WHITNEY HOUSTON On Aisle 3 - music marketing in retail stores - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, Oct 18, 1999 by Terry Barnes

Pumping current hits directly into retail helps enhance consumers' shopping experience.

Only in the past 30 years has music played in stores been linked to the behavior of shoppers. Supermarket studies were among the first to provide solid evidence that playing music in stores resulted in shoppers staying longer and spending more. But there was no evidence that shoppers wanted to buy the music they heard. And, until recently, getting music exposure outside of radio and video shows wasn't a record-company priority, either. But now labels are seeing the benefits of getting music played in stores frequented by music fans--specifically teens.

"If someone hears a song in a store, that's an early impression that can juice up radio play," Paul Orescan, VP and marketing director for MCA Records, recently told the Wall Street Journal. The same month, Whitney Houston's upcoming single, "It's Not Right, But It's Okay," was being played at the Old Navy retail clothing chain--even though Arista Records hadn't started pitching the single to radio. And, in July, a new song by MCA duo Melky Sedeck hit radio for the first time. But the teenage girls shopping at Contempo Casuals and Wet Seal stores had been hearing the debut single for more than a month, thanks to programmers hired to pick the perfect music for their clientele.

AEI Music Network Inc. is one of the leading foreground-programming companies--and the first to program original-artist music (as opposed to anonymous instrumentals). The firm maintains more than 1,000 "soundscapes" (music formats) for its various clients.

"Each store has a brand image, and what we try to do is represent that image in music," says Rischel Granquist, head of retail programming for AEI. On staff are programmers around the world, with backgrounds ranging from entertainment and psychology to finance and homemaking. Their job is to match music to retail environments. And occasionally the match is so good that hit songs are uncovered. But that's not the programmers' intentions.

MATCHING SONG TO ENVIRONMENT

"We use music to differentiate one store from another to the consumer," says Barry Knittel, president of AEI Music Markets Worldwide. "And we can use our contacts at record labels to find specific artists whose sound best suits a particular store. So when a label comes to us and says, 'We're looking to break a certain artist,' and they may be pushing one song at radio, we look at second and third tracks for our stores." AEI doesn't often program the big, current hit singles in their stores, because those aren't the tracks that will differentiate the store. In the case of the Whitney Houston track, AEI's programming staff had already selected the song for certain types of retail environments. That it later became a single was a coincidence.

Programmers also set up special events that tie retailers in with recording artists. "Our first contact with AEI was to supply music for airlines' in-flight programs," recalls Karen Sherlock, marketing consultant for Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Records and former senior VP of Motown. "Later, they offered us tie-ins with their clients, including a Johnny Gill event at a high-profile men's store and a program to promote Motown's 30th anniversary at selected restaurants."

Foreground music may also meet the musical needs of the aging baby boomers, whose tastes are largely ignored by radio programmers and video shows. "Soundscapes in stores and restaurants are one of the few ways that people over 40 can discover new artists," says Granquist.