Background Music for Pharmacies

If you’re a pharmacy owner, you’ve probably experienced that uncomfortable feeling of having conversations with customers without musical background to accompany the experience.

It creates an atmosphere that is too basic, without personality, and very improbable.

This is something that subconsciously gets into the mind of the client, who will associate this unpleasant experience with your brand.

As a conclusion, this fact will be transformed into the loss of clients and their corresponding loss of income.

Luckily, this situation is easy to solve nowadays, since practically any establishment has background music.

In fact, there are studies that ensure that 80% of people who go to a store feel more comfortable if they listen to music while shopping .

Of all of them, more than half say they would return to those establishments.

From this, you can deduce that…

music has a great effect on increasing the profits of a business.

However, you need to be careful when putting music in your pharmacy.

If you play background music from the radio, television or YouTube, you risk being fined in an inspection by the PROs (Performance Rights Organization).

To avoid this type of fines or the high fees of this institution there are companies such as:

Service	Type	Price	Link
SOUNDTRACK YOUR BRAND	Famous and well-known songs	$34.99/month per location	Here
CLOUD COVER MUSIC	Famous and well-known songs	From $16.95/month per location	Here

Why is Background Music Important in Pharmacy?

There are studies that assure that a musicalization that makes the client feel comfortable, improves sales and brand loyalty.

In fact, numbers speak for themselves:

Music is an essential element when it comes to influencing people’s moods.

See if it is fundamental the musical aspect that even many apothecaries have elaborated a strategy of neuromarketing in that sense, choosing a concrete musical genre that always predominates.

But this is not a rule.

There are other pharmacies that prefer to opt for different genres of music depending on the day or time.

In this way, what they will achieve is to connect with different types of customers by creating new sound environments.

However, other factors must also be taken into account so that the brand image you want to convey in your pharmacy is strong and makes a difference in people’s experience.

These factors are:

All these factors, added to the musical background and your kindness as a pharmacist, can subconsciously make a person enter your pharmacy pissed off by its bad day and leave from there happier and calmer, something that will affect their future return to your pharmacy.

What type of pharmacy music is most suitable?

Once you have a clear understanding of why music is important in your pharmacy, it is time to see what type of music is best for your business.

In reality, there is no specific genre or style of music that is right for this type of establishment.

Well, it is true:

The pharmacy is a quiet place and, therefore, the predominant music should be relaxed music.

For this reason, you should keep your sound background away from music that is too fast, loud and strident.

But the musical styles you choose must be aligned with the specific needs and circumstances of your pharmacy.

For example, if your store is located near a health center, where people come out with aches and pains, the music that would best fit would be a quiet type of pop, such as Adele’s song ‘Someone Like You’.

In this way, the patient and potential customer will feel warm and unhurried to leave the store.

Chill-out music also works very well, a kind of relaxed electronic music that subconsciously transmits peace.

Do I have to pay for playing play music at the pharmacy?

In the vast majority of cases yes. The main Performance Rights Organization in each country, (BMI, ASCAP or SESAC in the US, PPL-PRS in the UK…) requires any health center, service or establishment to pay to reproduce any audiovisual content.

In case you didn’t know, the PROs are the private entities dedicated to defending and managing the intellectual property rights of its members.

In other words, this entity is in charge of ensuring that each music creator associated with its platform, whether an author or publisher, receives a reward for the use of their work by a third party.

What if I use YouTube or Spotify?

The vast majority of these platforms are not a valid and legal way to put music for free in your establishment.

Even if you purchase their paid version, their usage policies only allow you to use them for personal or entertainment use and, therefore, not for commercial use.

What if I use a musical thread?

In that case, it would be necessary to review the terms of the contract with your music fund provider.

However, in many cases, when analyzing the intellectual property of the contract, it is possible that it is not properly covered and it will be necessary to pay the PRO’s fee.

Where can I buy legal music for my pharmacy?

There are two ways to legally purchase music for your pharmacy. You already know one of them.

1. PROs

We have already talked about this platform and the canons that it establishes to reproduce music in your establishment.

In fact, the price will vary depending on the square meters that your pharmacy has.

You can check the prices of their licenses on this page (for UK healthcare services).

On many occasions the PRO’s licenses can be somewhat abusive in terms of price and, in addition, they are precisely the ones who perform these inspections we talked about.

Therefore, this is not the best solution to add that sound background you are looking for in your pharmacy.

The solution is to hire platforms specifically designed to put music in commercial businesses or meet the requirements that the law of the PRO’s demands of us.

That is why I’m going to present to you the best online platforms much cheaper and much easier.

2. Soundtrack Your Brand

Soundtrack Your Brand is probably the best tool to manage your pharmacy’s musical environment.

Maybe you don’t know this name, because it has been mistakenly known as “ Spotify for Business “.

But let’s not get confused.

This platform is only related to Spotify in that the Swedish company is a shareholder of Soundtrack Your Brand and both have a collaboration agreement, but they are neither the same nor offer the same possibilities.

Soundtrack Your Brand is characterized by providing its clients with an infinite number of constantly updated playlists, with more than 10,000 music tracks per day, which contain music from well-known artists.

Their service also offers the following facilities:

What are their prices?

Unlike the PROs, Soundtrack Your Brand’s price does not vary.

Its monthly cost is $34.99 per month per store, regardless of the size of the store.

However, this price corresponds to the United States and Canada.

If your pharmacy is in another country, the price may vary.

To be sure of the price that the service will have in your location, we advise you to check it here .

However, there are people who do not want to spend that money without really knowing if this service meets their needs or not. If that’s your case, don’t worry.

Soundtrack Your Brand does not want customers with doubts. For this reason, the platform offers a free 30-day trial without any commitment.

3. Cloud Cover Music

Cloud Cover Music is a platform very similar to Soundtrack Your Brand, which also offers music by famous artists and songs by all acquaintances.

Several different licenses are available but the one that would best meet the needs of your pharmacy is called the ‘Music Plan’.

This license gives you unlimited access to more than 200 online radio stations, all without a single problem when dealing with copyrights.

The only drawback is that this platform is not available to every country in the world.

Only people living in North America – USA and Canada – will be able to enjoy its services.

Cloud Cover Music is offering a 2-week trial period totally free of charge, without the need to provide bank details in advance.

This way, you will be able to test the platform for 14 days without any commitment and you will see if it is the right service for your pharmaceutical center.

How do I use music in my pharmacy: 5 tips that will make the difference

We’ve talked about why music is important in a pharmacy, and which music is the most appropriate, but we haven’t talked about how to use it properly.

So let’s put a solution to this through 5 practical tips that will help you optimize this sound element and improve your results.

Tip #1: Keeping music in the background

The musical element should never be the main actor in your pharmacy.

Rather, it should be considered as an element that enhances the interaction between the customer and your brand.

In fact, motivational psychology experts such as Kurt Mortensen promote that the sound environment should be present but that “customers should not pay attention to music”.

Tip #2: Volume, neither high nor low

The best way to create that sound environment you’re looking for your pharmacy is to have a balance in the volume of the music.

It is true that if you usually get a younger audience – under 25 – the music might be a little louder to get their attention.

However, if your audience includes all ages, it is best to keep the volume right so as not to create an unwanted effect on your customers.

As you know, soft music is usually the one that creates that pleasant environment that invites you to buy.

So don’t forget tip number one and keep it in the background.

Tip #3: Use rather relaxed rhythms

Rhythm matters as much as volume.

If you use sonorous backgrounds at a high intensity, it can subconsciously generate a feeling of stress and impatience in your clients, making the experience inappropriate.

Music with slower rhythms will help keep your clientele relaxed and therefore comfortable spending more time in your pharmacy.

Tip #4: Think of your brand, not your likes

Don’t make the mistake of choosing the music you like best.

Think that what sounds in the background will be the sound image of your pharmacy, in the same way that the logo of your company is the visual image.

For this reason, you don’t want your establishment to lose seriousness when being related to groups or artists such as ACDC, Dj Tïesto or Rosalía.

Remember that the music in your pharmacy is a tool that helps you so that your customers have a good experience.

Tip #5: Motivation is a must

In the same way that you want music to motivate the customer to spend more time in your store and make the purchase, you must also take into account that the same music motivates your staff.

In the end, your employees are the visible face of your business, the same face your customers will see when they leave your pharmacy.

So, if you find a working environment with music they like, they will receive your customers with a positive attitude, improving their experience.

Conclusion

The diffusion of quality ambient music is an added value that is fundamental for a pharmacy.

Selecting the right music can create a better experience for your customers and a greater likelihood of choosing and staying in your store.

In fact, accurate studies in the field of sensory marketing have shown that music can increase average spending from 2% to 10%.

Therefore, your goal as a pharmacist will always be to improve the customer experience by encouraging them to increase their time in your establishment, providing an atmosphere of peace of mind and privacy.

And to achieve this, the perfect element is music.

As you have seen so far, there are two ways to legally add this element:

This is where  Soundtrack Your Brand , comes in, a service that, apart from allowing you to legally play all Spotify music, also allows you total and absolute control of it.

With this platform, you can manage the music of your pharmacy from any device (laptop, smartphone or tablet), program it according to the hours or days of the week, and even use it in several locations, if your brand extends.

However, we recommend that you try it first and see if it really meets the needs of your pharmacy.

To do this, we remind you that Soundtrack Your Brand offers a free 30-day trial that you can purchase at the following button:

We are convinced that it will become your best ally to improve the loyalty of your customers.

To finish, we’ll recommend you visit our related article on how to choose music for medical, dental & Health care offices .