Music - How and how long do you play it?

[espressoul]

Very interesting topic. But a little disappointing when thinking of adding some nice background music that compliments your shop's brand. I had planned on playing soulful dance mixes which are a little more underground, and softer sounding. Many of those artists may not even be a part of bmi or ascap. Do you have to have a license with both of these organizations or at least 1?

[piq]

Very interested in music's role in coffee shops. It clearly has such distinct role in creating the ambiance of an establishment. Coincidentally I am researching this very topic. If any of you could be so kind to fill out this brief survey (like 2 mins) it would be great help. survey here -> piq dot fm slash coffee

forum will not let me post links yet

Thanks!

[MychaelP]

Many times the music is just too loud. I'm not certain why the stores don't add more acoustic panels if they need to have the music loud due to crowd noise. Little crowd noise should be low volume music... just my thoughts

[coffeeshoptheologian]

Interesting discussion. We're working toward opening a shop in the next few months and I've wondered about the role of music. Our vision is, in part, (apart from fantastic coffee), to provide a helpful context for sticky/meaningful relationships between people in a harried and disjointed world. ("Good luck with that," right?!) So, I'm particularly interested in the environmental factors in a café/coffee shop that encourage that culture, even if in creative/different ways.

If I'm remembering correctly, no one suggested that not having music is a good idea. Has anyone even experimented with no music? Or something a little weird like a water feature? Just thinking out loud...

[PinkRose]

I have to admit I LOVE it whan the music (MP3 player or speaker system) stop working in the cafe where I work. I pretend I don't notice, and wait for someone else figure it out. I don't like a lot of distracting noise, and I'm sure many of the customers feel the same way.

Rose