M&S scraps its ambient music ban

Marks & Spencer is introducing ambient music to some of its stores in a bid to attract shoppers and encourage them to linger in various departments.

Marks & Spencer is introducing ambient music to some of its stores in a bid to attract shoppers and encourage them to linger in various departments.

The retailer has abandoned its “no music” policy and is leaving it up to individual store managers to decide whether music is appropriate for their particular department or store.

“We have given managers the responsibility to decide if they think it is appropriate to play music in parts of the store to create a more pleasant shopping environment,” says an M&S spokeswoman.

She adds that most stores will play music from M&S compilation CDs which are being rolled out to 200 stores, following a six-month trial.

The retailer has signed a deal with record giant Universal Music to stock a range of lifestyle albums, Christmas compilations and mood music.

Earlier this month M&S reported a 3.4 per cent fall in like-for-like sales for the 14 weeks to July 7.