Maximizing Music Licensing ROI: Squeezing Every Drop of Value from Nostalgia
You write checks for business music. Maybe it’s to ASCAP, BMI, and GMR directly, or maybe it’s bundled into a music provider service fee. But that money leaves your account all the same.
In the hospitality and retail world, we often hear of customers thinking of music licensing like it’s a utility bill—a necessary resource just to keep the lights on and the doors open. But that’s a big mistake. Music isn’t a tax; it’s an asset. And like any asset, if you aren’t caring for it, you’re likely losing money on it and your music licensing return on investment (ROI) is going to suffer.
Here’s a better mindset. Your goal shouldn’t be just to stay “legal.” It should be to squeeze every drop of value from the orange.
To create a truly great atmosphere—one that ultimately drives revenue—you need three things:
- The Clear Desire to create a great experience.
- An effective Weapon (the toolset) to execute it.
- An Understanding of how to build a music plan to support your desired business outcomes.
Most business owners and executives have the Desire. Where they can fail is in the Weapon they choose and in their Understanding of the plan. They simply don’t know. But don’t sweat it. It’s not rocket science, and it can easily evolve over time. Armed with the right information, you can do this!
Where Value Leaks Away: The Two Traps
If you aren’t seeing a return on your music investment, you are likely falling into one of two traps.
Trap 1: The “No Plan” Approach (Chaos) This is the path of least resistance. You hand the iPad to a shift supervisor, or you plug in your own phone.
- The “Barista DJ”: When you let your 22-year-old staff pick the music, they are playing for themselves, not your 45-year-old customers.
- The “Owner’s Mixtape”: Even if you pick the songs, unless you are the exact demographic clone of your average customer, your personal favorites are irrelevant to the bottom line.
Trap 2: The “Outsourced” Approach (Apathy) This is the legacy model. You hire a big background music company who promises that a professional “curator” will handle everything.
“Curator.” It’s a fancy word, isn’t it? It belongs in an art museum or a high-end wine cellar. In the music business, it’s code for “someone in a cubicle in Austin or Los Angeles who thinks they have better taste than you for your business no less.”
Here is the hard truth: That “curator” manages thousands of accounts. They don’t know your neighborhood. They don’t know that your Tuesday lunch crowd is different from your Friday happy hour. And most importantly, no one will ever care about your customer’s experience as much as you do.
The Science: Why Nostalgia is the Engine
To build a plan that works, you have to understand the mechanism. Why do some songs make people stay longer and spend more?
It comes down to a concept called the Reminiscence Bump. Yes, it’s a thing.
It sounds academic, but it’s a critical data point for your strategy. Neuroscientific research confirms that the memories formed roughly between the ages of 12 and 30 are more vivid and enduring than memories from any other time in our lives.
During this period, our brains are hardwiring our adult identities. The music we listen to during this window doesn’t just get stored as a tune; it gets stored as a feeling. It is the strongest emotional anchor you can pull.
This is where the ROI lives.
- Time Distortion: When a customer is humming along to a song from their Golden Era, perceived wait time drops. A 10-minute wait for a table feels like five.
- The “Open Wallet” Effect: Nostalgia lowers cortisol (stress) and increases comfort. Relaxed, happy customers stick around longer (dwell time) and are far more likely to order that second round or add a dessert.
The Execution: How to Pull It All Together
You have the Desire. You now have the Understanding of the science. Now you need to pick up the Weapon and use it.
You don’t need a “curator” to tell you what is cool. You need a strategy based on math and empathy.
Define Your Target Stop trying to please everyone. Who is your core spender? Is it a 50-year-old executive? A 30-year-old remote worker?
Do the Math Calculate their Golden Era.
- Target Age: 45
- Golden Era (Age 12-30): 1992 – 2010
- Strategy: Your core playlist needs to be anchored in 90s and 2000s hits.
Use the Toolset At UMix, we don’t believe in magic playlists or distant “curators.” We believe in giving you the best tool set on the market. Once you know your target era, use the tools to dial it in. Mix that 90s Alternative with a little modern Indie to keep it fresh. Set the energy to rise as the sun goes down. It’s all at your control with our playlist creation and scheduling tools.
Be the Pilot The best music plan is agile. Because you have the right tools, you can adjust any time. Owner or manager, you are a free-thinking adult with a business to run. You don’t need someone to sell you a “vibe.” You just need the tools and the right information to build the one you know your customers want.
Squeeze that orange!