大象传媒

Background music - sometimes referred to as ‘muzak’ - is regularly played in restaurants, hotels and shops. Whilst it might seem like inconsequential noise, there is actually a lot of science behind why retailers and restaurateurs use it.

It’s also why some restaurants and hotels are calling on the Scottish government to lift its current ban on background music during the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of his Monthly Music Review, 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake spoke to a music psychologist to find out how background music affects us all.

Professor Catherine Loveday is a neuropsychologist at the University of Westminster. She has been studying how our brains process music. She says: “If we’re listening to music that we like then we tend to like where we are, like what we’re doing and what we’re buying better.”

But that can work both ways - if you don’t like the music, you might not like the place. Dr Loveday says: “For all of us, there is music that we just don’t really like. For me, there are certain shops I won’t go into because I can’t bear the music that’s being played. I just don’t shop there!”

Professor Loveday says: “Music can enhance the ethnicity of the food. So, if you go into an Italian restaurant and they’re playing Italian music then the food tastes more Italian.

“There are also studies that show if you play French music in a wine shop people will buy more French wine, if you play German music then people will buy more German wine.”

“In restaurants it has been shown that if you play slow music, people tend to eat more slowly and then they spend more money on booze. And if we play classical music people think that what they are buying or eating is of higher quality," Prof Loveday says.

“There have been some fantastic studies around restaurants and wine drinking, showing there are certain wines that go better with certain music. So, if you hear music that we would describe as 'quite heavy' then people will describe the wine as quite heavy.

"There is also the social thing, of course. We are more comfortable and we talk more easily when there is soft music playing.”

Prof Loveday continues: “There have been huge six-week studies in stores which found how people spend more money.”

Bottom line? “If the music is louder, they spend more money."

She adds: “If you slow down the music, the sales will go up. So, even things like simply changing the volume and the speed of the music can affect people. Music hugely influences our perception of what we are doing and there are definite economic consequences.”

Background music is often referred to as ‘muzak’. Muzak was originally the trade name for a way of delivering music through electrical wires to many parts of a building at the same time - but more recently it has been associated with the kind of music that is played in lifts and restaurants.

In 1992 an organisation called Pipedown was created to try and stop "muzak" being played in pubs, restaurants and even buses.

Celebrities like Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley backed the campaign. Prof Loveday says: “They were trying to get rid of the use of muzak completely because they felt it was offensive, and that it was too unpleasant for people to listen to.”

Nihal Arthanayake is on air on 大象传媒 Radio 5 Live Mondays to Thursdays 13:00 BST - 16:00 BST. Listen live on 大象传媒 Sounds.

The Monthly Music Review is at 15:00 BST on the last Thursday of the month.

Nihal chats through the latest music news, recommendations for new releases and the tracks you just need to hear.