“It's no secret that music can influence our emotions,” said Rob Wood, the DJ who founded Music Concierge in 2007. “It can remind us of things, make us feel happy, sad, thoughtful, make us jump up and down like a possessed demon.”

This makes music a powerful tool for retailers.

“One thing we say to business owners is if you are just putting music on in an unthought-through way it could be doing a combination of all these things. But if you curate it in an intelligent, well-conceived way with your brand, your audience and your business objectives in mind, you can use that as another tool, just as you do with your artwork or lighting or service style.”

Psychology at play

Science supports the idea that music can influence certain consumer behaviour, but can it make you spend more?

Well, yes, according to Professor Adrian North, head of the school of psychology and speech pathology at Curtin University in Australia, who has researched the relationship between music and behaviour.