Impact of Music
Simon Noh

The Impact of Music on the Casino Industry

There is no doubt that music has a significant influence on many aspects of our lives. It helps in creating a suitable atmosphere, and in a few cases boosts the overall health. Plus, various studies have revealed that music can have a significant impact on the gambling behavior. As such, casinos have paid close attention to this research and used it to their advantage.

Read on to know how music has helped the casino industry.

How live music helped the casino industry grow

Before the growth of online casinos, players used to visit a land-based gambling venue or contact a local bookmaker in order to get their gambling fix. While Macau and Las Vegas are undoubtedly the capitals of resort-style gambling venues, other cities like Reno and Atlantic City also offer a similar experience on a smaller scale. And what do these places have in common? Music and live shows.

The reason why casinos feature music and host live shows is because gambling wasn’t enough to attract players in the early days. Hence, casino operators started focusing more on what goes at their resorts as compared to the gambling tables, which led to the creation of today’s gambling venues – with something for everyone and music at the core.

The effect of low tempo music

One of the most popular genres associated with the land-based gambling venues of the 1950s and 1960s is lounge music, and it’s still popular among the gambling community today. Lounge’s subtle accents and easy-going sounds have great appeal to casino goers, as it provides a background sound that induces peacefulness and increases the player’s concentration.

Today, casinos mostly play lounge music in the daytime – when a more relaxed environment is required. Other popular genres of slow-paced music at most gambling venues include blues and jazz, as well as melodic piano songs.

What music do online casinos use?

When gambling in a brick and mortar casino, players have to play a wide variety of games in one-setting. Hence, the music cannot accompany in the same way as with online casino games. Most internet casinos feature a variety of games, which use different types of music. You may hear fast paced music for a frantic game, while a slower pulse or a lighter rhythm is usually associated with a relaxed gameplay mode.

How music could affect your gamble

While music has played a major role in attracting people to gambling, it could also affect how much you gamble. A lot of research has been done on the effect of various genres on human behavior, and this has helped casino operators make changes to what is played in the background – to attract players and generate more revenue.

An empirical investigation by Dixon, Trigg and Griffiths has found that faster music can make people bet more quickly. While the music speed in the test didn’t affect the stakes players bet with, it did make them bet more quickly. On the other hand, slower music tends to slow down the betting speed.