Rhythm methods
"The music has to be customer-friendly, no matter what I might like or want, because in the end they pay my wages," says Di-Anne Nobel. She is manager of the 70-seat Colmore's Bar in Birmingham, and is discussing the background music played there. Although the CD system is in use "about 90% of the time", she says, there is the occasional business group or party that comes in and "just don't want to hear any music".
Sitting in a far corner of the bar, Nobel says: "As far as the choice of music, we often ask the regulars what they want to hear from a list I prepare. Most of the music on the list is soft, mellow stuff, but some is soul and reggae." Colmore's is styled as a traditional English pub, serving traditional pub lunches and dinners.
Music in food and drink establishments - background, foreground, Muzak or otherwise - appears to be undergoing a sea change. Jazz, soul, ethnic and "world" styles are gaining popularity over the more "supermarket music" styles, so ubiquitous in the 1980s.
But it's not only the style of music that is changing, it is also its importance. Music is no longer just background noise, it is beginning to assume a greater prominence, enhancing the ambience of restaurants, pubs and cafés.
Yet it is not played as loud as it was several years ago. Phil Simon of the London-based Performing Right Society (PRS), which collects royalties on music played publicly, says that, as with many other aspects of entertainment: "People are more discerning now. They don't want to get blasted out by aural wallpaper or music that's so loud you can't hold a conversation." He notes the public's greater sophistication in such matters and the realisation among catering managers that music can play a major role in achieving popularity and profitability.
He believes these factors "have made the choices of music in these situations far more crucial than they were. People are now thinking about what kind of music they're playing and what effect it has on their clientele."
The importance of music to some pubs is highlighted by Derek O'Reilly, chief barman at Rosie O'Grady's in Oxford. "It's a home away from home for a lot of Irish in the area," he says. "It helps create the ambience." The music there is mostly traditional Irish with "some more upbeat or Celtic rock" added to the mix at night. During the day, the volume is set relatively low. However, says O'Reilly: "At night, if there's a good buzz, we sometimes have to turn it up so it can be heard over the sound of the foot-stomping."
So just how important does he think his customers rate the music in this 60-seat pub overlooking the Oxford Canal? "If I had to rate the reasons our customers would give for coming here," he says, "I'd say the camaraderie is the major reason and the music is number two."
The PRS's Simon says that the organisation is increasingly seeing the financial benefit of having music in restaurants and bars. "We used to be seen more as a policing operation," he says, "whereas now we're very much more into promoting the value of using music in business. In 99 cases out of 100, it's going to benefit the business; it's going to increase the turnover.
"We're having research done into the matter at the University of Leicester," he adds. "We're hoping this will prove what I suppose is still theory, hearsay and personal experience."
At the 160-seat Bella Pasta franchise in Birmingham, assistant manager Arron Jamieson says that music is strictly controlled, appropriate to the time of day, and never louder than background. "We've only had one complaint in two years that I know of and that was that the music was crap," he says.
He usually plays different styles of music at different times of the day, but generally it's music from or reminiscent of southern Europe and the Mediterranean, well suited to the Italian café decor and menu of pasta dishes and pizzas.
One of the many companies supplying business music systems is AEI Rediffusion Music. Marketing manager Alan Hall says that music is moving away from the old background instrumental styles toward playing a more noticeable part in a restaurant's design and promotional plans. He cites a Gallup poll result showing that 90% of restaurant patrons say music enhances a restaurant's atmosphere. "People are spending an awful lot of money in theming restaurants a certain way," he says. "So people are being far more clever about the music they play, to support the theme they're trying to project."
Today's systems are more sophisticated and less likely to blast whoever is seated underneath the speakers. Of course, upmarket systems, as in many smaller restaurants and pubs, are expensive.
Chez Jules in Birmingham uses a store-bought system and manager Bruno Gbalou plays music from his personal collection. The music in this 156-seat restaurant, on the first floor above a small shop front, is mostly French, lively and loud at lunch, and softer at dinner. The decor is sparse, but the cuisine is just the opposite, sumptuous and very French.
Whatever the style or volume of music, the goal is the same - money. "People play music for one reason, and that is to enhance their business environment," says Hall. "If you provide a business environment in which people feel comfortable, or create a fun and party mood, customers will stay longer and spend more, or come back more often. But if you don't use music correctly, it'll have the opposite, negative effect."
