Aug 2, 2007

Volume ControlBy Theunis BatesTime.com

Julian Treasure isn’t happy with what he hears. Standing in a coffee bar in London’s Soho district, he’s forced to raise his voice to list the noises bouncing around the cafe: the rumble of an espresso machine, the hum of a refrigerator and the tinny tones of Michael Jackson through shoddy speakers. To Treasure, it sounds like money slipping away. “The soundscape is brutal,” he says. “You’re not likely to stick around here for a second cup.” As head of the Sound Agency, a consultancy in London, Treasure wants companies to tune in to the realization that making the wrong noise can hurt business. “Sound changes moods,” he explains, “yet most of the sound around us is unplanned.”

It’s long been known that sound can alter emotions and behavior. So why not use it to amplify profits? Treasure’s agency acts like an audio interior designer, removing invasive noises or rescoring unappealing music. It seems simple, but while many businesses have mastered the art of influencing shoppers through sight (with alluring displays) and smell (say, by piping the odor of fresh coffee throughout a store), few have focused on the smart use of sound, says retail psychologist Tim Denison of the British Retail Think Tank. But that’s changing. U.S. firm Muzak used to be the butt of jokes for its bland elevator music, but it now supplies some 400,000 shops, restaurants and hotels around the world–including Gap, McDonald’s and Burger King–with songs tailored to reflect their identity. “What we’re trying to capture is a brand’s essence,” says Bob Finigan, Muzak’s vice president of product and marketing. “We express the intangibles of a brand’s identity–their company values, their position in the market–through the emotional power of music.”

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