The Sound of Food

When one enters Dylan’s Candy Bar, one is usually overcome with joy. From the giant lollipops hovering overhead to the stairway of sweets, the aesthetics create an ecstatic feeling, which sometimes—if not all of the time—drive one into a self inducing sugar buzz. And while you’re either walking around filling up your Dylan’s Candy Bar plastic bag with sweets or sitting in the café indulging in one of their specialty sundaes, there is the slight chance that you will start singing along to one of the many candy related anthems that the store plays. At least, that is what I usually catch myself doing.

Between the shouts of “I want candy!” to the assertion “the Candy Man can!” I slowly find myself wondering how on earth did Dylan’s Candy Bar acquire such a candy filled soundtrack. As I finish up my purchases and walk out of the store, I find myself still singing along to the last song that had played and again I wonder. Why must Dylan’s play a loop of candy music? Then I figure the answer was quite simple: because it adds to the atmosphere of the store.

Like Dylan’s, restaurants use music to add to the atmosphere. Yet as simple as it may seem to have candy related music played at a candy store, most restaurateurs don’t have the luxury to simply play themed music in their restaurants, especially when the restaurant isn’t themed. This makes it difficult for many to add music to the atmosphere of their restaurants. Between the many complaints one may receive from the customers to what is initially on the menu, many restaurateurs are beginning to take all of this into account when picking their musical soundtracks.

Yet, why are restaurateurs so concerned with getting music for their menus? Is the music played in restaurants really that important? Despite possibly annoying certain customers, does the music really have an effect on the customers? Does it make them enjoy their meal more? Does it make them hate their meal and vow to never return again? Does the music played help turn tables faster? Slower? Does it really enhance the atmosphere?

According to Philip Kotler, distinguished professor of International Marketing at Northwestern University, sensory tools such as music does indeed enhance an atmosphere (Kotler 51). “Buyers respond to the total product” when making their purchase decisions (Kotler 48). “Total product” encompasses everything from promotion tools, such as packaging and advertising, to the price and other features of the product (Kotler 48). A significant aspect of the “total product” is the place or the atmosphere in which it is purchased and or consumed. “In some cases, the atmosphere is the primary product” (Kotler 48).

This can definitely be said when it comes to restaurants. Most restaurants depend on every aspect of the atmosphere in which they try to present. From the food itself to the way the place looks and feels, the atmosphere has an important effect on the consumer. This idea of atmosphere affecting the consumer, from a marketing standpoint, is referred to as “atmospherics” (Kotler 50). Yet, unlike many other marketing atmospheres, the atmosphere in restaurants encompasses all five of the “sensory channels”—sight, sound, scent, touch and taste—instead of just four (Kotler 51). According to Kotler, an atmosphere can be described in these sensory terms, yet the fifth term, taste, does not apply to atmosphere as a whole. However, in a restaurant, taste is probably the most important sense out of all five senses, because the sole reason we go to restaurants is to enjoy the taste of the foods we consume. Both scent and touch are also important as they relate to the food; a good scent makes a dish more appetizing and the textures of certain foods are highly thought of by the chef. The way a restaurant looks also has an effect on consumers in that a prettier and cleaner looking place will most likely be the more appealing place to go and eat.

With that said, the only other sense left is sound, specifically music, “ranging from loud to soft, fast to slow, vocal to instrumental, heavy rock to light rock, or classical to contemporary urban” (Milliman 286). In the past, playing music in a restaurant wasn’t all too common or even thought about all that much. Most restaurateurs played music just to have something in the background behind all of chitter-chatter of their patrons. Lately, however, as “restaurateurs are coming to the opinion that atmosphere can be the major factor in making a successful restaurant,” they are beginning to take every little thing into account, especially music (Kotler 58).

“Music in restaurants is a sore issue in general,” claims Andrew Carmellini, chef at A Voce, an Italian restaurant in New York City. “Pre-opening, I thought my list was brilliant, but you name the complaint—the jazz is too boring, the horns are too shrill, there’s too much bass—and we’ve gotten it.” Carmellini poses the difficultly most restaurateurs go through when deciding what music to play or whether or not they should play music at their restaurants at all. Most restaurateurs try to avoid costumer complaints entirely by seeking professional help (Meehan 1). Muzak and DMX are a few of the many professional services restaurateurs turn to, to get music for their restaurants. Muzak, formally the main provider of elevator music has branched out to service other venues, such as retail stores, supermarkets and restaurants. In fact, according to a company spokeswoman, Karen Vigeland, “food service establishments make up ‘a significant portion’ of the 400,000 locations into which Muzak pipes music” (Meehan 1). Many of those locations are mostly “quick-service” places, yet that statistic includes Dean & DeLuca’s cafes and Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants.

The founders of Muzak refer to themselves as “specialists in the physiological and psychological effects and applications of music” (EST Magazine 1). Using the idea of atmospherics, Muzak provides themed mixes that kindle the senses and provide the listener with a “psychological lift” (EST Magazine 1). Many restaurateurs who are clients of Muzak choose their music from one of these themed mixes, which Muzak call their “core programs,” each of which consists of about 1,200 songs (Meehan 2).

DMX is similar to Muzak in that they use atmospherics to provide music mixes that “create sensory branding experiences” to various establishments (DMX Website). “Sensory branding being a powerful brand arsenal of services that taps into human senses to shape perception, mood, experience, and memory” (DMX Website). DMX believes that music can enhance an atmosphere by creating a mood and controlling the energy of that particular atmosphere. Both Muzak and DMX programs are usually delivered to the restaurants via satellite, burned on a music DVD, or saved on a portable hard drive.

Yet some restaurateurs want music that is more “customized and up-to-date” and ultimately less generic (Meehan 2). These consult Jeremy Abrams who manages Audiostiles. Like Muzak, Audiostiles provides musical mixes for various businesses, like restaurants, yet unlike Muzak, these mixes aren’t “themed,” yet they are a slight bit personal. Abrams takes his clients into account when creating these mixes, often questioning them on “the tempos and genres they want, asking whether they prefer instrumental or vocals, new music or something familiar” (Meehan 2). Abrams stands firm on the claim that Audiostiles provides the costumer with “music they love, while accessing music they didn’t yet know they had to have” (Audiostiles Website). Many times, Abrams customizes the play lists to the particular time of day they will be played at the restaurants.

There are others, however, who can’t stand the thought of having someone else chose the music for them. “Getting it right is a function of watching the guests. In a restaurant setting, music is a little like air-conditioning—no one’s going to tell you when the air-conditioning is perfect, but when it is, the conversations in the room will be more energetic,” says Danny Meyer, a restaurateur who operates eight restaurants in New York City, which include the Union Square Café, the Gramercy Tavern and the Shake Shack. Meyer relies on the managers at his restaurants to help him pick and play the music they believe is best suited for the restaurant, taking into account the time of day the music will be played and what type of music they notice the customers positively react to the most. Others like Gabriel Stulman, a restaurateur who owns the Little Owl in New York City with chef Joey Campanaro, rely on each other’s, as well as their servers’, tastes when compiling a sufficient musical mix for their restaurant.

Other times, it is only one’s own tastes that determine the music to played. “So many people say, ‘Why don’t you play jazz or why don’t you play opera arias?’ and I’m like, ‘because, it’s not what I want to hear when I want to sit down to a great meal,’” chimes Mario Batali, chef and restaurateur extraordinaire. He’s proof that choosing the music to be played in restaurants is not always a group effort. Batali is quite famous for playing whatever music he feels like playing in his restaurants. At Babbo, one of his most famous restaurants in New York City, Batali’s play list calls for really loud, rock music in the likes of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix (and more recently R.E.M, specifically Michael Stipe).

Then there are those, however, who don’t play music in their restaurants at all, like Grant Achatz, chef and owner of Alinea in Chicago. Achatz says he “has great appreciation for but limited knowledge of music,” which is one of the many reasons why he doesn’t play music in his dining rooms. Another reason why there is no music played at Alinea is because of the fact that Achatz depends on the senses to enhance his customer’s experience at the restaurant. Achatz uses science and psychology to transform food into unrecognizable dishes, in which he places a lot of focus on the texture of the food, its taste and aroma. To him, there is simply no “way to match the acoustics of the music to the food in a restaurant full of people, each of whom are at different points in his lengthy tasting menus” (Meehan 3). Music is the only sense not used to enhance the atmosphere in Alinea, simply because there is just no room to fit it in.

“Restaurants are really all about experience,” claims Jon Luther director of audio architecture for Muzak. “You are trying to create that experience with all the senses. The design of a restaurant is thought out in advance because you are trying to create a certain experience for the customer, and music is just another part of that.” Whether or not restaurateurs use Muzak or not, they all can agree that they are trying to create an experience. Yet does music really have an effect on a customer, which in turn can affect their experience?

"We can change the way people are feeling by playing different music at different times” states Batali in an interview at his pizzeria and bar OTTO with . “In the afternoon it's always opera here. We want them the customer to feel that this is a classic place. There is no reason for them to hustle; it's kind of timeless. In the evening when we need tables to move a little more quickly, maybe we'll turn it up a little bit and maybe we'll play something a little more faster. And people will, without a doubt, react to that. Even if we don't tell them too, they move more quickly when the music is a little more quicker and maybe even a little bit louder.” Restaurateurs “have traditionally played more upbeat music during busy times in order to keep the table turning” (Slawsky 1). This practice derives from a hypothesis written by Patricia Cain Smith and Ross Curnow entitled “Arousal Hypothesis” and the Effects of Music on Purchasing Behavior, where they studied an experiment performed in various consumer atmospheres like stores and supermarkets. The experiment determined that when loud music was played, the customers moved more quickly than those who were made to listen to softer music. Those who listened to the louder music also spent more money. It was assumed that the louder the music, the more the customers will become distracted and ultimately not be aware of how much money they were actually spending. In restaurateurs’ eyes, playing loud music is their ticket to an easy flow of revenue. Plus, the more quickly the costumers’ leave the more others can be seated, thus the more money is made.

Batali goes on to say that towards the late evening—11:55 to be exact—when there’s not that many people walking in and out of the restaurant, the music is turned down a bit, yet not completely. “You're pretending that the restaurant is in fact still busy,” he says, adding that he’ll then put on a little reggae “because everyone realizes 'Oh man. It's cool. No one's gonna turn this table around man. You know, we're just gonna sit here.'” As an effect of this, the customers begin to relax and move at a much slower pace. They stay seated at their table a lot longer and maybe buy a drink or two at the bar (Milliman 288).

Yet as logical as it may seem to many restaurateurs to play music in their restaurants, be it loud music to turn tables more quickly or softer music for more of a relax setting, it all eventually comes down to a clash of tastes as the determining factor of whether or not one enjoyed their meal. Everyone has different tastes, whether it is in the foods they like to consume or the music they like to listen to; not everyone enjoys the same things. Depending on the tastes of the customer, music can affect their experience. Many restaurant patrons enjoy soft quiet music to no music at all when they go and sit down to eat, and they oftentimes reframe from going to a restaurant where loud music is known to be played.

Tom Sietsema quoted one poster from his online food discussion in his article No Appetite for Noise for the Washington Post saying, “‘I hate having to shout at the person next to me and not be able to communicate without everyone at the surrounding table being aware of everything I say.’” The poster goes on to say that some restaurateurs seem to defend the loud music and increased noise level as “exciting” and “energetic” and “‘insist that young people like it’” (Sietsema 2). “The noise levels don’t make me feel lively or youthful,” wrote another poster. “They make me shout and keep asking, ‘What?’” This concept of appealing to the younger generation got both posters and many others with a slightly unsatisfactory meal and left them wondering: “What about the other rather large segment of the dining population?”

According to a Zagat survey, “noise encompassing everything from the loud conversations to the music played ranks second, just behind service, as the response to the query: ‘What irritates you most about dining out?’” (Sietsema 3) There’s “a certain level of noise people consider to be exciting or good energy,” states founder of Zagat restaurant guide, Tim Zagat. “Once its gets so loud you can’t hear yourself chew,” that is when it gets “over the top.” Yet there are some who don’t have a problem with listening to loud music. “It’s a double-edged sword,” Zagat continues. If the restaurant is quiet “a lot of people feel it’s dead.”

This is quite true. Many of the posters from the discussion believe that loud and upbeat music creates a very upbeat, positive energy that almost makes them feel young again. Which leads back to the reason why many restaurateurs defend their loud music playing; loud music can sometimes, yet not often, make those patrons who are reasonably from an older generation feel as if they are young again, and therefore enjoy themselves more.

There are others though, a very select group, who don’t care whether or not a restaurant plays music. "Noise won't turn me off," says Griz Dwight, a restaurant designer for his five-year-old firm, GrizForm Design. "Bad food will." And ultimately in the end, what it all comes down to is one’s one tastes. “You have to know why you’re going out,” says Ashok Bajaj owner of Rasika, an Indian restaurant in D.C. “Different moods call for different restaurants.”

So, is getting the right music for a restaurant really that important? I sure hope so. I would like to think, that the next time I go to a restaurant and find myself singing along to whatever is playing on the speakers overhead, the restaurateur at least put some sort of thought into it. For music is one of the many factors that contribute to the atmosphere or the experience in which they would have wanted me to have. I can only just imagine, “The Immigrant Song” blaring into my ears while I’m trying to enjoy a delicate pasta course. Never having been to Babbo myself, I hear it is quite the experience—whether good or bad, Mario Batali always leaves the customer with something to talk about afterwards. And that is what I think going to a restaurant is all out; experiencing something new, whether it be the food or the atmosphere, and I truly believe the music played adds to that. And hey, you might actually find some good new music to listen to too!

Works Cited

Audiostiles Website. 28 April 2008.

DMX Website. 2 May 2008. /services

Batali, Mario. “Mario Unclogged: Restaurant Playlists.” (Video) Serious Eats. 6 November 2007. 19 April 2008. /mario-batali/

Kotler, Philip. “Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool.” The Journal of Retailing. Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 48-64. Winter 1973-1974.

Meehan, Peter. “Music and Food? The Pros Step In.” The New York Times. 3 January 2007. 8 April 2008. ?r1&scp1&sqmusic+and+food?+the+pros+step+in&stnyt&orefslogin

Milliman, Ronald E. “The Influence of Background Music on the Behavior of Restaurant Patrons.” The Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 286-289 (September 1986). The University of Chicago Press. 7 April 2008. /stable/2489234

“Muzak.” EST Magazine. Summer 1993. 29 April 2008. media.

Sietsema, Tom. “No Appetite for Noise.” The Washington Post. 8 April 2008. 3 May 2008.

Slawsky, Richard. “Restaurants tune in, turn up.” Fast Casual. 24 April 2007. 28 April 2008. ?id7401

Smith, Patricia Cane and Ross Curnow. “Arousal Hypothesis and the Effect of Music on Purchasing Behavior.” Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol. 50, No. 3, pp 255-256. 1966.