. On the other hand, some coffee shops in large cities and busy areas usually have more in-and-out customers, streaming chill and mellow playlists will not work well in these types of cafes. 

Jukeboxy Music for Business caters to many coffee shops around the country. While analyzing their playlist usage, we noticed that they all use different types of genres to appeal to their target market.

“Check out some of the examples of coffee shop playlist“

We’ll break down the coffee shop music genres below to help you find the right sound for your store and your customers.

Chill and Lo-Fi beats for cool coffee shop vibes

Lo-Fi stands for “low fidelity,” and research suggests that this genre is an excellent choice for focus and studying. If your coffee shop caters to people who come to study, work, or read, this would be the best choice. 

Chill beats also create cool coffeehouse vibes. If that’s the vibe you’re going for, this genre is the perfect choice for your coffee shop.

Jazz for enhancing coffee shop experience

The dynamic element of jazz makes it a popular music genre in many businesses, including coffee shops. Jazz is a mixture of musicians’ instrumental diversity, vocal melody, and the whole act of improvisation. Generally speaking, jazz creates a calming atmosphere that is ideal for relaxing settings like coffee shops.

Jazz is usually associated with a calm mood. However, since its birth, different styles of jazz music have been created, and they all cater to different moods. Depending on your coffeehouse’s atmosphere, you can create a fitting vibe with coffee house jazz music that your customers will enjoy. 

Types of jazz music that we think would go well with coffee shops:

• Early Jazz, often called “Dixieland Jazz” is a good choice for creating a positive and happy coffee shop music vibe.
• Bossa Nova, born in Brazil, also known as Brazilian Jazz, is an excellent choice for coffee shops with a Latin cafe vibe. 
• Nu Jazz has been around since the early 90s, which blends jazz elements with electronic music. This genre is excellent for trendy coffee shops with Generation X customers.
• Soul Jazz is a blend of jazz, r&b, gospel, and soul music, and it’s often instrumental. This type of jazz music allows people to have conversations and creates a relaxed atmosphere. It is an excellent choice for coffee shops with lots of seating areas for customers to enjoy their company.

Acoustic and instrumental music for a relaxing atmosphere

Acoustic or instrumental music for coffee shops is another excellent choice. It’s soft, soothing, and doesn’t distract our attention. For that reason, it’s a good match for coffee shops that provide a space for studying, reading, or having a conversation. 

This type of music may sound like a boring choice, but it doesn’t have to. There are many instrumental and acoustic versions of popular songs that your customers can enjoy while not being distracted by the background music.

Upbeat music for coffee shops in metropolitan areas

Big city coffee shops are usually bustling almost all day long. Playing relaxing, chill, or instrumental music may not be the best choice if your coffee shop is always busy with in-and-out customers. 

We recommend the following coffee shop music genres: 

• Electronic music – we’re not suggesting techno or trance music here, but you can try electronic chill, deep house, and electronic-pop
• Indie music – there are many types of Indie music out there; we recommend Indie Dance or Indie Pop music which can blend well with your energetic atmosphere.
• Pop music – you can never go wrong with upbeat pop music, especially if you cater to different generations. Try mixing different decades from the 70s to the present day. 
• Classic Rock music – another “you can’t go wrong” genre for busy coffee shops with different generation clientele. Study shows that even Millennials love the “Classic Rock” genre. You can read more here.

There are, of course, many other genres that would go well for coffee shops. When choosing the coffee shop music for your store, you should consider the following: 

• What type of coffee shop vibe you are trying to achieve? 
• Who is your target market?
• What is your table turnover goal? Do you prefer many in-and-out customers, or would you like people to spend hours at your cafe?

It may be overwhelming to find the fitting soundtrack for your coffee shop, but don’t worry! There’s a reason there are background music services for businesses that can provide the best sound for your store!

Extra Read: How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for your Coffee Shop? 

Use a business music streaming service

You might have searched for “coffee shop indie music” or “coffee shop sounds” in your browser and found all these amazing Spotify or YouTube playlists. Then, you start streaming Spotify in your business. In a perfect world, you are all set with the background music at your store.

In reality, however, you are illegally streaming music at your business!

Check out our guide: Can I use Spotify, Apple & Others? 

Music streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube are for personal use only. They provide a private license for a single user to enjoy music for their own entertainment. Using these services in a business environment is considered “Copyright Infringement” and has serious legal consequences. 

The other disadvantage of subscribing to a music service where you need to create playlists is; it takes time and effort to find the right tracks. Do you really have that much time to spend on music curation for a cafe playlist? 

We recommend subscribing to a monthly package from a commercially licensed business music streaming provider to avoid these pitfalls. Such as Jukeboxy Music for Business, which has one of the largest music libraries in the industry. There are over 350 expertly curated playlists in different genres, moods, tempos, and decades. You can find coffee house playlists specifically curated with various types of coffee shops in mind. This way, you’ll always have the kind of music your patrons love. 

You can try it all with a 14-day free trial and a monthly subscription of $29.99, thereafter. Most importantly, the music at your business will be licensed through ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR.

The post Coffee Shop Music Genres – How to Choose the Right Music for Coffee Shop? appeared first on Jukeboxy Blog.

How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for your Coffee Shop? A coffee shop must have an eye for design. There may even be other reasons people visit coffee shops apart from drinking coffee. The environment and how you present your products play a significant role in attracting customers through your doors. There is nothing more satisfying than achieving your dreams after investing thousands of dollars, putting in hard work, and remembering that little details matter as much as the products you sell.

Attractive characteristics of your establishment, like scent and mood, may increase foot traffic and sales. Furthermore, a robust design and layout of your coffee shop will help you stay in people’s minds, encouraging return visitors. From the furniture to the espresso bar, ambient lighting to the background music in your coffee shop has a noticeable effect on how your customers enjoy their beverages.

Here’s what you need to look out for when creating the best atmosphere in your coffee shop.

Step #1: Plan the layout with attention

What does this mean? A great ambiance is not just something that happens by chance. A good layout is at the heart of a great atmosphere. Look at your plans through the eyes of your customers long before you sign any contracts with interior builders. Which features are most important to customers? Are there features that make things easy for them?

For example, confusion over where to order is often a source of trouble. The presence of an order counter near the entrance helps customers feel less lost as soon as they enter. Ensure that people have easy access to the condiment counter and a trash can where they can quickly flavor their coffee without reaching over to other patrons or objects.

Ideally, your coffee shop should be bright and clean, with plenty of natural light and comfortable seating. Provide seating to single customers and groups of various sizes with a mix of seating and table types.

Consider hiring a professional interior decorator for layout, furniture, and flooring, if you have no prior design experience. When your coffee shop has a distinctive, personal touch that separates your establishment from nearby ones, it will draw more customers.

Step #2: The right colors to use

Experienced baristas and delicious cappuccinos or lattes will attract customers surely, but your decor should also be appealing to customers on a holistic level.

Once the store’s layout is finished, the next step should be figuring out the color scheme.

It can be time-consuming to decide on a suitable color palette for your coffee shop. But don’t worry, we gathered some well-researched information below that we believe can help you make a decision pretty quickly.

Based on market studies, an earthy color scheme is a classic choice for many coffee shop owners to provide a relaxed and welcoming coffee shop. You can find browns, beige, umber, and dark orange shades in this palette.

On the other hand, if you are creating a unique coffee shop atmosphere than a classic one, you can mix the earthy tones with brighter colors. You can use beige and brown shades with teal, turquoise, or reds. However, the bright colors should not empower the entire atmosphere and should be used minimally as accent colors.

Step #3: Choose the lighting wisely

Choosing the right lights for your cafe is a great way to create the mood you want. Instead of regular bulbs, you can install dimmers to create ambient lighting throughout the day. Adding attractive ceiling lamps instead of spot or industrial lights will add extra appeal and help to create a great coffee shop ambiance.

Whenever possible, you should utilize natural lighting to take advantage of organic light and save energy at the same time. If natural light is

not available in your store, you can use cool-toned lighting as they create a similar look and feel to daylight. Cool lighting is also a good choice for reading and studying.

Warm and soft-toned lighting is a good choice for the evening hours.

They create a more comforting atmosphere in a dark room due to their gentle contrast from the darkness. For example, Starbucks stores usually use dimmed lighting to create a cozy ambiance.

Step #4: The importance of scents

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the smell of a café is an integral part of the overall experience for coffee shop customers. The scent of freshly brewed coffee or pastries often attracts passersby. It is not just important to attract new customers, but it is also essential to keep them.

Adding pleasant scents to your coffee shop can also encourage people to linger around for longer. For example, almost every retail store, including coffee shops, uses holiday-themed fragrances to lure people into the stores during the holiday season. The scent of spice, vanilla, or pumpkin is a known marketing strategy to capture the holiday mood and eventually increase sales.

Step #5: Coffee shop background music

Science has repeatedly proven that you need to impress your customers through all their senses to be successful. To thrive in a competitive market, tasteful decor, scent marketing, or excellent customer service will not be enough. The create the perfect atmosphere in your coffee shop, you need to implement the fitting soundtrack for your business.

The background music at a retail shop is an integral part of the marketing strategy, and it’s no different for a coffee shop. However, choosing the right music for coffee shop is vital.

How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for your Coffee Shop? What to consider when choosing the music for coffee shop?

There is no one playlist or genre fits all mentality anymore. You may hear a piece of excellent background music at one coffee shop and think it would fit yours perfectly, but it may not! While choosing the playlists for your coffee shop, consider these:

Who is your target market? The young generation, old generation, or a mix?

What makes your coffee shop different than the others? Gourmet coffee beans, attractive interiors, energetic baristas? The music should fit the brand.

How early and how late your coffee shop is open? The early crowd needs different types of music than the late crowd. Consider creating a different playlist schedule for the entire day and the week.

We highly recommend working with a professional background music service provider for all these reasons mentioned above. But, there’s more to consider when choosing the music service provider for your coffee shop.

Every business, including the coffee shops, must obtain background music licenses by ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR. When you subscribe to a commercially licensed background music service provider, they will pay for your licenses on your behalf, and you won’t have to worry about getting hefty fines.

On the other hand, if you choose to play Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube without obtaining these licenses, you can face harsh penalties. You can read more here.

These services are not commercially licensed. You can only use them for your own entertainment, as you can read on their terms and conditions page.

How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for your Coffee Shop? We recommend Jukeboxy’s business music streaming service, which you can join in just a few minutes with a $29.99 monthly subscription. With over forty million tracks and curated playlists, you will find the fitting background music for coffee shop that your guests will love.

Some of the exciting features Jukeboxy has to offer:

• Jukeboxy library has music from ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR libraries, major and independent labels to provide you with the most variety.
• Jukeboxy Music is available on Apple iOS and Android devices, as well as PC and Mac computers, Sonos speaker systems, and Alexa enabled devices. Our dedicated hardware, Jukeboxy Player Box, is also available for purchase.
• From your computer and anywhere in the world, you have access to Jukeboxy’s online dashboard to manage the music at your businesses.
• You can create a continuous stream of non-repetitive and fresh music for your business by mixing an unlimited number of playlists in a time slot.
• When you use Jukeboxy Music, you can create custom playlists quickly and easily. The Jukeboxy Manager App comes with a “DJ SET” feature that lets you create unlimited playlists based on mood, tempo, genre, and decade. Adding these custom sets to your weekly auto-play schedule will allow you to mix them with other playlists or play them individually. It is also possible to transfer your playlists to Jukeboxy. With Jukeboxy Music, you can share any custom playlist you have on Spotify or Apple Music for no additional charge.

Summary

A coffee shop with these simple characteristics is usually all that customers need to make a space that is appealing and cozy where they can enjoy coffee with a sense of comfort. Don’t forget the proper layout, an inviting color palette, the lighting, the scents, and the background music to make your coffee shop atmosphere inviting and customer-retaining.

The post How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for your Coffee Shop? appeared first on Jukeboxy Blog.