The right music keeps guests around (and orders a second coffee)
From the morning rush to the calm of 3pm, your cafe sounds right all day, with nobody on your team touching the speaker. A licensed catalogue, set once, running on its own.
They stay longer
A warm ambiance in the afternoon means a guest who lingers half an hour more, and one more slice of cake on the ticket. The music does the work without pushing.
Zero hassle
Scheduling by time slot shifts the ambiance on its own: settled in the morning, understated at lunch, cosy at teatime. Nobody has to leave the counter to change the playlist.
Dining room and terrace, each with its own sound
Street noise eats into the sound on a terrace. Manage each zone separately, with its own volume, so neither the room nor the terrace ever sounds off.
Compliant, for real
A catalogue licensed for commercial use, unlike a personal Spotify account that's banned in public venues. You play music with peace of mind, no surprises.
It’s 8:10am. The line stretches in front of the counter, the machine hisses steam, and in the background a slow ballad has been left running since the night before. Nobody complains. Nobody notices it either. That’s exactly the problem: in a cafe, the music decides whether the place breathes in the morning and whether people want to linger at 3pm, but only when it’s set up to do that.
A cafe changes character three times a day
That’s what makes it different. A restaurant has clear-cut services; a cafe drifts from one mood to the next with no sharp break. The same room lives three lives in the same day, and the sound needs to follow:
- The morning rush: people are in a hurry, often alone. Settled music with a pulse, soul, soft pop, a bit of groove, moves with the pace without rushing it. Not too flat (it drags the line down), not too loud (it grates on an empty stomach).
- The mid-morning lull: things calm down, regulars and remote workers settle in. Bring it down a notch, leave some air.
- The afternoon and teatime: the place becomes somewhere to sit again. More warmth, more melody, something that makes people want to stay (and order a slice of cake).
Changing the playlist by hand between orders? Nobody really does that. Scheduling by time slot shifts the ambiance on its own, at the right moment, without pulling the team’s attention away.
Volume: the setting people get wrong most often
Everyone obsesses over style, when the first lever is actually volume. Too loud, and it drowns out conversation, tires out staff who have to repeat every order, and drives away the person who wanted to work for an hour. Too quiet, and every scraped chair becomes the dominant sound, making the place feel empty even when it’s full.
The right level: two people at a table talking normally, without raising their voices. And the habit that changes everything: set the volume sitting in the room, at guest height, not standing at the counter with your ear next to the speaker.
The best sign that a cafe sounds right is when people notice the light, the smell of coffee, the ambiance, but not the music.
The style tells your coffee shop’s story
A specialty coffee bar, a cosy tea room, a lively neighborhood coffee shop: three identities, three different worlds. The style should match what the guest sees and drinks, not the taste of whichever barista last plugged in their phone. Jazz and soul for timeless elegance, folk and indie for a young, bright space, bossa nova and cool electronica for a muted backdrop suited to working. The real test isn’t “does it sound nice,” it’s the consistency between the decor, the coffee served, and what people hear.
That’s exactly what Horra takes care of: playlists built for cafes, scheduling by time slot and by zone (dining room, terrace), a catalogue licensed for commercial use, and audio messages to announce the coffee of the month or a new brunch menu. Set once, it runs on its own, and it shows in every cup served.
Frequently asked questions
What music should you play in a cafe or coffee shop?
Music that supports the room without taking it over: jazz, soul, folk, bossa nova, or soft pop all work well. What matters is matching the identity of the place and letting the energy shift with the time of day. In the morning, something calm with a pulse; in the afternoon, something a little warmer that makes people want to settle in.
Can you use a personal Spotify account in your cafe?
No. Spotify, Deezer, or Apple Music subscriptions are personal contracts whose terms explicitly ban commercial use. They don't cover public performance and don't put you in compliance with public performance royalty rules. A cafe needs a B2B solution with a catalogue licensed for venues.
Should the music change depending on the time of day?
Yes. The breakfast rush, the mid-morning lull, and the cosy afternoon don't call for the same energy. Scheduling by time slot shifts the ambiance automatically, with nobody on the team needing to touch the speaker mid-service.
How do you manage the same sound identity across several coffee shops?
With a multi-site solution, you control every location from one place: the same musical direction everywhere, settings by zone, updates managed centrally. Each cafe keeps a consistent ambiance without every team improvising with their own phone.
Ready to bring sound to your cafés & coffee shops?
Horra handles the music, the messages and compliance, in minutes.
Try it today