Photo credit: Lisa Fotios
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
The New York Times published an article last month titled: “Why Your Favorite Restaurant Sounds Like That.” Writer Alyson Krueger discusses how restaurant owners and managers curate the music played in their restaurants to set a theme or enhance the mood. For example, one restaurateur plays music with a rapid beat or 114 to 120 beats per minute. Some choose the music themselves, some delegate the choice to workers who have an interest in music or a musical background and some outsource the task to professionals. At least one restaurant lets patrons choose the music by offering a jukebox. Spotify reports over 300,000 restaurant-themed playlists made by users in the United States.
“[Restaurant owners and chefs] put so much attention to detail in the design and the menu and the space that they don’t want to shortchange their customers by playing music that feels awful,” said Alec DeRuggiero, the head music supervisor of a company that makes playlists for restaurants worldwide.
There is research in hospitality literature about music and dining. For example, louder music makes people eat more quickly and drink more alcohol. Charles Spruce, an experimental psychologist at Oxford, has studied how music can change diners’ perceptions of the food they are eating. “Play classical music, and people are likely to spend more,” Spruce said. “Play ethnically congruent music and the dishes may taste more authentic.”
I have previously written about the disability rights aspects of high ambient noise levels in restaurants. There’s no mention of sound levels in the Times article, but I find that music with rapid beats or heavy bass notes does not make for a pleasant dining experience. Nor does rap music or hiphop. Quiet jazz or classical music is my preference, at a sound level that won’t interfere with conversation.
Musical tastes vary. I guess what’s important for each person is to patronize restaurants that combine good food, good service, background music that allows easy conversation, with pleasant musical selections. And everyone should avoid noisy restaurants with ambient sound levels high enough to cause auditory damage.
My wife and I have walked into restaurants we haven’t tried before, and walked right out. We want to converse while dining, not attend a rock concert. We have eaten in restaurants that were too quiet, too. Somewhere in the middle is our happy place. I hope restaurant owners, chefs, and those who make the playlists select music that’s pleasing to our ears.
