Picture this: you stroll into your favorite local cafe.

As the door swings open, it’s more than just the tantalizing scent of freshly ground coffee that greets you. It’s the sound. A warm tapestry of jazz instrumentals weaves through the air. The music creates an ambiance that’s inviting, familiar, and comforting — a harmonious backdrop that sparks your creativity, fuels friendly conversations, or simply helps you unwind as you crack open a novel.

Every day, millions of people across the world have a similar experience as they contribute to the United States’ $46-billion coffee shop industry. They may not notice it explicitly, but it’s this expertly crafted sound that transforms a cup of coffee in a crowded room into something truly extraordinary.

Music and atmosphere are central to the cafe experience.

While the link between coffee and music is typically discussed in art and pop culture, there’s science to back it up as well. Studies show that the right mix of volume and genre — the right “sonic seasoning” — can enhance the cafe experience for customers. As anyone who has ever tried to chat or work in an excessively loud cafe can attest, the reverse is also true.

For coffee shop owners, it’s important not to take these sound experiences for granted. The richness of cafe culture is something that’s rooted in music and other arts. Refined over centuries, the music you choose for your cafe makes a major impact on your customers and the success of your business.

In this guide, we’ll look at everything you need to know about background music for cafes, including:

• What cafe culture is and its link to music
• The impact that cafe background music has on customers
• What the coffeehouse music genre is
• The effect of volume on the coffee shop experience
• How Sonos Pro gives coffee shops all the tools they need to succeed

Music and cafe culture — the secret behind the best coffee shop experiences

Nearly 1.5 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day, signifying the drink’s status as a truly-global societal staple. But the popularity of coffee, and its link to music and culture, is nothing new – from the vibrant social hubs of the 15th-century Middle East to the Beat poet, jazz, and folk music performances of mid-20th-century North America — coffee and music have been intertwined across time and cultures.

Modern coffee chains and stand-alone shops continue to uphold this tradition, using music to transform an ordinary coffee drink in an ordinary building into an extraordinary experience.

This is the power of cafe culture.

What is cafe culture?

Cafe culture refers to the tradition of socializing, working, reading, or relaxing in cafes or coffeehouses. It’s the recognition that cafes and coffee shops serve not just as a place to consume coffee and food, but also as a social institution that encourages conversation, creativity, and community.

In different regions and periods, cafe culture has taken on various forms and significance, acting as a meeting place for intellectuals and artists. Even musicians of the caliber of Mozart and Beethoven honed their craft in Vienna coffee shops. Later, in the 20th century United States, cafes became associated with counterculture movements, hosting poetry readings, musical performances, and serving as meeting places for activists.

Cafe culture continues to evolve to this day. In the digital age, coffee shops increasingly function as informal workplaces and meeting spots for professionals and students, thanks to the availability of free WiFi and comfortable seating. Yet, they remain places of socialization and relaxation, where one can meet friends, enjoy a moment of solitude, or immerse oneself in the local culture. The ambiance, including the design, lighting, music, and –  of course – the quality of coffee, plays a key role in defining a cafe’s personality and the experiences it offers to its patrons.

Essentially, coffee shops and cafes have always used music as a place to generate creative, collaborative experiences. This is more than just a cultural impact — music is influential in determining our thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

Why is cafe background music important?

Just like how the ambiance of a restaurant impacts how your customers experience the food, drinks, and service, the music you select for your cafe can also influence your patrons to a surprising degree.

Specifically, background music affects customer behavior, emotions, and spending habits in a cafe setting.

Impact of music on customer experiences and behavior

Music has a major impact on our mood, thoughts, and behavior — it even shapes our spending habits. In fact, one of the first things people do when they are feeling upset is to play uplifting music.

It’s a simple, but powerful strategy: improve the mood of customers so you drive action and create an emotional connection that will keep them coming back. Studies find that businesses, from retail stores to restaurants, that use uplifting, high-tempo music tend to generate more sales than their counterparts.

From a communal standpoint, music also helps establish settings where people feel comfortable conversing or working with others. This makes sense, given that cafe culture is historically founded on bringing people together in common spaces and using music to encourage social behavior. Selecting the right background music sets the stage for memorable experiences and can help cement your cafe as a community’s favorite spot.

Music also influences how long people spend in your cafe. If you are concerned about people camping out for long periods of time, playing more energetic music is a great way to increase turnover and keep new customers coming in.

Given that coffee, caffeine in particular, also drives human behavior, combining it with the right music makes it all the more powerful.

Choosing the right music for your patrons

Cafe music, or “coffeehouse”, is more than just bossa nova and jazz. The broad appeal of cafe culture means these businesses draw on a diverse customer base that may resonate with a range of different genres.

What genre is coffeehouse music?

The coffeehouse genre is often characterized by its relaxed and inviting sound, which incorporates elements of folk, jazz, blues, indie, and pop. The music is typically selected for suitability as a cafe background, with acoustics and lyrics that create a blended sense of intimacy and relaxation, allowing people to focus on primary tasks.

Notable artists associated with this genre range from Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, and Sara Bareilles to earlier influencers like Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. Given this fluid genre, coffeehouse playlists often incorporate many different types of music.

The best genres for coffee shops

If you’re looking to energize your customers with the right cafe background music, you can’t go wrong with these iconic genres:

Jazz

Jazz is an improvisational and expressive music genre characterized by complex rhythms, soulful melodies, and elements of swing and blues. Its laid-back, inviting tone and ability to foster an atmosphere of casual sophistication have made it a common choice for coffeehouses, promoting a sense of relaxation and conversation among patrons.

Pop

Pop music is characterized by its catchy melodies, repeated choruses, and generally upbeat rhythms, making it accessible and enjoyable to a wide audience. Its broad appeal and upbeat energy make it a popular choice as background music in franchised coffee shops, especially during peak hours, to create a lively, engaging atmosphere.

Alternative

Alternative music emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s, distinctive for its diversity of sound and its deviation from mainstream pop and rock. Its eclectic, and often introspective, nature allows it to set a distinctive, creative ambiance in coffeehouses, appealing especially to younger, indie-loving demographics while aligning perfectly with the spirit of cafe culture.

Folk

Folk music is characterized by the expression of the “common person’s” life experiences through simple, acoustic-based melodies. Its authenticity and warmth have made it a staple in coffeehouses, offering a cozy, community-focused atmosphere that complements the social nature of café culture.

Classical

Classical music is a traditional genre known for its intricate compositions, which are often associated with orchestral and instrumental music from the Western tradition, that span centuries from medieval to modern times. Its calming, sophisticated nature suits the coffeehouse environment perfectly, providing a backdrop of heightened stimulation that improves focus and encourages contemplation — perfect for work, reading, or quiet conversation.

While you may be overwhelmed by the multiple genres associated with coffeehouse music, it’s important to remember that genre is just one part of the equation.

A study about how pop and classical music affect a consumer’s likelihood of purchasing coffee finds that both genres had a significant positive impact. In other words, it’s the presence of the music, not necessarily its style, that drives consumer behavior.

Find and maintain the right volume

The fact that genre impacts your cafe background less than the simple presence of music does make sense when you consider another key component: volume.

Whether your customers are there to work, study, socialize, or just enjoy a moment, there’s nothing more distracting than loud or inconsistent music. Your cafe background sound needs to create a welcoming atmosphere that accommodates a range of different activities.

It’s also important to remember that, while coffee shops are conversational spaces, the combined volume of background music and people talking can be too much. Studies show that coffee shops that are both crowded and play loud music are more likely to deliver a negative experience. In these cases, balancing out the busyness with relaxing music at lower decibels can maintain that inviting environment.

But volume isn’t just for accommodating the needs of customers; you also have a business to run. The loudness of your cafe music actually gives you some control over traffic flow throughout the day. Playing louder music during peak hours will help drive turnover so you can capitalize on the rush. Once that’s passed, you can reduce the volume and create an ambient atmosphere that encourages customers to stay during slower times.

As much as cafe culture plays a role in bringing customers to your shop, it’s clear that the quality of your sound experience has an even greater impact. That’s why the music you play, the speakers you play it on, and your ability to control them both are key.

Create the perfect coffee shop ambiance with Sonos Pro

A pioneer in home audio and multi-room sound, Sonos has revolutionized how listeners experience their favorite music. Sonos is now bringing effortless sound experiences to business owners with a complete service solution, including best-in-class speakers that help restaurateurs, retailers, and cafes perfectly deliver background music to their customers.

Sonos Pro is an all-in-one solution offering high-quality speakers, commercially-licensed music, and a central dashboard that lets you easily control it all. Together, they give you full control over your cafe’s sonic seasoning and help you realize the following benefits:

• Remote monitoring and management: Gain a high-level view of the music, volume, and other settings across each location with the Sonos Pro Dashboard so you can monitor and manage the atmosphere of your cafe from anywhere.
• Music and control that work for you: Explore all that the coffeehouse genre has to offer with a catalog of commercially-licensed stations that include Brooklyn Coffee Shop, Contemporary Cafe, Espresso Bar, and more.
• Premium product support: Access a product specialist to quickly resolve issues, minimize downtime, and get back to the cafe background your customers need.
• Unrivaled sound experience: Amplify your cafe ambiance with best-in-class sound quality from Sonos speakers and create memorable experiences that keep them coming back.

Check out the Sonos Pro plan and pricing and unlock the full power of cafe culture with a sound experience that energizes and engages your customers.

*Sonos Pro is only available in certain territories.