We delve into a restaurant music debate: live music versus recorded tunes, and how each impacts the dining experience.
As restaurant ambiance plays a crucial role in customer satisfaction, understanding the pros and cons of recorded vs. live music is vital for owners seeking to strike the perfect chord with their patrons.
First, because this applies to most restaurants and bars, we'll go over recorded music and the pros and cons of using this in place of live music.
Then we'll go over the pros and cons of recorded music for the same.
Recorded Music
Restaurant background music is an essential part of building an atmosphere for your restaurant's customers.
In fact, a study by BMI found that nearly 80% would stay longer if good music was playing.
In some cases, depending on your business model, live music may be a better fit. Let's explore the pros and cons below of recorded music when compared to live music.
Pros:
Cons:
In general, recorded music is best for restaurants and bars that are more focused on the atmosphere and dining experience. As you'll soon see, live music has other benefits, such as potential customer acquisition and being a go-to place for things to do.
If dining experience and atmosphere are what you're looking for, consider using one of many background music services to avoid licensing complications and have access to expert-curated playlists built to enhance a restaurant's atmosphere.
Live Music
While overhead music is designed to enhance the dining experience and atmosphere, live music allows you to leverage music as a way to attract more customers to your location.
The artists may post their gigs on social media and their fans will show up at your location to see them.
Or your customers share their experience on social media, building awareness among their friend group!
Let's explore the pros and cons of offering live music in your bar or restaurant.
Pros:
Cons:
Overall, live music is great for customer acquisition and building a fun experience. The same sales-related benefits (such as customers buying more because of good music selection) can be experienced with recorded music if you have a live piano at a wine bar, for example, but there are added expenses with hosting recorded music at your restaurant.
Conclusion
You don't necessarily need to restrict your restaurant or bar to exclusively offering live or recorded music. You can do both!
On weekends when people are looking for something to do, maybe have a live band come perform and let customers know in advance.
During the week or slower business hours, recorded music might make more sense.
It entirely depends on your business model, but hopefully, this article helped you think through which is best for your restaurant or bar!