An inside look at how The Pearl Room is turning intentional music curation into a competitive advantage, creating memorable experiences, strengthening brand identity, and supporting in-store sales.
In hospitality, every detail contributes to the experience. The lighting, the interiors, the service, the food, and even the music playing in the background influence how guests perceive a space and how they feel throughout their visit.
For The Pearl Room, an oyster bar and cocktail lounge with locations in Bonifacio Global City and Poblacion, Makati, music is more than something to fill the silence. It is an essential part of the atmosphere, helping shape the transition from intimate dinners to lively social gatherings.
Behind this approach is a partnership with Surroundcast, a retail media and in-store music solutions provider helping businesses create more intentional customer experiences through strategically curated sound.
We spoke with Erica, Marketing Head and Consultant of The Pearl Room, about the role of music in hospitality, why the brand partnered with Surroundcast, and how thoughtful sound curation can contribute to customer satisfaction, stronger brand recall, and commercial performance.
Q: Why is music an important part of The Pearl Room's overall customer experience?
Erica: "When people walk into The Pearl Room, they're not just coming in for oysters or cocktails. They're coming in for an experience. Some are celebrating milestones, others are catching up with friends, going on dates, or simply unwinding after a long day.
Music plays a bigger role in those moments than we sometimes realize.
You can have beautiful interiors, excellent food, and attentive service, but if the music doesn't match the environment, something feels off. It affects the energy of the room.
From a marketing perspective, we're not just selling a product. We're building an experience that people want to return to. Music helps us deliver that consistently."
Q: What made The Pearl Room consider partnering with Surroundcast?
Erica: "One of the challenges in hospitality is maintaining consistency while allowing each location to have its own personality.
Our BGC and Poblacion branches cater to different environments and customer dynamics. BGC leans toward an urban, sophisticated lounge experience, while Poblacion has a more expressive, social, and neighborhood-driven atmosphere.
We wanted our music to reflect those differences without losing our identity as one brand.
That's where Surroundcast came in. Rather than treating music as a random playlist, we could approach it as part of our brand strategy.
What we value about the partnership is the opportunity to be more deliberate about what our customers hear and how that music complements the experience we want to create."
Q: How does curated in-store music influence customer behavior?
Erica: "Customers don't necessarily walk into a restaurant and consciously evaluate the playlist. But they notice how a place makes them feel. The right music contributes to comfort, sets the pace, and influences the atmosphere of the entire dining experience.
During quieter hours, we want guests to feel comfortable settling in, enjoying their meals, or having conversations. As the evening progresses, the atmosphere naturally becomes more energetic. Music helps facilitate those transitions.
From a business standpoint, that matters because the longer-term objective is not simply to get customers through the door. It's to make their experience enjoyable enough that they consider ordering another drink, staying for another conversation, returning for another occasion, or recommending us to someone else. Those decisions are influenced by the overall environment, not just the menu."
Q: Has the partnership changed how The Pearl Room approaches music as a marketing tool?
Erica: "Absolutely. I think one of the biggest shifts is recognizing that music deserves the same strategic attention we give to our visual branding, campaigns, and promotions.
As marketers, we're very particular about how our brand looks. We invest in photography, creative direction, messaging, and social media because we understand their influence on customer perception. But what about how our brand sounds?
With Surroundcast, we can look at music as an extension of our identity rather than an afterthought.
It's also about understanding that the customer journey doesn't end when someone sees an advertisement or walks into the restaurant. Every interaction inside the venue becomes part of the brand experience. Music is one of those touchpoints that continues working throughout the entire visit."
Q: How does this translate into sales and business performance?
Erica: "I believe a strong customer experience creates better conditions for sales.
Music alone doesn't sell oysters or cocktails. Our food, service, promotions, and team all play important roles. But the atmosphere can influence whether customers feel comfortable, how they experience the venue, and whether they want to stay. When the environment feels right, it creates opportunities for customers to explore more of what we offer.
For us, the value of curated music is that it supports the bigger commercial picture. It's part of creating an environment where customers can enjoy themselves and where our team can deliver the experience we're promising.
I wouldn't attribute sales growth to music alone without looking at the data. But I would certainly consider it an important contributor to the overall customer experience and the conditions that encourage repeat visits."
Q: How important is having a consistent sound across different branches?
Erica: "Very important, especially when you're building a brand with more than one location.
Consistency doesn't mean playing exactly the same music everywhere. It means maintaining a recognizable identity while responding to the character of each branch.
A customer visiting The Pearl Room in BGC might be looking for a different kind of evening than someone visiting us in Poblacion. Our music should be sensitive to that.
The advantage of having a partner like Surroundcast is being able to approach those distinctions with more structure and intention. We want guests to recognize The Pearl Room experience wherever they visit, even when the energy of each location is different."
Q: What would you say to other restaurant owners and retailers who still see music as a minor operational detail?
Erica: "I'd encourage them to think about the amount of effort they put into attracting customers and compare that with the effort they put into the experience after those customers arrive.
We spend so much on awareness, promotions, and customer acquisition. But when people finally enter our stores, what are we doing to make that experience worth their time and money?
Music is one of the most constant elements in a physical space. It's present whether someone is looking at a menu, waiting for an order, enjoying a meal, or having a conversation.
Why leave something that influential to chance?
For me, that's the strongest argument for working with a partner like Surroundcast. You're treating the in-store experience as an investment rather than just another operational requirement."
The Business of Being Remembered
The Pearl Room's approach reflects a wider shift in hospitality and retail: businesses are increasingly looking beyond transactions and considering the complete customer journey.
While digital marketing generates visibility and brings customers through the door, the physical environment ultimately helps determine how the brand is experienced.
Curated music is one of the tools available to shape that environment. Research into music and consumer behavior suggests that musical characteristics, including tempo, volume, and familiarity, can influence perceptions and shopping or dining behavior. However, the effects depend on the setting, audience, and overall experience.
For The Pearl Room, the partnership with Surroundcast represents an intentional approach to atmosphere and brand consistency. Rather than viewing music as background entertainment, the business incorporates it into a broader hospitality strategy built around customer satisfaction, brand identity, and repeat patronage.
The commercial opportunity is clear. When businesses take greater care of the experience customers have inside their spaces, they create stronger foundations for loyalty and long-term revenue growth. And in a competitive hospitality market, being remembered can matter just as much as being discovered.
Your Brand Has a Look. Does It Have a Sound?
At Surroundcast, we help restaurants, retailers, hospitality groups, and multi-branch businesses bring more intention to their physical spaces through curated in-store music and integrated retail media solutions.
Whether you're establishing a distinct atmosphere for one location or building a consistent customer experience across multiple branches, your music should work as deliberately as the rest of your brand.
Let's make every customer visit sound better.
Connect with Surroundcast and discover how strategically curated in-store music can support your brand experience and business goals.
