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Waiting room music - 9 best background music playlists
Are you looking for background music for your waiting room? Whether you’re on the hunt for the perfect playlist for a doctor’s office or other healthcare center, corporate lobby, or veterinary clinic, we’ve got you covered. Our music team has curated the best playlists for streaming background music.
When it comes to music for waiting rooms, there’s no need to be confined to the stereotypical “elevator music.” Soundtrack can provide the perfect waiting room music for any business, from chill-out music perfect for stress relief to fun tunes with uplifting vibes that make wait times fly by.
For example, depending on your client base and demographics, smooth jazz may be ideal. If your objective is to create a calm space there are excellent selections for acoustic and instrumental versions of popular songs, or you may want to lighten the mood with some family friendly pop or light rock.
Soundtrack provides the best music options for every style, from acoustic covers to piano solos to jazz, popular music and beyond.
Posted on October 10, 2024
1. Acoustic Covers
Featuring: Acoustic renditions of popular songs from different genres
This acoustic playlist features a compilation of unplugged covers of famous songs. These tracks provide a variety of styles in one place: indie, folk, country, pop, and R&B. The end result is a playlist that is cool and unexpected.
2. Ballad Radio
Featuring: Pop and R&B ballads
If you wish to include lyrics in your waiting room music experience, then check out this playlist of engaging but relaxing music. The pop ballads and R&B slow jams feature emotional vocal performances from the likes of Meghan Trainor, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, Khalid, and Omar Apollo.
Go to playlist
3. Easy Jazz
Featuring: Smooth vocal performances
You can always count on the music standards. Playing jazz music in waiting rooms is popular for a reason—it can make the perfect ambient music. Jazz makes for easy listening that can place your customers at ease. This playlist features soothing vocal performances from Catherine Russell, Kevin Mahogany, and Natalie Cole.
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4. Family-friendly & Acoustic
Featuring: Clean and contemporary acoustic tracks
Our family friendly playlists are screened not only for explicit lyrics but also appropriate topics. This playlist is full of alt-indie acoustic hits from pop heavy hitters like Ed Sheeran and Birdy, as well as lesser-known artists such as Dori Freeman and Deer Tick. This playlist offers 18 hours of curated music, so it can cover two business days of overhead audio on its own.
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5. Family-friendly Pop
Featuring: Mom-approved pop songs
Bring on the pop! This playlist features a variety of upbeat and mellow performances from all your favorite pop artists, including Taylor Swift, Madison Beer, Camila Cabello, Miley Cyrus, and Imagine Dragons. You get over 19 hours of pop hits and songs.
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6. Family-friendly AC
Featuring: Clean classic rock
This adult contemporary (AC) playlist is full of popular tunes, from the advent of the rock music genre through the ’90s. You’ll hear Suzanne Vega, Elton John, David Bowie, and Joni Mitchell. With over 30 hours of music, this playlist can cover several days of background music requirements. It’s also great for combining with other genres (see our note on scheduling at the bottom of this article).
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7. Family-friendly Soul
Featuring: Clean soul from the ’60s and ’70s
Let’s bring some funk and soul to your waiting room. Your visitors will enjoy songs such as “Smooth Operator” by Sade, “Tell Mama” by Etta James, and “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday” by Stevie Wonder. And with over 18 hours of songs, there’s something for everyone.
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8. Make That Piano Pop
Featuring: Lyric-free piano covers of pop classics
Our Make That Piano Pop playlist is the perfect fit for offices and clinics that want to play understated instrumental music without putting their waiting room to sleep. It includes great pop songs and unembellished piano covers, including “7 Years” by Luke Graham, “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi, “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, “Chandelier” by Sia, and “Your Song" by Elton John.
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9. Feelgood Oldies
Featuring: Rock, soul, and pop from the ’60s and ’70s
With this playlist, you’ll give older patrons a dose of nostalgia while impressing younger guests with vintage tastes. There are oldies from a variety of genres and something for everyone. ABBA, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, and Bill Withers all make an appearance.
Go to playlistTips for streaming background music in your waiting room
Of course, choosing the right music is only the beginning. Use these expert tips to help create the perfect environment.
Legal considerations for waiting room music
Personal or consumer streaming platforms are not intended—or licensed—for business use.
For example, iTunes, Spotify, SiriusXM, Pandora, Apple Music, and YouTube do not have the public performance licenses necessary to stream music in a commercial setting.
To legally play music in your business’s waiting room, you’ll need to use a platform with commercial streaming licenses. You can read our interview with a music lawyer for the full rundown on what this means.
Soundtrack offers more than 100 million tracks and 1200 playlists created and cleared for businesses.
With Soundtrack, you can select, customize, and stream the ideal Soundtrack for your waiting room. Plus, with Soundtrack Unlimited you have the freedom to create custom playlists from scratch or use the AI Playlist Creator to generate brand-fit playlists in seconds.
For U.S. and Canadian customers, licenses for performing rights organizations (PROs) ASCAP, GMR, and BMI, are included—so you can save as you play with Soundtrack.
For international users, Soundtrack is available in roughly 80 countries with licenses from the relevant collective management organizations (CMOs). For other regions, here’s the full breakdown of the relevant PROs and CMOs for each region.
Scheduling different playlists
For your staff and your customers, it’s important to switch up the music. With Soundtrack, you can pre-schedule playlists at different time slots throughout the week.
You can even mix playlists so they cycle through a variety of songs. For example, you might put three different playlists in the same time slot to combine piano solos, acoustic covers, and oldies.
Keep the waiting room music simple and mellow, and you can’t go wrong.
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