Setting up a great music system in your office can help change its dynamics and atmosphere.
Here’s what you need to consider when choosing the best music system for your office.
Office Music Systems Need to Be Versatile
While your speakers are primarily designed to play music, you may also use your system to talk with your colleagues. You might need to interrupt the tunes to make an announcement, for example.
You might need your speakers to play at a different volume in one room compared to another. You might also need tight control over an office speaker, so your employees or customers cannot play any song they would like to play.
An office environment can be very tough on a conventional speaker. Your office might be dusty or humid compared to your home. Your speakers might also be on and running all day, seven days a week, while your home speakers might only be running for a few hours each day.
For these reasons, it can be wise to look at systems that are targeted for a business environment. These sets have been designed for heavy use, and they can perform in even difficult or unconventional environments.
They are also made to give you the control you need without a lot of programming, so they will work even if you don't work with electronics for a living.
Speakers & Amplifiers for Offices
According to Crutchfield, you have many options in terms of speakers for your system.
- In-ceiling speakers: These lie flat with your ceiling. They can bathe your space with sound without taking up any space.
- Pendant speakers: These hang from cables on the ceiling, bringing the sound down to your audience.
- Surface speakers: These can hang on almost any wall.
- Indoor/outdoor speakers: These allow you to play music outside of your building.
In addition to speakers, you will also need an amplifier. This piece of machinery takes in the music signal (such as a playlist or radio program) and pushes it to the speakers.
Once you have settled on the speakers you want to be part of your office music system, choose the amplifier that works with those speakers. Often, speakers and amplifiers are sold in sets.
Important Things to Consider When Choosing a Sound System
With so many sound systems on the market, it can be tough to know which one is right for your office. Consider these things before you make your final choice:
Size of your office
The size and quality of your sound system will directly correlate to the size and configuration of your office. A smaller office can get by with a fairly basic sound system, whereas a large, multi-room office will require a more robust system.
The size of your speakers should fit the space. Large speakers can overwhelm a small space, and small speakers won’t be sufficient to fill a very large office.
Sound quality
This is subjective, but a high-quality sound system will balance different tones well and sound natural. If the sound is tinny or harsh, it’s a sign that the system isn’t great.
Ideally, you’ll listen to the sound of various systems before you make a purchase. If you aren’t able to listen in person, read reviews to get an idea of others’ experiences with the system.
Cohesiveness
The amplifier you choose should work well with the chosen speakers. If you don’t purchase your speakers and amplifier as a set, confirm they are compatible before you purchase.
Set up
How you set up the speakers and overall system will influence how sound is distributed throughout your office. It may take some trial and error to get it right.
Best Speaker Placement for Offices
Determining where your speakers should be placed can be a bit of an art.
CNET, for example, has an eight-step process to help people align speakers for a single room filled with just one desk. A typical office environment has many more desks and many more people, so determining where the speakers should go can take time and planning.
In general, according to Crutchfield, it is better to have too many speakers than too few. If you do not place enough speakers throughout the space, you will have zones where the sound is too loud as well as spaces in which the sound is too quiet.
A sound engineer can help you understand where your speakers should be placed, and this professional might also install your system, so you can avoid wiring and electrical hassles. If you don't have extensive experience with electrical installations, this can be a good option.
5 Office Speaker Sets Compared
There are hundreds of different types of speakers you could use to pipe music throughout an office. These are five of the sets we think are optimal for the office environment:
Other Good Office Music System Options to Try
We have focused on speaker systems that could work in very large offices that take up several rooms or even several buildings, but not all offices are this big. In fact, some offices are little more than one room with several workers.
If you run an office like this, you may not need much more than one speaker/receiver combination. There are plenty out there that require no installation or wiring whatsoever. You can simply charge them, place them in your office, and start the music.
One good option, according to the website Tech.Co is the Fugoo Sport. This tiny speaker can play for a whopping 40 hours on a single charge, and it produces robust sound that can fill up an entire room. The speaker is also portable, so if the office crew moves outside for a work party, the tunes can come along too.
Imagine that your office is on a construction site. You may have a trailer to work in, and that space may be somewhat protected from dust and humidity. But that speaker might get pushed aside frequently by your employees, and there may be times that the tunes need to move outside with you.
The JBL Charge 3 is a portable speaker, made to move with you from place to place. It is waterproof rated. It can also connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth, so cords and wires should not be a problem.
This speaker will connect to multiple devices, according to Popular Mechanics, so you will need to ensure that your employees do not take charge and begin to play their own music. But if you're looking for a small speaker you can use in a construction office, this might be the right one for you. When the job is done and your office moves, this speaker can move right along with you, with no demolition or construction required.
What Does It Cost to Add a Music System to My Office?
The cost of an office music system can vary widely, ranging from a couple hundred dollars to $10,000 or more.
Generally, you can get a good office music system for $1,000 to $2,000. The bigger your office space, the more expensive the music system will be.
Make Your Office Music Work
With the right office speakers and the perfect music receiver, you are ready to fill your office with music. Next, you will need to ensure that you have the legal right to play the music you have chosen.
In the U.S., music is protected via copyright. When you play music in your office, even if you are playing music you have purchased for your own personal use, it is considered a public performance. Each public performance requires a payment.
Performing rights organizations (PROs) send scouts into the field, looking for organizations that are playing music without paying the fees they owe. If your business is open to the public, a scout could come walking through your doors and demand payment. You could also see letters coming in the mail with similar demands.
Let Cloud Cover Music Help
We can help. At Cloud Cover Music, we have an entire library of music that is appropriate for office use. You can choose the right mix for your office, and you can set the music that plays through our app.
There are no difficult setup instructions to follow. We make it easy.
We work closely with PROs, and we have negotiated payment schedules with them. This means you will not have to contact each PRO individually and pay them. We do all of that for you. That allows you to simply play the music you want to play without worrying about the details.
Let's talk about the music your office needs. Contact us today.
Sources
- Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Our Heads? (May 2014). Science Friday.
- Commercial Audio Speakers Buying Guide. Crutchfield.
- How to Position Your Speakers Perfectly. (November 2011). CNET.
- In-Wall and Ceiling Speaker Placement and Installation. Crutchfield.
- Low-Profile Ceiling Speakers Designed for Superior Music Reproduction. Yamaha.
- Klipsch Professional. (2017). Klipsch.
- EdgeMax EM90. Bose.
- Four Room Set With Sonos One. Sonos.
- Polk Audio RC80i In-Ceiling Speakers Editorial Review. Audio Review.
- 3 Best Bluetooth Speakers for the Office. (May 2016). Tech.co.
- The Best Bluetooth Speaker for Every Occasion. (August 2018). Popular Mechanics.