Almost everybody likes music, right? It is something universal. Some like one genre, others several. There are people who associate it with their cultural tradition or others with a social group to which they belong. Others only listen to the music most people listen to. Everyone likes “their” music.

And despite that, many, many brands still forget how valuable it is to work well with it. Or how harmful it is to work badly with it.

And not because they do not have sensitivity. Nor because they do not know that music matters. In fact, the intuition is usually there. Everybody understands, deep down, that music changes the atmosphere, the emotion, the rhythm, the memory and even the perception of the value of an experience. The problem is another one: that many brands continue treating it like a secondary detail, almost decorative, when in reality it is a structural tool of identity, experience and positioning. Music generates identity, atmosphere, bond, it is a language with a life of its own that impacts emotionally like no other and that, when well used, is an enormously powerful strategic marketing tool.

That is why it is convenient to say it clearly: it is not enough to have taste. It is not enough either to put on “correct” music. And of course it is not enough to open Spotify and choose something that does not bother too much or that goes more or less in line with what you think. But, on what basis are you making that selection?

These are some of the most common mistakes.

1. Thinking that a playlist already solves the problem
Believing that a list of songs is the same thing as your music policy is a mistake. A playlist can be a useful tool at a given moment. But if there is no criterion behind it, it does not stop being an ephemeral solution. Playlists serve to explain musical identity adapted to contexts, create sonic territories and build applied experiences.

2. Leaving music in the hands of the algorithm
There is something sadly common in this business of brand music: delegating everything to automatic playlists, impersonal trends or platform selections designed to please everybody and say nothing. The problem is that the algorithm optimises continuity, not identity. And a brand that sounds like thousands of other spaces is giving up, almost without realizing it, a part of its personality.

What is more, the algorithm is subject to the interests of the streaming company of the moment, increasingly infested with AI-generated music.

3. Confusing personal taste with strategy
That the founder loves nostalgic indie, that the director feels like elegant house or that someone on the team has a great musical culture does not automatically mean that that music is the right one for the project. The question is not “what do I like”. The question is “what does this brand, this space or this experience need to express”.

4. Treating all moments of the day the same
A hotel does not need to sound the same first thing in the morning as at sunset. A restaurant does not ask for the same energy at aperitif time as after the meal or at midday as at dinner. And even more so if we take into account the location and the natural light. A store should not emit the same type of tension or lightness on a Tuesday at eleven as on a Saturday at seven. Every musical decision modifies the overall perception according to the moment, the context, the intensity, the tempo and the narrative.

5. Not thinking about music as part of branding
This is one of the big blind spots. The logo is worked on, the website, the interior design, the tone of voice, the visual strategy, the campaign… and then music appears at the end, almost like an accessory. But if music is an invisible dimension of identity, then it forms part of branding just like any other brand language.

6. Sounding generic even though the rest of the brand is not
There are visually sophisticated brands that sound like a store without criteria. Very well-designed hotels with a flat musical selection. Restaurants with a singular proposal and bossa nova versions of the Beatles in the background. That happens when music is not connected to the real universe of the project and is not thought out. And then the space loses depth and personality without anyone fully knowing why.

7.Not reviewing the music policy
Many brands get it right once and think that is it. But music does not depend on one decision forever. Just as a brand evolves, changes its context, broadens audiences or reorders its positioning, its sonic ecosystem also needs to be reviewed. Every sonic environment must be alive, breathe, evolve and adapt to different spaces, uses and moments.

Working with music is not complicated. It is not advisable to treat it superficially. It has to be thought in its context.

So what mistakes do you think your brand makes?