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 specialises 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.