To get the most out of in-store music, locations can benefit from a practice called “dayparting.” This is essentially segmenting a day into different sections based on time of day. It can help a business fine-tune the mood they set in a location.
By curating music in this way, you can match your playlists to the overall vibe of the time of day. This can better accomplish your business goals, as you tailor music to the general traffic at that time.
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What Is Dayparting?
Dayparting is the practice of breaking up a day into segments and then treating those segments differently for the purpose of playing music (or other types of content). It’s an excellent practice for a business to adopt, as the musical needs and desires of customers are likely to change over the course of a day.
As an example, consider a business that opens very early. If customers are visiting early in the morning, loud, high-energy music may be very off-putting, even if those same people might like that type of music later in the day.
Why Dayparting Works (The Science & Customer Psychology)
Dayparting works because people can generally be expected to follow certain patterns of behavior based on the time of day. Behavior can be influenced by music, but the expected baseline of how a person acts and feels needs to be accounted for.
Generally, people may still be waking up and somewhat irritable in the morning, ready for the day in the afternoon, and getting tired at night.
Basically, a business should account for the expected customer profile of an individual visiting at a given time. As that profile shifts over the course of a day, so should the music being played to best fit what makes sense for the average visitor.
5 Distinct Time Blocks
A 2021 study revealed the types of music people prefer tends to vary based on “five distinct time blocks corresponding to morning, afternoon, evening, night and late night/early morning.”
How Dayparting Works
Conceptually, dayparting is fairly simple. A business breaks up the day into segments (often, but not necessarily, three to five). They then identify the average customer profile of individuals visiting at those times, customizing the music played at the relevant times to fit those profiles.
Segmenting Music Choice by Time of Day
This table illustrates what a dayparting schedule might look like for a small restaurant location.
The business has identified what sort of customers and traffic flow they can expect at five different time periods as well as the sort of music they want to play to appeal to those customers and achieve any broad objectives they may have for that particular period of time.
| Time of Day | Customer Profile & Behavior | Recommended Music Type | Business Objective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning (7 - 11 a.m.) | Early birds and regulars | Calm, moderate tempo, familiar hits | Set a welcoming tone |
| Midday (11 a.m. - 2 p.m.) | Lunch goers | Up-tempo, lively, recognizable tracks | Energize the environment, maintain turnover |
| Afternoon lull (2 - 5 p.m.) | Slow browsers | Moderate tempo, comfortable, familiar music | Increase dwell time, encourage exploration |
| Early evening (5–8 p.m.) | Families & social groups | Slightly higher tempo,more current hits | Shift to vibrant mood, prepare for night |
| Late evening/night(8 p.m.+) | Young adults & nightlife crowd | High energy, contemporary, trending tracks | Maximize engagement, dwell time, and sales |
Use Cases — What Dayparting Looks Like for Different Businesses
Different types of businesses need to utilize dayparting in different ways. In the example in the below table, a fitness center with morning classes may want a much higher energy morning than is typical.
Their customers will want music to get them excited, even as their bodies are still waking up and a bit groggy.
| Business Type | How to Use Dayparting |
|---|---|
| Restaurants & Food Service | Breakfast service (relaxed), lunch (energetic),dinner (romantic), late night (calming) |
| Fitness Centers & Gyms | Early morning classes (high-energy), midday (steady), evening (social / cool-down) |
| Retail Stores & Shopping Centers | Early hours (relaxed / welcoming), afternoon (energetic / inviting), night (slow / gentle) |
Implementation & Technology
Implementing dayparting and appropriate musical scheduling can be intimidating, but technology has made it much easier than it once was.
For example, Pandora CloudCover allows playlists tied to particular times (adapting appropriately to time zone differences), the splitting of individual locations into zones to play particular music in particular areas, and easy handling of multi-location businesses.
Pandora CloudCover can help with curation, licensing, and monitoring, all tasks that can be time-consuming and potentially expensive to handle on your own.
Best Practices & Tips for Effective Dayparting
There are plenty of best practices to keep in mind to reduce the complexity of dayparting and more effectively deliver the ideal stream of music to customers.
Here are some tips for effective dayparting:
- Assess traffic patterns and analyze the overall tone of different times of day.
- Keep your target audience in mind for each time slot.
- Maintain brand consistency even while varying the mood.
- Monitor customer feedback to assess overall effectiveness of scheduled playlists.
- Ensure transitions between segments are smooth, easing playlists from different energy levels rather than abruptly jumping to different tempos.
- Test new approaches during non-peak hours.
- Coordinate music with the location’s visual environment, service style, and messaging, including in-store announcements and promos.
- Regularly update playlists to avoid listener fatigue.
Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them
These are some of the common pitfalls a business can land in when it comes to playing music:
- Skipping dayparting altogether, with similar music playing all day
- Changing music too frequently or erratically, throwing customers off and causing confusion
- Mismatching music mood with customer profiles, especially playing high-tempo, loud music at odd hours
- Failing to adapt as a location’s needs evolve, such as if your ideal target demographic begins to shift
- Ignoring licensing and contractual terms, opening up a business to legal issues
These mistakes are all easily avoided with planning and the right musical partners. Services like Pandora CloudCover give your business access to properly licensed musical streams that are easily customized and scheduled based on your specific needs.
Our services make automated dayparting easy. You can implement regular messaging between the songs you play, keeping customers aware of any deals and events you might be offering.
How Pandora CloudCover Can Help You Maximize Dayparting
Most companies don’t have the time, resources, and access to appropriate music licenses to easily implement dayparting into their customer experience, especially if they want the music and messages they play to be easily altered as their needs evolve. At Pandora CloudCover, we make it simple.
Our services are easy to use, affordable, and curated to fit your business needs. All the songs you play are fully licensed, so you don’t have to worry about compliance. We offer a free trial, so check out our plans or contact our team directly to get started today.
References
Diurnal Fluctuations in Musical Preference. Royal Society Publishing.
Dayparting Online: Living Up to Its Potential? (September 2004). The International Journal on Media Management.
Music in Business and Management Studies: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda. (March 2023). Management Review Quarterly.