Most brands think they have a music strategy.
They have a playlist.
There’s a difference. A big one. And understanding it starts with recognizing that sonic identity isn’t a single decision — it’s a progression. Three distinct layers, each building on the last. Most brands never get past the first.
Here’s how to know where you are — and what it takes to move forward.
Layer 1: Background Music
Something’s playing. Nobody picked it with intention. Nobody owns it. It’s just… on.
This is where most hospitality brands live. And it’s why so many guests walk through the door, spend an hour in the space, and feel nothing they can articulate — because the music wasn’t designed to make them feel anything specific. It was an afterthought.
I walk into branded spaces all the time where this is evident. The music is either clearly someone’s personal taste, a default streaming station, or whatever the person working that shift felt like playing. It doesn’t reflect the brand. It doesn’t reinforce the space. It just fills the silence.
How does a brand end up here? In my experience it’s rarely one thing. It’s usually a tripod of problems working together:
No directive from leadership. Music hasn’t been identified as a brand priority so nobody has defined what it should sound like, feel like, or accomplish.
No operational systems. There’s no framework, no policy, no training that tells staff what to play, when to play it, or why it matters.
Tools that make it too easy for anyone to run the room. When all it takes is a phone and an AUX cord, personal taste fills the vacuum that strategy left empty.
The fix isn’t “change the playlist.” It’s addressing all three legs of that tripod simultaneously. Pull one leg and the whole thing falls.
Layer 2: Programming
Now we’re thinking.
Daypart arcs. Venue personality. Energy flow from open to close. The right tempo at the right time in the right space. Layer 2 is intentional. It works. But it’s still execution without identity.
To get here you need that tripod in place — because now you’re attempting to adjust the sonic experience based on the journey of your customers throughout the day. That requires a clear directive from leadership about what the brand sounds like and when. It requires operational frameworks to support that directive — training, procedures, policies, accountability. And it requires the right technology to deliver it consistently across every space.
At Virgin Voyages, this is a comprehensive Sonic Bible — a living document that outlines what plays in every space on the vessel, across every daypart, 24 hours a day. Building that document is only half the work. The other half is building the infrastructure to execute it — the equipment, the cabling, the wifi capability, the tech stack that turns a creative brief into a consistent guest experience across dozens of unique spaces.
Layer 2 is where brands start to feel intentional. Guests begin to sense that something is different here — that the music is working with the space rather than against it. But they still can’t name it. The identity hasn’t fully arrived yet.
Layer 3: Sonic Identity
This is where it all comes together.
When the tripod is in place and the programming is running with smoothness and efficiency, something remarkable happens. The music begins to adjust in such a way that nobody notices — but everybody feels it.
A recognizable point of view emerges. One that works across every touchpoint — from the lobby to the pool deck to the closing set at 2am. It’s consistent without being rigid. It evolves through the day without losing its character. Guests can’t name it. They just know this place feels different from anywhere else they’ve been.
That feeling has a name. It’s sonic identity. And it doesn’t happen by accident.
It happens when leadership has defined what the brand sounds like. When operational systems ensure that definition is executed consistently. When the technology exists to deliver it at scale. And when a strategist — not just a curator — is holding all of it together and connecting every musical decision back to what the brand is trying to make people feel.
Where Is Your Brand?
Most brands are at Layer 1 and wondering why guests don’t feel anything. Some have made it to Layer 2 — intentional, programmed, working — but still searching for that point of view that makes them unmistakable. The ones people talk about, return to, and can’t stop recommending? They’re at Layer 3.
The question worth asking isn’t “what should we play?”
It’s “what do we want people to feel — and do we have the tripod in place to make that happen consistently?” If you’re not sure where your brand is, that’s usually a sign you’re at Layer 1. And that’s okay. Every brand starts somewhere. The work is knowing where you are — and understanding what it actually takes to move forward.
Jeremy Larochelle is a sonic identity strategist and Director of Music Strategy & Operations at Virgin Voyages. He helps brands find, define, and execute their sonic identity across every touchpoint.
Ready to find your brand’s sound? Connect with Jeremy.