The tones of a jazz trumpet and the soothing melodies of a pianist that drift through doors of places down the street, inclines you to go in. Have you thought of the reason behind this? Music has the unique ability to draw in a crowd to create stimulation and ambience in any setting, be it a hotel lounge, shopping mall or any restaurant. Over the years, the practice of combining music with food has been a constant; it’s not a modern innovation but centuries of enactment. The Roman musicians performed at dinner parties, long before minstrels kept diners company at medieval banquets. Today musical accompaniment during meals is much more common, and the evolution of dining with music has more variations and innovations than its past.

How often do you go into a restaurant or a lounge and stay for the food? Perhaps, what your subconscious really desires is the ambience of the music around you sets the mood. What inspires the exhilarating conversation after your meal or sparks the thought of staying for another drink? The right harmonies help keep your conversations consistent, creates memorable experiences and a pleasant atmosphere. The right music will give you the clear setting and plays the important role of creating a personal, intimate space around guests, allowing friends, families and professionals immersed in their own world conversing in delight.

So what is it about music that entices humankind and triggers the sociable behaviour of a person? Research shows that listening to music releases dopamine levels and thereby alters a person’s thoughts, mood and behaviour. All music is essentially a combination of frequencies. Those frequencies enter your brain through your ear, which is the ultimate digital transcription tool. When they enter into your brain they cause certain neurons to fire causing your brain chemistry to change. When brain chemistry changes, so do emotions. That’s how music affects individuals. Combine it with the visual information and human objectives which causes neurons to fire, altering brain chemistry results in impactful emotional experience that perhaps leads to desires actions and behaviours.

Classical music is thought provoking in its essence and often stimulates and kindles emotions of an artistically inclined gathering while the melodies of Jazz are transcended from the African-American communities of New Orleans in United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be heard in old-school pubs. Moreover, the kind of music played at cafes that cater to students or youngadults set the mood through the likes of young artists. The type of music played at spaces often fits the culture of the restaurant; an establishment design in terms of its music, called a ‘musical fit’ is said to accentuate the thematic diversity. 

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