I've not yet. Do you?
Not always, no.
Headphones.
If it's more upbeat, I find I might get a quicker pace.
I came with a specific purpose to buy something so I bought that
and with or without music I would have bought the same.
Supermarkets play really, like, annoying
kind of like jingly type music.
I don't know if it has some, like, underlining subconscious effect,
like, making me happier and more likely to buy more?
So what about you? Do you listen to music played in public?
I do. I pay probably too much attention to it.
Actually there was one time in New York a couple years ago
when my boyfriend are and I were at a restaurant
and the music was so terrible.
It was so off-putting that no matter how good the food was we hated it.
So you didn't stay for dessert, then?
No. Do you know what,
we actually went home and we sent an email complaint.
It was really long.
And then they sent one back the next day saying,
"It is the chef's personal playlist and we have to play it."
So that's music curation gone terribly wrong.
But in this episode we're looking at how it can be done right as well,
how music can affect you in public and, you know,
can it even make people buy more stuff?
Well, Dan, music is an important atmospheric factor
of a commercial space
and businesses have used music in many ways to influence consumers.
(CASH REGISTER DINGS)
# It's not about the money, money, money
# We don't need your money, money, money
# We just want to make the world dance
# Forget about the price tag... #
When music and sound interacts with our other senses,
it impacts our visual input
and how we're interpreting what we're seeing,
the smell, texture, and even flavour.
There's all kinds of ways that sound affects the world around us
that we've just never stopped to contemplate.
There is a lot of work that has been done
in sort of three different areas.
Tempo or speed of a music could facilitate moving people
through a space quicker or slower.
The idea of musical fit is that that music,
you'll make a judgement about how much it fits the space
or the activity you're in.
And the other idea is sort of playing on people's emotions
or the attachments we have to certain music.
All these things, on a personal level but also a cultural level,
can play into how we affect people's behaviour.
The first specialised in-store radio services took hold in the 1990s.
In Australia, Coles Radio streams its service to over 800 stores.
My role is the Coles radio music programmer.
So I choose the music,
liaise with Coles as to what content needs to go on.
We are currently the number one digital station in Australia
with 283,000 listeners.
So that's on top of the 5.6 million unique customers
that are hearing it in store.
We just want to make it a feelgood experience
when you come in the door, leave your old life behind.
I liken it to a high school reunion.
# Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick
# And think of you... #
We play stuff from the '60s...
# I heard it through the grapevine... #
..all the way up to today.
# Havana, ooh-na-na
# Half of my heart is in Havana...
We know that the average customer spends half an hour shopping.
# He took me back to east Atlanta... #
So in that half-hour period, I try and put in a song from every era.
If you hear a song that's not relevant to you,
stick around another three minutes and another one will be.
A grocery store may be playing certain music that will slow time
and then if people are spending more time they might be purchasing more
because they've had more of an opportunity to walk past the aisles
and grab things off the shelves.
But more often these days,
commercial spaces need a more personalised touch
than an in-store radio.
Businesses like Nightlife provide curated playlists
for a whole range of clients.
We're a music subscription business. Been doing it for 30 years.
So we're a little bit like Spotify but for a business.
So we supply gyms, bars, restaurants,
anywhere where you can hear music coming out of a speaker
in a public space.
We're at about 7,000 locations in Australia.
People's tastes in music across genres.
No two locations are playing the same playlist,
so it's about arranging and curating the best music
that suits most people and styles and genres
that, when we push it through our media player,
then it generates a unique playlist based on that business music brief,
and it would be as if the DJ stood there and played six hours of music.
# His palms are sweaty
# Knees weak, arms are heavy
# There's vomit on his sweater already
# Mom's spaghetti... #
Nightlife has also created Crowd DJ,
an app which allows people to curate
their own personalised playlists in public spaces.
A business's brand is their customer,
so their music is their customer's music.
If you experience your song in a brand,
you will remember that brand forever.
# I know a man ain't supposed to cry... #
Mornings, we know that the older generation tend to shop then,
so a few more older tracks in the morning.
# The years start coming and they don't stop coming... #
People that work and families are coming in after lunchtime,
so we can put a few more of the higher energy ones then.
# No, I can't stop... #
Saturday nights, getting a few people on their way to parties,
back from parties.
We have a party mix.
We do run features,
so there might be an ad playing focused on the citrus special.
Straight after that will be U2 - Lemon.
(LEMON BY U2 PLAYS)
It's just a subtle little nod to the product.
People that are sitting in a bar or a restaurant
and as they're getting to the end of the main course,
are you gonna order dessert?
Well, it'll depend on whether you think there's going to be
a party happening.
# Despacito Quiero respirar tu cuello... #
What will inspire a party is conversation,
what inspires conversation is songs start playing that you reminisce.
# I wanna dance with somebody... #
So you'll stay there and have dessert
and then you might even stay there and wander into the bar next door
and next thing it's two o'clock in the morning and you're in trouble
'cause you've gotta go to work the next day.
Music's not necessarily going to force you to choose something
you otherwise wouldn't buy in that situation,
but if you're coming across a product
that you don't have a strong preference for,
music can sort of influence you without even realising it.
So music is important, really important,
in setting the mood of a place.
But I'm still a little bit sceptical.
You don't think that it could change the way that you shop?
I think we should put it to the test.
It's testin' time!
(FRENCH ACCORDION MUSIC)
We're gonna find out if listening to certain types of music
will affect your choice of wine.
We're giving a group of 20 people a choice of two wines -
Italian or French.
But little do they know, we're playing them some music
to try to influence them.
We've actually put on a fake study
about wine and workplace productivity
to hide the real reason for the test.
We're playing some casual French songs in the background.
Are they gonna go for the delicious Bordeaux?
Or are they gonna move towards the Italian chianti?
So we've got two types of wine today.
We've got some Italian over here and we've got some French over here.
I'll have a French one, thanks.
Please do. OK.
Cheers. Enjoy.
Come and choose a wine. It's up to you.
I'll take this one.
Well done. Thank you very much.
I will get the French wine, please.
Take a glass and enjoy.
Thank you. Cheers.
Do you think the music had any influence?
Yeah, it's French. (LAUGHS)
I think I was geared to go French.
I'm going to Paris in a couple of weeks as well,
so maybe that was like a subconscious thing.
Off to a promising start.
Our music is already proving to be a powerful influence
on these unsuspecting customers.
I'm gonna go for Italian. Oh.
Well, do you want me to tell you about what I think of it?
Nuh.
French or Italian?
I do love chianti so I'm going for that.
Thank you. Go for it.
Cheers. Cheers.
Italian. Go for it.
I've just been in France, so let's go Italy.
Mix it up, girl. This is so exciting.
With the Italian wine in the lead, we made like all good scientists
and changed some of the variables mid-experiment.
We swapped spots.
Hi. Hi.
So there's two types of wine.
OK. Maybe Italian.
Go for it.
Enjoy. Cheers.
Thanks so much. You're welcome.
Of our 20 lunchtime wine connoisseurs, eight chose the French
and 12 snuck across the border.
Unlike the World Cup-winning French football team,
their wine wasn't kicking goals.
But how did people make their choices
and did the music actually have any influence at all?
You went Italian. Cheers. Hey!
So, what wine did you choose? The Italian.
And what made you choose that wine?
I love Italy.
I chose the French because he chose the Italian.
Right. OK. I chose the Italian... I dunno.
I feel like I've had French wine before and didn't love it.
And there was no reason other than just to be different?
Yeah. (LAUGHS)
And did the music influence you at all?
No, not at all. Red wine influences me. (LAUGHS)
I think it was the music, actually.
It sounded at bit, like, Harry or something. Yeah.
I chose French. Mm-hm.
I think just the vibe. The vibe?
Yeah, probably the music subconsciously as well. Yeah.
Alright. So, did the experiment actually work, do you think?
Not really.
I mean, Italy's won.
It didn't feel close. Yeah, no, it didn't.
Which means the experiment is a failure.
But there are some factors.
Talking to people about why they chose it, I mean,
some people did say that they chose French because of the music.
Yeah, but then there were all these people that were going,
"Well, I just like Italian wine better,
"so I'm just gonna choose the Italian."
Yeah. But they had pre-existing preferences, which is what the...
They'd kind of already chosen. Exactly. Yes.
So the music was never gonna influence them.
But for those who had no preference, then maybe it did still play a role.
So can music make you buy more
or influence your decision, do you think?
If you walk into a store with a goal in mind,
it's probably not gonna have an impact.
Yep. But if you're just sort of
window shopping, looking around... Yep.
..maybe you'll walk out with a French wine.
Dan, it's been a long day.
I think it's time to say bottoms up, baby.
Yeah. (LAUGHS) Alright.
Cheers.
I'm gonna choose the Italian.
OK.
(TRADITIONAL ITALIAN MUSIC)
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation