“Harmonizing Tastes: The Relationship between Music and Food”

Music taste is one of the subjects whose effect on human psychology has been widely studied scientifically and still continues to be popular in the scientific world. Music, which certainly has an effect on people’s preferences and behaviours, also affects our eating and drinking preferences. The relationship between food and music, which has taken its place among scientific studies, may actually reveal that the presence of music in most of the places where food is served has a reason other than entertaining.

see also: Synesthesia: Have You Ever Tasted Music?

According to research, listening to music while eating increases food intake and prolongs eating time. Considering this information, it may be the right choice or even a strategic practice for restaurants to serve food with music. So what do the different music preferences of different restaurants tell us about the relationship between food and music?

According to the literature research, there are 3 factors that determine the relationship between food and music:

Music Intensity taste

There are different findings from different studies on how the intensity of music affects the food eaten, more specifically food intake. Some studies suggest that music intensity has no effect on food intake, while others suggest that loud music increases the consumption of food, beverages, especially alcohol. Thus, loud music in places where alcohol consumption is at the forefront, such as bars, taverns and nightclubs, may encourage customers to consume more.

Type of Music taste

According to research, the type of music is also an important factor in the relationship between food and music. According to some findings, rock music is associated with increased alcohol consumption. In addition, people are more inclined to spend money in places that play classical or jazz music than in places that play pop music. The reason for this is known to be that classical and jazz music increases the enjoyment of the meal.

Speed of Music taste

The speed of the listened music is also determinant in the relationship between food and music. It has been found that a person who listens to fast-paced music chews his/her food faster and finishes his/her drink by sipping faster. On the contrary, it has been noticed that people who listen to slow tempo music eat their meals more slowly and spend more money in the restaurant they are in. According to these findings, it can be said that the speed of music affects the speed at which people consume food, while it has no effect on the amount of food consumed.

In the relationship between food and music, the intensity, type and speed of music are the determining factors, but it should not be forgotten that the location of the meal can also be effective. For example, listening to the same music in meals eaten at home and in a restaurant may have different effects.

Relationship between Music and Taste

It is true that music affects the amount of food eaten, the speed of eating and even the money spent on food, but how does it affect taste?

Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, says that music can affect the taste of what we eat and drink in line with his research on this subject. In his study on the relationship between music and wine, Spence states that the music listened to while sipping wine affects how much the wine is enjoyed. Moreover, according to recent research, choosing the “right” music can make wine taste better because music affects how the acidity and taste of the wine is perceived (Spence & Wang, 2015).

Which Music Encourages Healthy Eating?

According to a recent study by Charles Spence and colleagues, the type of music also affects people’s healthy eating preferences. Two experiments were conducted for the research. There are four types of music considered in the experiments: Jazz, classical, rock/metal and hip-hop. While listening to one of these four music genres, the participants were asked to rank 4 different types of food (healthy/low calorie sweet and salty, unhealthy/high calorie sweet and salty) according to their preferences. According to the results obtained from the two experiments, it was observed that the relationship between the type of music and the type of food was effective in the effect of music on the eating experience.

Compared to rock/metal music, jazz and classical music were more effective on people’s preference for healthy/low calorie salty category (vegetable sandwich),

rock/metal, hip-hop and jazz music compared to classical music in people’s preference for unhealthy/high-calorie salty food (smoked meat sandwiches),

Compared to other music genres, classical music was effective in people’s preference for both healthy/low-calorie and unhealthy/high-calorie desserts (low-fat milk and chocolate).

Conclusion

Music can affect a person’s eating experience, from the amount of consumption to the taste of the food. Considering the effect of music on food by taking scientific researches into account, venue-music matching plays an important role in the consumer experience. In this case, it is not a coincidence that while loud and rock/metal music is generally preferred in bars, fine-dining restaurants tend towards classical and jazz music.