Have you ever listened to the music at work and wished you could find better music for your business? Maybe the songs don’t connect with your brand, your vibe, or your customers, or maybe it’s just not enjoyable for you and your staff to listen to every day. We know that you have a business to run, and getting the best music mix can seem like a daunting task with a lot of ways to rationalize not getting it done. So let’s talk about some reasons not to find better music for your business—and why they’re bad.
Music Isn’t Really That Important
Intangible as music may be, research has shown that music has a significant effect on your customers’ experience and willingness to patronize your business—for better or worse. Virtually every public commercial space uses music, and it’s conspicuous when a business has bad music or no music at all. We’ve all been to that restaurant where there’s no music; it can get pretty uncomfortable, and that’s the last thing you want for your customers.
I’m Too Busy to Handle This
We get it: there are thousands of do-or-die tasks that come with running a business, and it can seem like music isn’t mission-critical. Time is a concern for our clients, too, and our service can actually save them a lot of it. We often set up clients with great music from Custom Channels in only minutes of their time, and then they never have to worry about it again. No matter the level of control and customization they need, our clients save countless hours by letting us provide a service that’s easy to set up, built on a rock-solid platform, and backed up with the best customer support in the business.
Business is Good, So I Shouldn’t Change Anything
It can be tempting to avoid changes to your business when things seem to be going well, but it can often be a great time to make new improvements to your business. Take advantage of any momentum generated by your business’ success to grab those extra bits of competitive edge, like finding better music for your business that your customers will appreciate and enjoy.
Business is Not Good, So I Shouldn’t Care About Music
We’re not strangers to how hard running a business can be. A quality music service that’s licensed for business can give you one less thing to worry about, and plenty of our clients have saved time and money by switching to our service from alternatives that are more unreliable and expensive. Additionally, we’ve seen a lot of clients try to skirt licensing regulations by using a consumer service like Spotify or Apple Music in their business, and then end up getting tagged with massive fines by BMI and ASCAP who own the rights to the music. Not only is it important to have music, it’s important to do it right, or you might incur even more costs than you would otherwise hope to save.
I Can Just Listen to FM Radio
If you’ve actually listened to FM radio lately, you’ve heard lots of talk, commercials, repetitive music playlists, more commercials, and more commercials. This might be fine to pass the time in the car or at home, but it doesn’t cut it for a business environment. Only with a quality music-for-business service can you ensure that all each of your customers hears every time they visit is a professionally-crafted music mix without any DJ-talk or commercials.
Music Licensing Sounds Really Complicated
To be honest, yes: it can be a huge hassle to deal with music licensing on your own, and all businesses are legally required to use licensed music. However, that’s why you can save yourself a massive amount of work and expense by using a business music service where all of that is wrapped into one simple, transparent price. If you really wanted to obtain licenses yourself from the performing rights organizations such as BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, and GMR, then do all the paperwork, and then acquire and manage the music yourself, that would be really complicated (and expensive). But, if you let a licensed provider like Custom Channels provide better music for your business while taking care of the royalties and licensing reporting, that’s pretty simple.
If I Just Use Spotify, Nobody Will Find Out
Yes, they will. Music licensing agencies have entire departments tasked with identifying and collecting payment from business owners using free, unlicensed streaming from Pandora, Spotify, and other consumer services—which is why those consumer services specifically state that they are only for “non-commercial use” (i.e. not in businesses). Your business has to file plenty of paperwork and follow all kinds of local, state, and federal regulations to do business, and only using licensed music is one of those rules. Not to mention that avoiding these licensing fees means stiffing the artists and labels that provide the music your business uses to attract customers, which isn’t how you’d want any customer to treat your business.
Can’t I Just Play My Own Music?
We totally understand—we each have our own musical tastes that we always want to listen to. Unfortunately, your music is covered by a different license than is required for your business. When your business uses consumer services from Spotify, Pandora, iTunes / Apple Music, YouTube, Soundcloud, etc., it’s opening itself to the legal and financial risks pointed out above. If you want to make sure your business’ music is the music you want, the best way is to use a customizable service like ReMix from Custom Channels, which lets you quickly and easily build your own custom playlists out of curated styles—and even individual songs—that are all fully licensed for business use.
Nobody is Really Paying Attention to the Music
In some businesses, maybe not. Sometimes the music is turned down too low or there are too few speakers. Part of finding better music for your business is getting the correct volume and coverage in the physical space. But people are always listening to the sound of your business, and those sounds will consciously and subconsciously shape their experience in it. Just like changing the soundtrack to a movie changes its feeling, the music in your business affects how much time customers spend in your business, how they feel about the atmosphere, and how they perceive your brand.
It Doesn’t Matter What We Play
You can probably imagine some pretty comically terrible music/business combinations. Heavy metal at a spa? Classical music at a barbecue joint? Kids’ music at a brewery? There are plenty of extreme, obvious examples, but there are also many more nuanced ways in which music can either define or defy your brand. It’s crucial for your music mix to be thoughtfully crafted, from single songs to weeks at a time. We help clients find better music for their business every day by thinking about their target customers, the type of music that best encapsulates their brand, and the kind of sound and flow their business needs throughout the day.
Music for Business is Too Expensive
It doesn’t have to be. We offer a wide variety of options based on how much control and customization your business needs, and many of our clients big and small are thrilled with the All Access service that we can provide for less than a dollar a day. There are always shortcuts and cheap hacks out there, but remember that music for your business isn’t a vanity project. Everything you do to attract business costs money, and the right music is an investment to improve customer loyalty, staff morale, and (ultimately) your bottom line. Your business won’t live or die from the marginal cost of most music services. But whether you have music, and whether it’s good enough to keep customers and employees happy, can add up to significant changes in the performance of your business.
Okay, So How Do I Find Better Music for My Business?
This is the easy part. We can help! You don’t need to be the music expert; you’re running your business. You probably rely on outside experts for things like interior design, finances, graphics, technology, staffing, etc. It’s okay to seek out a music expert—in fact, it’s best to trust your business music to professionals with decades of experience. At Custom Channels, we know exactly how to provide a solution tailored to your business’ needs, one that works best for your customers, your space, and your brand.
Custom Channels are experts in the music for business, and we can help you find better music for yours.