The Sound of Desire: How Music Shapes Our Interactions With Luxury Brands

If you walk into a Tom Ford store during the holiday shopping rush, you won’t be greeted with looping pop music or standard Christmas tunes. You might not even notice the music—but it will be there: artists seducing you from a playlist crafted to embody sophistication, edge and elegance, as you sort through wide lapel velvet smoking jackets and dark cherry scented candles.

The music selection is no mere whim of the sales associates that day; it was carefully chosen by a team of experts at Gray V, a global music branding agency that specializes in playlists for retail and hospitality brands. And it was selected with three main goals in mind: first, to encourage you to stay and luxuriate in the store; second, to create an environment that aligns with the brand’s identity and emotionally resonates with its audience (in harmony with the textures and smells you encounter there); and finally, to provide seasonal inspiration based on upcoming collections.