Sound design creates the right atmosphere for a business space, whether it’s a pharmacy, hotel, or sports center. Background music for businesses can increase customer satisfaction and sales, serve as an important brand-building element, or protect customer privacy by masking conversation details from outsiders.
But what is the best way to implement sound design in your business premises? FirstView offers several different solutions for implementing background music and sound design: a royalty-free background music service, sound design, and privacy audio. In this blog, we go through three different ways to implement sound design and help you choose which one works best for your space.
Three different ways to implement sound design
A business’s sound design is not just background music or radio – it can be an effective way to boost sales, increase brand awareness, or provide a solution for protecting customer privacy. FirstView offers three different approaches to meet these goals:
- Royalty-free background music service
- Customized sound design
- Sound privacy
1. Royalty-free background music for businesses is an easy and effective solution
A royalty-free background music service is an easy way to create sound design for your own premises. It suits stores, offices, lobbies, and customer service environments – anywhere you want to create a pleasant atmosphere without extra costs.
With FirstView Music, you can mix different music styles, schedule moods by time of day or season, and add your own or partner advertisements and announcements between songs. The music library is continuously updated, keeping the sound design fresh. The entire background music library is royalty-free, meaning you don’t need separate Teosto or Gramex licenses.
You can choose from two suitable options:
- Solo: a self-service package where you manage the background music yourself
- Plus: you get FirstView’s music expert to plan and maintain the music
Read more about the different options for background music service »
Season Golf uses background music to build atmosphere at its sports center, and at Etelä-Esplanadi 2 in Helsinki, the music changes by time of day: calming in the morning, refreshing in the afternoon. Both are examples of how a royalty-free background music service works well in very different settings.
This is a good fit for you if:
- You need an easy way to manage background music
- You want a royalty-free solution without separate licensing fees
- You want to schedule different music by time of day and season
- You also use announcements or audio advertising
See also blog: How does background music strengthen a brand and save money? »
2. Sound design is a branding tool
Sound design is something different from background music for businesses. It refers to a unique soundscape that has been professionally designed and composed, built around your brand, space and target audience. Sound design is not just about selecting music for playlists – it is about creating a holistic atmosphere for the space from scratch. Sound design can include various elements, such as music, nature sounds and rhythmic elements.
See also blog: Sound design creates a brand and brings a competitive edge »
There is a lot of talk about visual identity, but sonic identity often goes unexploited. Yet it has just as much influence on the impression customers form of a business. A well-designed soundscape sets you apart from competitors, helps build memorable associations and supports your brand in customer interactions. For example, Ikaalinen Spa & Resort’s sauna world was given a seasonally changing soundscape. Initially, the atmosphere in the saunas relied heavily on visual elements, and the new Sauna World wanted to bring in more experiential depth through sound. A soundscape was designed to support relaxation, escape and mindfulness.
Read how sound design was implemented at Ikaalinen Spa & Resort’s sauna world »
Sound design is right for you if:
- You want to stand out and build a strong brand
- Your business has multiple locations and you want consistency
- Customer experience is at the core of your business
- Experiential quality is a central part of your brand
3. Privacy audio solves the challenges of privacy
Sound design is not always about creating atmosphere. In some environments, the soundscape protects privacy. Privacy audio is FirstView’s innovation that improves privacy in service environments where sensitive customer information is discussed: pharmacies, health centres, clinics or, for example, public authority reception areas.
Privacy audio is designed to mask speech frequencies so that outsiders cannot distinguish conversation content. Privacy audio is a combination of masking sound, speech, background music, natural sounds, and other sound design. Read more about how Privacy audio works: Privacy audio protects privacy in service environments »
The solution has been implemented in the Orimattila and Vihti pharmacies to protect customers’ privacy and improve the service experience. Privacy audio has received a lot of praise from both staff and customers: the devices do not stand out from the environment, the soundscape is relaxing, and the customers’ peace of mind has improved.
Lue, miten Orimattilan apteekin uusissa tiloissa panostettiin intimiteettisuojaa »
Technically, privacy audio is implemented with directional sound beams that precisely target the desired area, such as the service counter. This way, other customers in the room do not accidentally overhear sensitive conversations, such as health information or contact information. The overall atmosphere of the room remains calm, and the audio does not disturb other people in the room.
Privacy audio is right for you if:
- You process customers’ personal data
- You want to improve the confidentiality of your transactions
- Operate in an open customer service environment
- GDPR or industry requirements guide operations
How do I choose the right solution?
The best way to get started is to think about what the most important goal of the sound world is in your particular space.
Do you want to create a certain atmosphere in a space as effortlessly as possible? In that case, choose a license-free background music service that is functional and cost-effective, and does not require large investments. If your goal is to create a recognizable soundscape that distinguishes you from your competitors and tells your brand story, then the best solution is a professionally designed soundscape. It requires more investment, but it produces something that your competitors do not have. If, on the other hand, your main need is to improve the privacy and shopping experience of customers in your space, the most suitable tool is Privacy Audio.
And sometimes the needs combine: you want to bring both atmospheric background music and privacy to the counter area. These are not mutually exclusive, but often the best result is achieved with a suitable combination. In addition, the sound world works particularly well in combination with visual communication.
Read more on the blog about how digital signage and sound landscaping work together »
If you are still wondering which service is most suitable for you, feel free to contact us and we will design the best solution for your business premises.
