The term “enterprise” can mean almost anything when it's applied to a business. In a way, it's a synonym for the word “business.”

But when we're talking about an enterprise business, we're typically talking about a company that has a central location with several outposts. It's a very big organization that's spread across many different locations. If you own a business like this, you face unique challenges that the right music might help you to address.

Understanding Enterprise Challenges

It's no secret that businesses of all shapes and sizes are struggling to find and retain good employees. In fact, in a survey conducted by The Conference Board, 80 percent of respondents felt that they'd need to use nontraditional employees (freelancers or short-term employees) to meet employment demands in the future.

Nontraditional employees like this can be a boon for an enterprise business. You can staff up when you need to do so, and you can scale back when your needs change. You might also use employees like this to help you lift a big project off the ground (like a website design), and then step away from these employees when the project is complete. A savvy manager can use this workforce in order to stay nimble and relevant.

But an ever-changing employee roster can be disastrous for your brand. In a study published in the Annals of Tourism Research, scientists interviewed 378 customers and tried to identify key factors that influenced brand equity. They found that physical location was important, but customers also cited staff behavior as a key factor in their understanding of a brand.

Indoctrinating new employees into your brand isn't always easy. They need to read up on your history and your goals, and they may need to interact with star employees to understand how your values are embodied by your workers. It takes time for all of this learning to take hold.

Managers, including top management, may be required to step in and intervene to ensure that the brand is presented consistently by all employees in all locations, and that's an issue. In Harvard Business Review, top managers reported that attending to day-to-day business while thinking and planning strategically was a top concern.

When you're consistently training and managing employees, in order to help them represent your brand, you may not have the time or energy left over to push your brand forward.

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The Role of Music

The music you play in shared work environments and customer-facing spaces can help you address this key branding issue.

Choose the right music, and it can:

  • Work subliminally to help new employees understand your culture.
  • Help tie disparate locations together under one soundtrack.
  • Motivate your employees to work more efficiently.
  • Persuade your customers to spend more money.

Think of it this way. When your branding documents were put together for your business, you probably settled on a font for your documents, colors for your logos, and décor for your locations. This branding document was designed to unify all of your locations, giving your customers a consistent experience, no matter where they were within your organization.

That consistency is key to good branding, say experts writing in Forbes. Consumers expect the same experience from location to location if they are interacting with the same brand.

Your music choices should work in the same way. Your consumers and your employees should hear the same sounds whether they're in one of your locations in Seattle, Houston, or Orlando. This unifying force helps to support your brand.

What Music Should You Play?

Now that you understand why music can help and why a consistent playlist from location to location is vital, let's dig into music choices.

When researchers writing for the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services discussed music, they focused on congruency. The more the music matched the product or the experience, the higher consumers rated the quality of service and the environment they were in.

That means the music you choose should somehow explain or relate to your brand, your products, or your market. The closer the match, the more successful your business is likely to be.

For example, if your enterprise business could be defined as:

  • Technologically savvy, your music choices should be somehow computerized and modern. deadmau5, Wolfgang Gartner, and benny benassi be just right for you.
  • Luxurious, a classical playlist, heavy on Mozart and Beethoven, could help your customers to think about something that is sophisticated.
  • Alternative, a playlist that's heavy on Steven Halpern or David Arkenstone could be perfect if you're running companies that focus on yoga, massage, or Eastern medicine.
  • American, a country playlist featuring Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, or Brad Paisley could be just right.

Playlists

1. Tech: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4vduoywFJ6pFkxCYqouA75?si=P5vhvybtSKGA39Itxneo4w

Song: Blame (feat. John Newman) - Jacob Plant Remix

Artist(s): Calvin Harris, John Newman, Jacob Plant

Song: Blind Heart - Radio Edit

Artist(s): CAZZETTE, Terri B!

Song: Never Touch The Ground - Radio Edit

Artist(s): Gazzo, Y LUV

Song: Bay Breeze

Artist(s): FortyThr33

Song: California

Artist(s): Marc May

Song: Be Mine

Artist(s): Ofenbach

Song: Blitz

Artist(s): Digitalism

Song: Break My Heart

Artist(s): Yuksek, Monika

Song: BULLETS

Artist(s): KAYTRANADA, Little Dragon

Song: Byte

Artist(s): Martin Garrix, Brooks

2. Luxurious: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4NfcvlyEagX4PPEv0NqAsE?si=xQnqHmz9Qg6EhcfeYgztjw

Song: 3 Pièces pour orchestre, Op.96: Valse Lyrique, Op.96a (version for orchestra)

Artist(s): Jean Sibelius, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam

Song: Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 "Italian": III. Con moto moderato

Artist(s): Felix Mendelssohn, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic

Song: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, TH 30 "Pathétique": II. Allegro con gracia

Artist(s): Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons

Song: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163: III. Allegretto grazioso

Artist(s): Antonin Dvořák, Bamberg Symphony, Jakub Hrůša

Song: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob. VIIb:1: II. Adagio

Artist(s): Franz Joseph Haydn, Sol Gabetta

Song: Elgar: Chanson de matin, Op. 15 No. 2

Artist(s): Edward Elgar, Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra

Song: String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11: II. Andante cantabile

Artist(s): Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich Quartet

Song: String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387: III. Andante cantabile

Artist(s): Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Juilliard String Quartet

Song: An der schönen blauen Donau, Op.314

Artist(s): Johann Strauss II, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Song: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048: III. Allegro

Artist(s): Johann Sebastian Bach, David Parry, London Philharmonic Orchestra

3. Alternative: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4HJ9siOT3DekAmpQAyRAaj?si=r3X-HU59Rz2alazyDW3DZQ

Song: Comfort Zone I--With Subliminal Suggestions for Relaxation - Electric Piano and Strings

Artist(s): Steven Halpern

Song: Distant Harmony

Artist(s): David Arkenstone

Song: Ease and Release

Artist(s): Roger Saint-Denis

Song: Ethereal Breath

Artist(s): Carlyle Fraser

Song: A Koan From Hugh

Artist(s): Will Ackerman

Song: Amid the Stillness

Artist(s): Robert Linton

Song: An Ending (Ascent) - Remastered 2005

Artist(s): Brian Eno

Song: Between the Lines

Artist(s): Drifting in Silence

Song: Anahata

Artist(s): Jessita Reyes, Ben Tavera King & Native Flute Ensemble

Song: Krishna

Artist(s): Asian Meditation Music Collective

4. American: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2akBoB5GpzMNYEEeyghJmp?si=6Gf6b7QmRGek4EVfbj6E5A

Song: Timeless

Artist(s): Dallas Smith

Song: Catch

Artist(s): Brett Young

Song: Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time

Artist(s): Thomas Rhett, Little Big Town

Song: Good Thing

Artist(s): Keith Urban

Song: I'll Name the Dogs

Artist(s): Blake Shelton

Song: Unforgettable

Artist(s): Thomas Rhett

Song: That's Why I Love Dirt Roads

Artist(s): Granger Smith

Song: What You See Is What You Get

Artist(s): Luke Combs

Song: You're On

Artist(s): Michael Ray

Song: Blown Away

Artist(s): Carrie Underwood

Licensing Is Vital

Once you've settled on your music, you'll need to find a vendor that can support you on an enterprise basis. Each time you play a song in one of your locations, you need to pay a fee to the copyright holders of that song. Each time you don't pay for that right to play, you could get hit with a fee. Playing music without a license could cause you to rack up such high fees that you'll go out of business.

We can help. At Cloud Cover Music, we can help you choose the right music for your business.

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We've negotiated contracts with the major copyright holders of music, so you'll be able to play the music you want without worrying about fees or lawsuits. Our interface is easy to use, so you won't have to spend a lot of time training employees. And we can get you set up in minutes. Contact us to find out more.

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