How can you enhance music in your salon?
Anyone who has ever had a haircut or beauty treatment may have experienced the annoyance of low quality speakers playing poor quality music, alongside the noise of cutting scissors and hairdryers. While at the salon, a customer will usually want some time to relax, sit back and enjoy their treatment. So when music is used correctly, it can act as a very powerful marketing tool.
Using music effectively within your salon may sound simple. However, salons are nothing like recording studios. They are often one of the hardest places to control acoustics as the room commonly includes obstacles associated with the worst environments for sound systems.
Record producer and sound expert at PRS for Music, Steve Levine has compiled a list of problematic areas common in salons. There are many ways in which you can enhance the sound with just a few adjustments to your set up:
Problem:
Rectangular spaces with flat walls are very common in salons. Large corners can create ‘bass traps’ where low frequencies are accentuated in the music. The results make it more difficult to hear music evenly.
Solution:
Soft furnishings can alleviate unwanted frequencies in the music. You may even want to try hanging curtains or placing plants in the corners of the room to break up the sound waves.
Problem:
Are your stylists’ workstations / benches so far from where the music is played (the speakers) that the music can barely be heard by your staff and customers?
Solution:
Is it possible for your speakers to be closer to stylist workstations? Perhaps you could use multiple speakers and place them strategically throughout the room? It is better to use multiple speakers, which distribute the music around the room, rather than just one or two blasting out a louder sound in one particular area.
“There are many very cheap and simple ways in which salon owners can enhance their music quality,” says Levine. “Sometimes the issues lie with the equipment and other times the quality of music being played or the way the room is decorated and furnished can affect the way it sounds. Small tweaks can potentially make a huge impact on the popularity of your salon — through music.”
For more tips like this, please go to: www.prsformusic.com/customerportal
