Background music is no longer an afterthought at many airports, which are hiring local musicians and carefully curating playlists to help lighten travellers’ moods.
London’s Heathrow Airport built a stage to showcase emerging British performers for the first time this summer. The programme was so successful the airport hopes to bring it back in 2025.
Nashville International Airport, in the US state of Tennessee, has five stages that host more than 800 performances per year, from country musicians to jazz combos.
In the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana International Airport greets passengers with live merengue music.
At Hong Kong International Airport it is usually just flight announcements you hear, but not when it is Christmas. Throughout the holidays, singers and dancers dressed in red perform festive tunes in the arrivals hall, such as “Oh Santa!” and “All I Want for Christmas is You”.
Even without live music, airports are carefully curating their recorded playlists.