The secret sauce for the festive season is a fresh music mix.
80 per cent of Australian venues play Christmas music in November and December (1). Spare a thought for your patrons trudging from shop to shop before (gratefully) dipping into your venue for a cooling spritzer – and All I Want for Christmas has been their soundtrack for five long hours.
How creative are Aussie venues with their Christmas playlists? Not very.
The top festive song last Christmas as picked up on Audoo devices installed in Australian venues was All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey. And the top festive artist? You guessed it: Michael Bublé.
In fact, venues played these on such high rotation that the next most popular Christmas song came in at only 28.7 per cent of the play.
Steps to the ultimate Christmas playlist
1. Get Licensed
No matter where you have sourced your music from, or what you have paid for it, if you play copyright-protected music in your business then you will likely need a music licence or some other form of permission from the copyright owners.
OneMusic issues ‘public performance’ music licences on behalf of music creators from Australia and all around the world.
Even if you’re using Spotify or Apple Music, you’ll need a music licence (or other permission) to play tracks publicly.
2. Don’t overdo the Christmas classics
Yes, Mariah and Bublé are festive royalty — but too much of a good thing can wear thin, especially for your staff.
Mix in festive tracks every third song, and keep things fresh with remixes or lesser-known holiday tunes. Keep it authentic too — if you usually play jazz, find jazzy versions of your favourite carols.
3. Match the music to the mood
Christmas or not, your playlist should reflect your venue’s personality. A French bistro? Cue the accordion. A retro pub? Classic rock. A beachside bar? Reggae or tropical house. Studies show that tailored playlists can boost sales by over 9 per cent, while random ones can actually hurt business.
Need ideas to boost Aussie content? Sounds Australia provides weekly homegrown playlists to help you discover your new favourites and keep it fresh.
4. Take curation seriously, it can make you money
Studies show it influences everything from how long customers stay to how much they spend. In fact, 61 per cent of patrons say they’ll visit a venue just for the music, and 79 per cent will linger longer if the tunes are good. Alternatively, bad music — or none — can drive them away.
Music taps into memory and emotion, subtly shaping the dining experience. Soft tunes encourage lingering, classical music boosts spending, and upbeat tracks increase drink orders and table turnover. It’s not just background noise — it’s a business tool.
Background music suppliers are where the art and science of musical curation come together. These services consider brand identity and help define customer demographics and deliver fresh tracks completely customised to your venue.
5. Have an Audoo device installed – real data, real impact
Audoo’s Audio Meter — installed free in hundreds of Aussie venues, is a small plug-in device that recognises the music you play. The technology fingerprints songs, and that data is securely sent to APRA AMCOS and PPCA. It plays a role in helping the creators of the music you actually play in your venue get their royalties paid.
Find out more at OneMusic’s website.
(1) 81.9 per cent of venues with Audio Meters played Christmas music in Nov–Dec 2024
Source: Audoo 2024 APRA review.
