Creating the perfect playlist, finding the right DJ or trusting your new bartender to keep guests happy at your bar is a lot harder than it seems. Picking the perfect bar songs for one person can be hard on its own, let alone finding the right bar music for a bar full of people!
Music can be a make or break for some people’s nights, which is they’ll always want to find a bar with the right atmosphere and the best bar music. With enough consensus, bars may earn a reputation for their tracklist. You want to make sure that it’s a good one.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to make your bar the drinking destination that everyone keeps on repeat.
Why does a bar with music perform better than others?
Bar music is an important part of creating the perfect atmosphere for guests to drink and socialize in. It can help change or promote behavior, create connections to certain sentiments or attitudes and may even affect how likely someone is to come back.
Here’s how music impacts your patron’s experience in your bar.
Customer behavior in the bar and music are related
Herd behavior, peer pressure and atmosphere have a lot to do with the way people behave in bars. In the company of others, we’re often more likely to engage in behaviors we otherwise wouldn’t.
While most of us may attribute these behaviors to our friends and lower inhibitions, research suggests that what we listen to might also have an impact on the way we behave in bars.
From tempo to the genre, what we hear subtly changes the decisions we make. Fast music is more likely to make us take action faster, helping us make decisions without thinking too laboriously about them. It even makes us eat, drink and walk more quickly, while slow music does the opposite. Fast music can open up seats at the bar, while slow music can keep them in the bar for longer.
There are several studies that suggest that loud music can lead to increased alcohol consumption. The volume of your bar music is something you should carefully consider. Loud music can cause overconsumption, and it can also interfere with socialization. While you may want to turn the dial up on a Friday night, it might be best to have music at moderate levels to promote responsibility and conversation.
There’s something to be gained from these findings. What this research suggests is that business owners can influence the way patrons behave simply by changing the music they are circulating and increasing or decreasing their volume.
Noticing a slowdown in the middle of the week? A relaxed happy hour with wine and cheese is the perfect pick-me-up. Playing classical music will keep them in your bar for longer while they sip and snack. It may even make them more likely to spend on dessert or another bottle.
You don’t have to be a one-trick pony, either. The right music solution for your bar should have a wide range of music selections that you can pick from and circulate at the location level. UPshow Premium Audio has over 50 channels of music that you can choose from for each of your bars.
If you own multiple bars, they’re likely not in the same area and don’t cater to the same crowd night to night. It’s easy to switch things up to fit the mood of anyone at any time. Try playing quieter, nostalgic music for bars in residential areas to keep people drinking and chatting over appetizers. Crank up the volume and tempo on Friday nights with the best bar sing along songs at locations that are right in the center of nightlife.
Bar songs and their music genres
Genres, like tempo and volume, can also influence your guests’ behaviors, as certain genres are associated with different values and emotions. Curious about how they break down? Let’s go through some examples.
Looking to keep the bar jumpin’? Try the best bar songs of all time in the pop genre, they’re associated with inspiring energy and keeping us moving! It’s why it’s such a popular choice for exercise, and for some, going out Friday night may feel like a workout after a long work week. There’s no better way to inspire excitement than with fast-paced repetitive melodies that most people can sing along to, or easily guess the lyrics to.
Hip-hop is amongst the five most widely listened to genres in America. Often associated with “rags to riches” narratives, or detailing a come-up, hip-hop features a similarly fast pace and recognizable lyrics. Hip-hop is linked with inspiring listeners to drink and engage in celebratory behavior.
When you think heavy metal, you might think of “bar fights” and avoid that kind of music at all costs. You might be surprised to know that heavy metal can help you keep things calm and reduce hostility! Try opting for some “Crazy Train” to keep things on the rails.
Genre is a powerful tool to use in your bar and may become one of the primary ways you determine what atmosphere you want to create in your bar. It might even help you push menu items, too!
The genre of music we listen to can inspire decisions we make about what we order off a menu. A study of Scottish college students found that music that is linked to cultures can inspire our cravings to move in a certain direction. For example, those who listened to German music before ordering were more likely to order beer and bratwurst while those who listened to French music were more likely to order wine.
Whether you’re looking to subtly inspire these choices or looking to emphasize themed cocktails and featured menu items with a themed night, capitalizing on the power of bar music selection is an effortless way to elevate your guests’ experience.
Creating the perfect atmosphere in your bar is as easy as picking the right genre of music. Best of all, UPshow Premium Audio makes it easy to change up what you’re listening to with 50+ stations of ad-free, fully licensed music.
Match your bar's playlist with your bar's atmosphere
While there’s scientific research that’s associated with the way we respond to specific listening experiences, what is good bar music for your bar will depend on its atmosphere. Ultimately the right choice for your bar will boil down to what your vision is and who your guests are. Playing the right music in your bar is even enough to inspire roughly one out of every three guests to come back again.
You might choose to use music to bring a certain crowd into your bar or reinvent your bar into a new atmosphere and potentially shift your market. While no one’s identity or listening taste is a surefire way to assume interests or behavior, market research suggests that these listening trends can help business owners appeal to specific markets.
Women between the ages of 35-54 are the most likely to appreciate country music, typically in suburban and rural bars. Hip-hop and R&B will be appreciated by young males but is also considerably popular for female listeners. Pop music listeners make up 40% of streaming service listeners and are widely popular in urban and suburban areas.
UPshow Premium Audio gives you access to the best music for bars
Choose bar tunes based on genre and your bar's personality
Creating the perfect listening experience with great bar songs is easier than ever with UPshow.
With over 50 channels of fully licensed, ad-free music, you can keep your guests listening, drinking and snacking until the last call. Creating the perfect atmosphere is as easy as picking a station from a broad selection of genre-based listening. There’s no need to worry about putting together the perfect playlist, monitoring a queue, or redirecting a DJ.
You’re in control of what’s playing in your bar at any time and from anywhere. It makes it simple for managers and owners to ensure that your bar is always creating the perfect atmosphere for your target market.
This comes in especially handy if each of your bars have different crowds. Selecting popular bar songs based on location allows you to keep everyone happy, all from a single digital display software solution.
Best bar music that is fully licensed and commercial-free
Keeping music playing in your bar may seem like an investment in time, money and personnel that you aren’t interested in committing to. The added inconvenience of making a lose-lose choice between streaming music that’s filled with ads or isn’t fully licensed might make it all feel like a hassle.
Luckily, UPshow makes it easy for your bar to play music around the clock, fully licensed and without any ads. No need for an in-house DJ, or (potentially worse) a bartender with an aux cord.
Try out UPshow to get the best music for your bar!
Ready to take control of what’s coming out of your speakers?
UPshow Premium Audio allows you to craft the ultimate listening experience in your bar without the DJ, ads or constant monitoring other music solutions require. It’s the perfect way to make your bar everyone’s favorite stop any day of the week.
Don’t believe us? Try for yourself by signing up for a free demo!
