A Guide to Music for Hotels
Why Adding Music to Your Hotel is a Smart Business Move
So, you’ve created a beautiful place for guests to stay. You poured over perfect paint samples and fantastic furniture. You cultivated the desired combination of comfort and style to capture your perfect audience and give them a pleasant stay. But what about your hotel background music? Music has a significant effect on the atmosphere and mood of a place and is so much more powerful than the aesthetic alone. Read on to learn just how important it is and how you can get started in developing your hotel music playlist…
Why is music for hotels important?
Without a doubt, music enhances the guest experience. When your guests enter the lobby, they expect a certain ambience, and music plays a huge role in creating the right atmosphere to reflect your brand and the mood you’re trying to create.
First of all, first impressions really do last. It’s absolutely critical that the first impression for guests is a positive one. Judgments are being made all the time from the moment guests enter the lobby, and throughout their stay. So, get off to the best start with the perfect mood from the moment they begin their time with you.
Consistency is also key when developing your music playlist. This doesn’t mean the same five songs on repeat. Working with a professional music provider allows you to cultivate a collection of tracks that emanate a particular mood, personality and style that reflects your brand. A sudden change in pace or vibe will be offputting and strange. Sticking to your genre and allowing the music to reflect every other element of your guest experience will cement that perfect first impression. After all, you don’t get a second chance at first impressions!
But what atmosphere do you want to create? It needs to align with your marketing, branding, and every external touch point for your hotel.
What background music works for my hotel?
Developing a hotel brand that stands out from the crowd requires a clear appreciation for your market position, defined brand values, and a memorable experience to resonate with each customer. At Mood Media, we collaborate with hotel chains to realize these brand aspirations, working hand-in-hand to ensure success for numerous hotel brands of all types on a global scale.
Creating a hotel brand that goes beyond comfy beds and brilliant breakfasts requires much more than beautiful branding. You need to ensure that the brand story and identity expand to every touch point your guests experience from the moment they discover your brand. This means the right tone of voice with every written content they read, the perfect photography and design with every digital and printed marketing they notice. But most importantly, you need to ensure that the environment you create within the hotel itself reaffirms this brand identity to create a strong and sophisticated experience, every time.
To allow guests to fully absorb an eclectic experience, hotels need an audio identity that is aligned with their brand personality and target demographic. This is all about engaging the power of sound to further enhance the brand. Audio has a powerful and interesting effect on everyone. Ever heard a song that takes you back to a certain moment in time? How does that make you feel? Ever heard a song that just has you tapping your feet? What about that one album you love to just sit back and relax to at the end of a hard week? Music plays with our emotions, and this is a powerful element we can tap into with music in your hotel…
Do I need a music license for my hotel?
Playing music in a hotel isn’t as simple as ‘plug and play’ with your favourite albums and playlists. As the hotel is effectively public domain, you’ll need a music license. This not only gives you permission to play music in a commercial setting, but also ensures the writer and performers receive royalties for it; thus supporting the music industry as you go. This is a crucial step in creating the right atmosphere in your hotel to ensure you avoid hefty fines and legal battles; fines themselves can be up to 300,000 euros per incident!
How much does a music license cost for my hotel?
Now you’ve established the requirement for a music license, let’s take a look at how much this will cost. This depends on whether you want to play copyrighted or non-copyrighted music in the hotel. If you’d like to play copyrighted music, you’ll need to obtain a licence from one of the performing rights organisations (PROs) such as SACEM (France), GEMA (Germany), PRS for Music (UK) and SIAE (Italy). These organisations represent the rights of music creators and allow you to play their music in your hotel. The cost of a music licence from these organisations typically ranges from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars per year, depending on the size of your hotel and the number of speakers you have playing out the music.
If you’re not sure where to start when acquiring a music license, it’s good to work with a professional music provider like Mood Media. We will take care of the legalities and complexities for you, so you don’t need to concern yourself with the legal side or fees!
How do you create a playlist for a hotel?
Once the paperwork is handled… the fun can begin! A playlist is created to develop an atmosphere that is thoughtfully designed, spirited, and truly representative of the brand and customers. How do you want guests to feel? When you have a firm grasp on the experience, emotions and memories you are trying to create, a music provider can build an atmosphere to capture it. Whether it’s blending nostalgia with playful current pop hits, or creating a more subtle, stylish and cosy vibe, the music designers will put together a music experience that supports a flow of the right energy throughout the entire space. From sunrise to sundown, whether it’s enjoying a cup of coffee from the barista counter or savouring a cocktail at the bar before a night out on the town, the music always conveys the perfect ambience.
Do I need different music for different dayparts?
In addition to creating different playlists for different areas within the hotel (a different atmosphere, vibe and playlist in the lobby than in the bar, for example), you’ll also be able to create different day parts, if you work with a music-for-business provider such as Mood Media. By dayparting the program, the atmosphere created through the custom background music changes throughout the day. Let guests wake up with an uplifting and revitalizing yet balanced playlist, creating a sense of inspiration to begin all the adventures ahead.
At midday, the pace could quicken slightly, motivating guests through brisk and melodic energies. Then, as guests move into the evening, perhaps a mix of unexpected tracks play as the evening unfolds to build a feeling of excitement. Whatever music matches the mood of the day and the personality of the brand, we can develop a playlist to reflect it.
Don’t worry – if you’re not sure what strategy works best for dayparts and various playlists for different locations, that’s what we are here for! We have the know-how, hardware and software to develop the best solution for the right music for your hotel, day and night.
Can Mood Media be my hotel music provider?
We’d love to! As you can see here, the right music is crucial to developing the perfect atmosphere in your hotel; not only for guests, but staff and colleagues too. At Mood Media, we have worked with a huge range of global clients on crafting the perfect atmosphere in hotels, restaurants and retail outlets. We work hard on researching and developing the perfect playlist, but creating a well-defined music strategy requires a well-defined partnership. It all goes back to that brand personality and the mood you want to create in your guests. How do we want them to feel? Through the power of sound, we’re able to craft a journey from check-in to check-out that they associate with your brand, know what to expect and feel totally immersed in your world, encouraging positive guest reviews and repeat visits.
How does Mood Media work with my hotel?
A custom music program inspires guests to seize the day and unlock their full potential as they embrace vibrant, active lifestyles. Mood’s consultative approach, driven by real-time data and insights, ensures that guest desires are not only met, but exceeded.
We work collaboratively to strategize all music programs and ensure the brand’s sound is refreshed often and consistently up to date. Through regular consultations and strategy sessions, Mood Media becomes an intrinsic part of the guest experience and fully aligns with the hotel’s brand and standards. By partnering with Mood Media, hotel brands can deliver a fully customized guest experience – an experience designed to motivate guests in the present moment.
And, with our global reach, hotel chains around the world can confidently ensure that their guests receive a consistent brand experience across every corner of their footprint.
The perfect atmosphere in your hotel requires music. Are you harnessing the power of sound yet?