The Real Reason Aldi Doesn’t Play Music in Its Stores

Next time you’re picking out the perfect plums, finding some just ripe enough avocados, or seeking out your favorite snack down the chip aisle, stop for a minute and listen. What music is playing? How does it make you feel? In most stores, it’s there to entice you to buy (more on that later), but in Aldi, all you’ll hear is the sound of silence. 

Every few months people come to the realization that in Aldi they hear nothing but the sound of cans clinking together, customers softly arguing over which cheese is the best, and the faint sound of the cash registers in the front. And for some, it becomes such a disconcerting experience that they take to the internet to comment on it. 

“Why Aldi, why is there no music,” an employee posted in the Aldi Employees subreddit. “I literally find myself humming the curbside ringtone at times.” Another added, “I never even noticed this until my friends came to visit me at work and were shocked about how quiet it was.” 

But why the silence? For Aldi, it’s all about saving money on its operations so it can pass those savings to you. 

As a spokesperson for the stores shared with Southern Living in March, “No detail is overlooked in Aldi stores when it comes to saving money for our customers, and that includes our decision not to play music …  We’re committed to passing every cent of savings on to Aldi shoppers, whether that’s through our quarter cart system or our Aldi exclusive brands, and so when we realized we could save even more on music licensing costs, it was a no-brainer.”

You see, other retail stores that play those tunes on repeat have to pay hefty licensing fees, which would increase their day-to-day operational costs. However, sometimes that music can pay dividends. Progressive Grocer reported in 2023, music can have a profound psychological effect on shopping behavior, making us trust a place and spend more money at the same time.

“Say a grocery chain is known for being organic and trustworthy but still progressive and modern. We can help them interpret what those brand characteristics mean in music, using data from our data universe,” Ola Sars, the founder of Soundtrack Your Brand, which licenses more than 100 million stores for use in grocery stores, shared with the publication. According to Sars, music has the potential to lift sales by upward of 10%.

Still, it seems the majority of Aldi employees (at least those posting on Reddit) would like to keep things nice and quiet. 

“I’m honestly glad that there isn’t any music. It would end up like all the other stores playing the same songs over and over again,” one employee wrote. And it appears plenty of customers love it too, with one noting, ”

I love that my Aldi doesn’t play music. There’s another store I go to that has music blaring and I can’t even think. I can shop at Aldi in peace, a welcome change from noise overload everywhere else.”