Manila, January 2018 — “It’s a pretty simple argument,”
Eric Flanagan points out, sipping his coffee straight up
black while we’re in this coffee shop in Makati City,
Philippines. “Commune does it pretty well,” the filmmaker
adds. Eric is an American director, writer, and professor who
has been residing in Manila for a couple of years now and
finds one detail in local coffee shops that is often overlooked.
No, it’s not the coffee quality or the interiors. It’s one of those
miniscule details that have such a huge effect: the music. shop” which does remind you of your typical coffee shop.
There’s some indie folk in there, some mellow jazz, and
sure, a decent cover of some Top 40 Hit. “It’s almost like
they all copied off each other,” he rolls his eyes. However,
the director sees Spotify as a “net positive because it
connects you to the new stuff and it helps you create.” It’s
all in the hands of the cafe owners and managers on how
they can use it to help design an environment further, not
just hitting you visually but also emotionally.
Coffee and Creating an Atmosphere
In a city where coffee is considered fuel by some and sacred
to even more, coffee shops aren't just places to get your
caffeine fix. Cafés are spots, happy places, respites from busy
city living. They are places to unwind, somewhere to finish
a paper, or have a first date in.
You see the interiors. You inhale the scent of roasted
beans. You touch the suede chairs. You taste the coffee.
You hear one of Taylor Swift’s ultra poppy songs from
Reputation. No, there is nothing wrong with the new Taylor
but, yes, there is a disconnect.
It’s great that more local businessmen are noticing the
importance of creating a visual ambiance. So you have better
and well-designed spaces, the perfect backdrop to your
mochaccino. However, it shouldn’t stop there. While cafe
owners value what pendant lamp to match with that accent
chair, they sometimes forget that playing the Top 40 will
not make sense with their aesthetic. “It’s a sloppy marriage of
what you see and what you hear,” Eric adds. Hang the DJ
Some coffee shops and restaurants actually care to curate
their playlists. Eric cities restaurants and cafes in New York
and other places in the world will actually pay DJs to create a
playlist for them, and for different times of the day.
Locally, Sunnies Café does this. They have a playlist for
the morning, afternoon, and night—all available on Spotify.
Because obviously, the music you’d want to hear while
drinking coffee will be different from the music you’d want
to hear over a Skinny Bitch sangria.
For the Love of 80s Night
However, the argument stands be it in a café, a fashion store,
or a jewelry shop. You wouldn’t play some Frank Sinatra in
Salad Stop or Chance the Rapper in Yardstick. Music, with
or without lyrics, will affect your mood and experience of a
space. “In places like New York, where there’s so many bars,
there’s not a huge difference from bar to bar. If you turn
on all the lights, all those places look the same, the fucking
liquor selection is the same, everything's the same. But you
go to one bar over the other because it’s 80s night here, or
it’s reggae night there, or it’s a lounge bar that plays jazz. It's
the experience of the music that is different. And that’s proof
that music is important,” Eric points out.
The Starbucks Effect
Eric cites Starbucks as one of the chains who see the
value in curating playlists. “I’m sure they have a whole
department dedicated to it,” he states. And yes, the
world's largest coffee chain has Holly Hinton and David
Legry curating their music for almost 20 years now. If
you think about it, how many times have you gone to
a Starbucks and wondered “what song is playing?” If
you have, then Holly and David have done their jobs
successfully. The music curators shared in an interview
that their goal is that moment you ask yourself what
that song’s title is. Luckily, Starbucks has partnered with
Spotify so you can track the song title and who sang it.
Music Matters
While there is no study that proves a cafe playlist can boost
sales, it can help a café deliver on that experience they want
customer to feel. While one can argue that people flock to
cafés because of the coffee, most local coffee shops are actually
supplied by the same roasters. What makes you want to go
to one is probably the good reviews and the interiors. What
makes you stay can be a good conversation or a deadline
you’re racing. But what makes you feel the space is the music.
“The musical experience of a place should be taken as
seriously as any design element and irresponsible not to do
it,” Eric cites. “When you go into a space and you're trying
to create an experience, music is the most emotional way to
connect with people—immediately!” the director expounds.
The Coffee Shop Playlist Syndrome
“It’s as if Spotify had a playlist called third wave coffee shop
and they're all playing that,” Flanagan adds and even cites
shops that play the same music. If you check Spotify right
now, there actually is a playlist called “your favorite coffee
Follow Pat @littlemissteapat and visit littlemissteapat.com for her insights on life, design, and food.
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