The Airport That Has a Sound: How Music Defines the Identity of Modern Terminals

A terminal is not neutral: every sound says something

When you arrive at an airport, your brain is already processing signals before you read a sign or spot a store. The scale of the space, the echo of footsteps, the hum of the crowd, and above all the music playing in the background are all building a perception of place in real time. The question is not whether sound communicates something. The question is whether the airport — or the brand behind it — is being deliberate about it.

For decades, the answer was no. Music in terminals was generic, interchangeable, ignorable. Today, the world's top-rated airports treat it as a brand asset just as strategic as their architecture or wayfinding. And the data backs that decision.

The evidence behind sound: dwell time and revenue

The connection between music, dwell time, and spending is not intuition; it is the subject of academic research. A 2024 study published in the Journal of Air Transport Management, analyzing data from 89 U.S. airports, found that a 10% increase in passenger dwell time implies a 5% increase in non-aeronautical revenue. More specifically, a 10% increase in dwell time is associated with an 8% increase in food and beverage revenue, and a 6% increase in retail.

This matters because passenger dwell time is a critical commercial metric for airports, and music can influence how comfortable travelers feel while spending time in retail areas, lounges, and food courts. The sonic atmosphere is not cosmetic: it is a revenue lever.

Research in retail and hospitality also shows that environmental factors such as music affect the consumer's emotional state, which in turn produces behavioral changes — both positive ones, such as approaching, buying more, and staying longer, and negative ones. Sound drives behavior.

The airports that figured it out first

The most frequently cited cases in the industry are no longer theoretical. They are concrete terminals that made deliberate musical choices and turned them into brand identity.

• Changi Airport, Singapore: Changi commissioned a piano composition created specifically for its giant digital waterfall. The piece, by Canadian composer Jean-Michel Blais, transforms a visual installation into a multisensory experience. Several times an hour, the water changes shape in choreographed sync with that original composition. This is not background music: it is the sonic signature of one of the world's most award-winning airports.
• Detroit Metro Airport: Detroit's airport plays Motown hits in the tunnel connecting its terminals. A genre born in that city, turned into a declaration of local identity. Every passenger in transit hears, within just a few steps, where that airport comes from.
• Nashville International Airport: Nashville's airport has five stages that host more than 800 performances a year, ranging from country musicians to jazz combos. The coherence is perfect: a city that lives for music projects that identity from the moment a traveler arrives.
• Heathrow, London: Heathrow built a stage to showcase emerging British artists for the first time in 2024. The program was so successful that the airport plans to repeat it in 2025.
• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: Punta Cana International Airport welcomes passengers with live merengue music. The destination starts communicating before the traveler even steps outside the terminal.

In all of these cases there is a common thread: the musical choice is not random. Music is most effective when it aligns with the architecture, cultural identity, and brand positioning of the airport. Sonic congruence reinforces the sense of place and makes the environment feel intentional, not generic.

Smart curation: beyond the generic playlist

The shift in thinking is technological as well. Technology is allowing background music to be less generic and more tailored to specific locations or times of day. Mood Media develops playlists aimed at business travelers or families depending on who is in the airport at a given moment.

This means that calmer music can be programmed for security lines, and something more energizing for duty-free shops. Music is not a fixed block: it is a tool that is modulated according to context, time of day, and passenger profile. As Mood Media's own head of the division puts it: "We see it as a soundscape."

This dynamic curation approach is exactly what separates airports with a strong sonic identity from those that simply "put on some music." The difference between the two is not a matter of budget; it is a matter of strategic intent.

When music is the voice of the brand: the Arajet case

The trend is not limited to the terminal. Airlines are also using sound as an extension of their brand identity, and in Latin America there is a concrete and recent example.

Arajet, the Dominican low-cost airline, reinforced its commitment to the country's cultural identity by incorporating a unique musical experience on board. Passengers are welcomed and seen off with original merengue and bachata pieces, composed exclusively for the airline, as a way of conveying the joyful, vibrant essence of the Dominican Republic.

Upbeat arrangements are played during daytime flights, while slower versions create a serene atmosphere on overnight flights. This is not about randomly playing Dominican music: it is a sonic identity system with contextual logic, designed in exactly the same way as the ambiance of a high-end commercial space.

Across Latin America, visual identity has historically taken center stage, which is why sonic branding represents a significant step toward a more integrated approach that allows brands to engage the senses more fully. Music is becoming a differentiating asset as relevant as a logo or a brand name.

What airports teach the rest of the commercial world

Air terminals are large-scale ambiance laboratories. They manage flows of thousands of people with very different emotional profiles — anxiety over flights, excitement about vacations, exhaustion from layovers — and they have to make that space work for everyone at the same time. The lessons that emerge are directly applicable to any commercial space.

The first: coherence between sound and place identity is what turns music into a brand. Detroit sounds like Motown because Detroit is Motown. A Peruvian restaurant should sound different from a Japanese one — not because "it's more authentic," but because the sound is communicating something about who you are and who you are for.

The second: time-based segmentation matters. The passenger moving through at 7 a.m. is not the same as the one waiting at midnight. The customer who comes into a cafe for a solo breakfast is not the same as the group that stops in during mid-afternoon. Music that works for one can be invisible or irritating to the other.

The third: music that is commissioned or specifically curated creates value that a generic playlist cannot replicate. Studies cited by Harvard Business School explain that music can increase recall of a commercial experience by as much as 30%, as long as it is aligned with the brand's symbolic and emotional universe. Alignment is the operational key.

At Mystify Radio we work from exactly that logic: human curation that understands the business, combined with technology that adapts the sound to the moment. It is not about playing music. It is about building the sonic version of your brand, and making sure that version sounds consistent every time someone walks into your space.

Airports have already learned that lesson. The rest of the commercial world is starting to catch on.