A brand sound is the sonic expression of a business’s identity, and it should align with the visual, emotional, experiential, and cultural vibes of the establishment, according to Ola Sars, CEO of the Stockholm, Sweden-based business Soundtrack, a music streaming service that creates bespoke music playlists.
“Acoustics ensure clarity and comfort, noise levels dictate how relaxed or energized the environment feels, and music sets the tone,” said Sars. “Together, they build a signature audio experience that reinforces what the brand stands for. It’s a subtle but powerful way to make an impression.”
For bars, restaurants, and hospitality businesses, sound—or a brand sound—directly shapes how guests feel and behave in the space, explained Norbert Platzer, director of marketing for Bangkok, Thailand-based BMAsia, a B2B provider of customized background music solutions.
“When you get the acoustics and music right, a simple meal becomes a memorable experience that keeps people coming back,” said Platzer. “But poor sound choices can drive customers away before they've even placed an order, making it just as important as your interior design.”
Platzer said every sound element in a space should serve as part of the brand story and overall business objectives. “The music, ambient noise levels, and even the acoustics of conversation should work together harmoniously to create the exact atmosphere you want guests to experience,” he said. “Most importantly, sound should enhance rather than compete with the natural social interactions that make hospitality special.”
Sound Can “Elevate or Disrupt” the Guest Experience
Kristina Hammoud, digital content manager at Elite Hotels of Sweden, said sound should never be an afterthought for bars, restaurants, and hospitality businesses. “It’s a tool that can either elevate or disrupt the guest experience and must be aligned with the brand’s personality and time of day.”
At Elite Hotels, they see music as a key part of the atmosphere. Hammoud said it helps the guest know the time of the day, what to feel, when to wind down, and when to shut down the computer and go for that first beer.
“The right acoustics and volume levels help shape the guest's emotional experience: calm, happy, and conversational during breakfast, energizing in the restaurant and bar at night,” explained Hammoud. “It’s all about enhancing the moment without overwhelming it.”
Doug Marshall, founder and chief marketing and experience officer of London-based Altaura Ltd.—which offers curated playlists—shared that sound is an “invisible design layer” that can make or break a hospitality experience.
“From the clarity of conversation to the vibe of a space, acoustics and background music influence how long guests stay, how they feel, and even what they order,” said Marshall.
Izzy Kharasch, a Chicago-based bar and restaurant industry expert and president of Hospitality Works, noted that many times when he goes to a restaurant or bar that’s really noisy, he can’t hear the server or anyone talking at the table. “Many guests will go to one of these places once, love the food and service, and will never go back because they could not enjoy the experience,” he said. “The life blood for any restaurant is return customers, so bad acoustics, or exceptionally loud music, is a business killer.”
"Sound Sells” in the World of Hospitality
Barry McPhillips, head of international creative at Austin, Texas-based Mood Media, said—simply put—“Sound sells.”
“Before a word is spoken, before a drink or meal is touched, and long before you've found a seat and read a menu, something deeper has already happened,” explained McPhillips. “A feeling. A signal that says stay longer, feel comfortable, trust this place. That signal is sound.”
Audio elements like acoustics, noise levels, and background music don't just fill silence, shared McPhillips. “The right sound environment creates emotional cues that communicate your brand identity before staff even greets customers,” he explained. “When sound is designed with intention, it becomes an invisible host that welcomes guests, sets expectations, and influences how long they stay and how much they spend.”
McPhillips said bar, restaurant, and hospitality owners/operators should think about their sound or brand sound strategy as critically as they do staffing, décor, or menu design.
“Sound is customer service you can't see but always experience,” said McPhillips. “When it's crafted with care, it sets the foundation for everything else that happens in your space, turning first-time visitors into regulars and creating the kind of atmosphere that keeps people coming back.”
At Virgin Hotels, Their Brand Sound Is About “Comfortability”
Mary “MJ” Jones, area director of entertainment and nightlife for Virgin Hotels Nashville, Chicago, and Dallas, said it all comes down to “comfortability” when thinking about sound or a brand sound at a bar, restaurant, or hospitality establishment.
“Comfortability is the basis of hospitality and luxury experiences, creating comfortable hospitable environments for guests includes every single detail,” said Jones. “Sound not only creates a landscape, menu, soundtrack for your guests’ ears, it also can completely throw off an experience when unbalanced, creating discomfort that can then lead to shorter stays, less dollars spent, and less return visits.”
Jones said creating pleasant, comfortable environments will always win a guest over, thus creating higher check averages, more return visits, and more positive experiences. Beyond customers, she said having a proper balanced sound system also gains trust from artists and their teams, which opens doors to larger scale performances, activations, events, and exclusive VIP listening parties.
“Sound is everything,” stressed Jones, who said that at Virgin Hotels, they prioritize it from the beginning and bring in their partners at the front of the project, not the end.
“Once everything is installed, we spend a solid amount of time balancing the room and setting levels for every time of day to ensure we are creating the right vibe at the right time,” said Jones. “This is done in every single space to ensure each one is tailored to the specific experience provided.”
Advice and Tips for Creating a Brand Sound
Marshall, of Altaura Ltd., said bars, restaurants, and hospitality businesses should start with their brand’s personality and audience mindset when creating a brand sound—not just a playlist.
“Partner with someone who understands how to blend music, acoustics, and spatial flow to create an experience, not just background noise,” said Marshall.
Jones, of Virgin Hotels, agrees that business owners and operators should identify the experience they’re trying to create for their guests from an auditory perspective, and then hire the right team to bring it to life.
“You need to be thinking about sound while you’re building—hire an acoustician and professional team and trust the professionals,” said Jones, who recommends Chicago-based Pineapple Audio, which focuses on audio and visual for the hospitality industry. “The longer you wait to think about sound installs, dampening, acoustics, equipment, cabling, the more expensive it gets and the more you sacrifice on the quality. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your restaurant is if it gives every guest a headache from poor sound quality.”
Precision Audio, a prominent and large-scale AV builder, integrator, and solutions provider in Raleigh, N.C., has done a lot of work with bars and restaurants, hospitality groups, live music venues, and stadiums. Scott Carneval, president and CEO of the company, said a lot of times sound is overlooked at a hospitality establishment, especially the acoustics, so it’s important to work with an expert provider.
“An owner may go into another bar or club and see a certain speaker or hear something and say, ‘Hey, I want that same thing,’ but what they don’t see is the acoustic treatment that went into the room,” said Carneval. “And maybe it’s there, but they just don’t notice it, or maybe it’s done well so that it’s hidden, and you can’t really tell it’s there. But a lot of times owners don’t really ask for an acoustics treatment; they ask for a sound system and they want to provide music, and they don’t consider the acoustic side of it.”
Carneval said he can put the best speakers in the world into an establishment to play music, but if a business doesn’t consider an acoustic treatment, it’s hard to overcome potential background noise and sound issues.
Carneval—whose company was recognized by Commercial Integrator as the winner of the 2023 Best Bars & Restaurants Project at The Integration Awards—said poor acoustics can actually cause guests to have anxiety, where they want to get out of the establishment.
“If I’m somewhere and it’s loud and noisy, and I can’t hear myself think—and I don’t mean like a nightclub, I mean more along the lines of a restaurant or a cocktail lounge—and it’s difficult to have a conversation, I don’t want to stay there,” said Carneval. “I’m either going to go outside on the patio, or somewhere else, where it’s not difficult to have a conversation.”
Sars, of Soundtrack, said a good audio/visual (AV) integration isn’t just a quick technical upgrade, it’s a strategic tool for creating a better guest experience, encouraging return visits, and reinforcing a brand’s identity.
“Poor acoustics can lead to echoes, muffled audio, or overwhelming noise levels,” said Sars. “Proper speaker placement and volume control prevent areas from being too loud or too quiet, allowing guests to converse comfortably without straining to hear or shout over music, leading to longer stays and greater satisfaction. Multi-zone audio setups allow different areas of a venue to have distinct sound profiles, such as mellow music in dining areas and more energetic playlists at the bar, offering a more intentional, guest-centric experience. Centralized AV systems make it easier for staff to control the mood across the venue and quickly adapt to shifts in time of day or crowd dynamics, ensuring a seamless guest journey from open to close.”
Once a business has clearly defined its brand sound, how it wants guests to feel, what kind of experience it wants to create—in addition to considering all of the technical aspects—it’s then time to select the music.
Curate Music Selections That Align with Your Concept
After a big-picture sound strategy is identified, Sars said choose music that reflects the brand’s identity across all touchpoints. “Avoid using random or personal preference-driven playlists,” he said. “Instead, curate selections that align with your bar or restaurant concept, time of day and customer psychographics and expectations.”
It’s important to maintain consistency without being repetitive, according to Sars. He suggested that owners and operators use made-for-business music scheduling tools to vary playlists throughout the day and across zones, so the energy feels fresh while staying on-brand. And don’t overlook data.
“Track guest feedback and behavior to understand what’s working,” said Sars. A thoughtful, well-managed brand sound doesn’t just set the mood. It has the power to build emotional connection, strengthen customer loyalty, and drive repeat visits.”
McPhillips, of Mood Media, said they take a scientific approach to sound and music. “We think in terms of 10-minute intervals: What do you want your guests to feel right now, and what comes next?” he said. “We curate playlists not just by genre, but by key, tempo, and emotion.”
It’s also important to look at the establishment’s core customer base when selecting music for a brand sound. McPhillips said some of this is done manually by the music supervisor or music researcher, but some powerful analytics tools can also be utilized to help build a comprehensive customer profile.
“This profile creates a clear picture of who the customer is,” said McPhillips. “What do they like? Who are they? What bands do they love? All of this information is put together and fed into a unique recipe using what we call ‘music filters.’ Combining manual research and analytical software, a picture starts to form about which words or phrases keep popping up. These may be words used in campaigns describing the products and services. They’ll also often appear in the language and style of the brand’s tone of voice. From here, filters or ‘buzz words’ are chosen. Every song chosen for the playlists represents these filters and the sound of the brand. It’s often surprising how clear the vision is for what the brand sound should be after doing all of this. Often, our music design team will go away and do their own research but come together with the same outcome. The process really does work.”
Tyler Lenane, vice president of content and programming at Rockbot—an Oakland, Calif.-based music, TV, digital signage, and advertising solutions company—said the right music at a bar, restaurant, or hospitality establishment isn’t just background noise; it’s that intangible thing that plays a huge role in how the guests feel and how they interpret and remember their experience.
“If your music doesn’t match your brand, you’re missing a major opportunity to build a deeper connection with your customers,” said Lenane. “But, if your customers leave your venue and talk about how great that music was, or come up to ask the hostess what band was just playing on the stereo—then you’ve created a deep, memorable experience for a customer—one who will probably be coming back soon.
In the end, a brand sound isn’t just a playlist—it’s how a business shows up in the world, according to Lenane of Rockbot. It sets the tone and shapes the customer experience.
Aaron Kiel is an award-winning journalist and public relations professional in Raleigh, N.C. He’s worked in the beverage, tea, and coffee industries for two decades, as well as hospitality and technology. He’s a journalist at heart, but he also wears a PR and communications hat through his consultancy, ak PR Group. Aaron is a contributing writer/reporter for Questex’s Bar & Restaurant News and he’s a past editor of Questex’s World Tea News. In 2023, he was a finalist and honorable mention in the “Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards” for “Range of Work by a Single Author – B2B” for World Tea News, and in 2024, he won two awards for his work with Bar & Restaurant News, including a Gold Northeast Region Award in the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ (ASBPE) Azbee Awards under the “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” category, and a “Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Award” in the B2B article category for “Culture & Community.” He also received a 2024/2025 ASBPE Diversity Fellowship Award, which supports and recognizes diversity in the field of B2B journalism. Connect with him on Instagram: @adventurer_explorer or visit akprgroup.com.
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