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The Puana Journal

Music and your business.

Practical guides for business owners who want great music in the room.

Latest

Can I Play the Radio in My Business Without a Licence?

Often yes — the 1998 homestyle exemption is real and free. But it works nothing like people think, and it stops the moment you switch to a playlist.

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licensing

ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR, AllTrack: What They Actually License

Five performing rights organisations license US businesses. Here's what each one is, why one licence is rarely enough, and what changed when private equity bought two of them.

guide

How to Create the Perfect Playlist for Your Cafe

Practical playlist advice from a cafe owner — how to choose the right music for morning, lunch, and afternoon, and why most cafes get it wrong.

guide

Background Music for Small Business: The Complete Guide

Everything a small business owner needs to know about background music — selection, scheduling, volume, freshness, and how to get it right without overcomplicating it.

research

How Music Affects Customer Spending: What the Research Actually Says

A deep look at the studies — Milliman, North, Areni, and more — that show exactly how background music changes what people buy and how long they stay.

guide

The 8 Background Music Mistakes Almost Every Business Makes

Common background music mistakes that cost businesses customers and revenue — and the simple fixes for each one, from a cafe owner who's made most of them.

guide

How to Choose Background Music for Your Business

A practical framework for picking the right music — tempo, genre, volume, freshness — from someone who spent years getting it wrong before getting it right.

founder

Why I Built a Music Platform From My Cafe

The story behind Puana — how a morning ritual at a small-town cafe turned into a music platform for every business that cares about atmosphere.

research

The Science of Background Music (And Why Most Businesses Get It Wrong)

How background music shapes customer behavior in restaurants, retail stores, and cafés — dwell time, spending, and comfort — what decades of research shows, and why most businesses still get the soundtrack wrong.