Mood Music

We all know how important ambiance is for a restaurant. I’d like to know what music you prefer hearing when going out for a meal. I prefer live entertainment but in an intimate setting. I don’t want the music to be in the background. I want it to be part of my experience. Let me know what your preferences are and, if you dare, a little bit about yourself as well (age, sex, food and dining preferences, geographic location, etc.).

Tags: ambiance, entertainment, mood, music, preference

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Permalink Reply by Matt Urdan on April 5, 2008 at 8:05pm

Jeff, I like the music you've uploaded. I also like the music I've uploaded.

Different settings deserve different music. When I head to a movie theatre--I love Oscar winning music in the background--The Titanic Soundtrack, The Grease Soundtrack, Disney Soundtracks. When I go to a place like Applebee's, I expect the music to be energetic and up beat. When I go to a coffee house or island-themed restaurant I expect to hear the music you have uploaded on your page plus Jimmy Buffet and soft classic rock from the 50s, 60s, and 70s with some new age mixed in. When I go to a chinese restaurant I expect to hear oriental-themed music. When I'm in a hotel or shopping market I expect to hear elevator versions of my favorite music.

Anywhere I go I love to hear my favorite music, but sometimes it's out of place. Driving across Alaska in the middle of January or across Kansas in the middle of July, ABBA and Fleetwood Mac sound great. But probably not on a romantic dinner in a fine dining establishment where elegant jazz, easy listening or classical is more important.

I'm a white Jewish 43-old male with a broad range of dining preferences. I live in Western North Carolina, but I'm from the burbs of metro Detroit and spent my first 35 years in that major metropolitan area.

Great topic!

Cheers!

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Permalink Reply by Tiki Jeff on April 5, 2008 at 8:48pm

Matt, thanks for the input. We are alot alike. On my way to events, I like to play music that gets me primed for whatever I'm about to see or do.

The reason I asked such a general question is to get an idea of what type of entertainment I would like to have other than the music I've uploaded. I'm always looking to give the people what they want. It makes for better business. I know out here we have quite a few country fans. I used to be heavily into country but not so much lately. However, because of their interest, I was thinking I'd have Paniolo (Island Cowboy) night.

Now that you've commented, I'm sure I'll get quite a few more. You seem to be the master networker of FohBoh. Thanks for being my friend.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Urdan on April 6, 2008 at 7:04am

It's my pleasure Jeff...I love country too, but every 3-5 years there seems to be a change or evolution in the genre. I loved pretty much all country from 1993-2000, but lately,not so much other than Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Emerson Drive, but I guess they swung too close to pop and now they're more "traditional country". It's a pendulum. When it swings back, I'll listen to country again.

Thank you very much for your kind words. When I choose to do something, I want to do it right, that's all. If this site is worth participating on, it's worth putting effort into it. I don't know how much of a master networker I am, I just try and contribute my best.

And it's my pleasure. You can never have too many friends. The feelings are mutual.

Have an awesome day!

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Permalink Reply by Matt Urdan on April 6, 2008 at 10:07am

Great comments, Zurk!I Unfortunately, more and more restaurants are getting away from the custom create-your-own CD mix. I used to love going into restaurants with this unique atmosphere, but so many have switched to generic satellite pumped in music. It's easy. It's cost effective. It takes one more element out of the equation, but I see it like the malling of America with a Foot Locker and McDonald's on every corner. You lose the local color and flavor.

Cheers!

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Permalink Reply by Tiki Jeff on April 6, 2008 at 10:40am

Matt, I agree but it seems more like the malling of the world. I suppose that will be good for me when we begin to open other locations. Got to get the flagship open first though. TJ

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Permalink Reply by Tiki Jeff on April 6, 2008 at 10:35am

Zurk, Thank you so much for your input. Like Matt, you are confirming my gut instincts. Because I plan on being open at 5AM for the coffee commute crowd until 3AM for the bar rush crowd, I have a music plan that goes from Jazz Standards, to Surf, to Polynesian, to Latin Jazz, to 70's Rock, to Swing, to Exotica and back to Jazz Standards, based on the time of day and the demographics of the crowd. I don't know if I can do all that with satellite. If you know of a specific company that might be able to provide that service, please let me know. Eventually, I only want to play the music that has been performed live in my lounge. I may even webcast the playlist. Mahalo, TJ

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Permalink Reply by Matt Urdan on April 6, 2008 at 5:01pm

You know, with mp3s, you can copy music, download, burn it from CDs you buy and establish as many playlists as you want all on your computer. It's quite possible to program your computer to switch playlists depending on the time of day. Or you can do it manually on the cheap with a program like Roxio. Just hook up the computer to your sound system and you're off! All the music is right there. Hell, at work, I just open my FohBoh page and play the 100 songs I've uploaded in random shuffle, or the music on other FohBoh member's pages. If you have 40+ songs on a given page, you're giving yourself 3+ hours of music. I have a full day's worth of non-repeating music on my FohBoh page alone. On your own computer, you're not limited to 100 songs.

Why spend money on a satellite system that is easily disrupted by the weather when you can run it off your back office computer?

Cheers!

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Permalink Reply by Tiki Jeff on April 6, 2008 at 5:59pm

We're a little closer to Hollywood than you are. I don't know what the rules are anymore and I don't want to upset the applecart, if you know what I mean. The reason satellite was supposed to be advantageous is that they pay the required royalties. What did Island Jimmy's do?

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Permalink Reply by Matt Urdan on April 6, 2008 at 7:25pm

We played Jimmy Buffet pretty much 24-7, along with other island music that we actually had perform live. You know the drill--they play live, they sell their CDs. We bought CDs and they were in the 5 CD stranger along with Beach House on the Moon and a few other Buffet Classics.