Coffee houses provide their patrons a place to meet, read, write, work, study, and socialize. They have comfy couches, desks, complimentary wi-fi, newspapers, magazines. It almost feels like you are in your living room and enjoying a cup of coffee and music while reading the news. The background music in a coffee house should also compliment the same vibe.
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.
