We’ve read that the technology revolution continues in the restaurant industry. What’s less surprising is that the tech that gets the industry stories and blogs is often centered around POS (point-of-sale) and security. That’s partly because there are lots of companies pushing POS and security because of the money associated with POS and security.
One aspect of the restaurant technology revolution that can get overlooked is the music technology revolution.
It used to be that restaurants played their music from tapes, DVDs and compact discs on repeat. Often big computers sat in the office loaded with a few hundred songs on repeat. A mini-tech evolution occurred when iPods made into restaurants. But that required someone at the restaurant to manage the music, which seemingly rarely got updated or changed. And music from iPods was not legal or licensed for copyrights to play in businesses.
Streaming has revolutionized music for restaurants.
No longer are restaurants required to house and maintain computers. No longer are employees subject to looped playlists and frequent repeats of the same songs and same singers and bands. No longer does it takes days or weeks to get music in the system changed. No longer are playlists limited based on the capability of the device at the restaurant.
Thanks to technology, restaurant managers now have more control over the songs and styles that get played in their establishment. Playlists are dynamic, virtually unlimited, and easily customized. All this makes the music mixes more individually branded to each restaurant or place of business. Plus, the music mix can easily change based on time of day – something important to the vibe of a restaurant. This mood/time change was more difficult to achieve before streaming.
For example, cloud-based streaming technology has made it possible for Custom Channels ReMix service to let restaurant managers customize the music mix at their location, add and remove songs at their discretion anytime, and focus the mixture of styles to fit their brand. For the restaurant, there’s almost nothing to add with equipment and in many cases, the cost is lower than old school background music methods.
Technology has made music services more affordable. There is no longer a virtual monopoly from one corporate background music provider with lock-down, multi-year contracts. Internet streaming music services have lowered prices, improved flexibility, broken away from extended contracts, and greatly increased music choices.
If your restaurant, bar, tavern, fast-casual food service, or coffee shop has not reviewed its music technology lately, perhaps you should. Contact us at Custom Channels to see what’s new. You can get both the control you’re looking for and the experts to help you so you don’t have to worry about the music that’s playing in your business.