Visiting a physical casino is a glamorous affair that requires hard work, dedication, and a meticulous eye for detail at every stage. Whether you’re playing blackjack at your favorite online casino or watching the roulette wheel spin at a physical one, you’ll notice a distinct ambience. This atmosphere matches the casino’s brand and is tailored to suit each type of game.
The visual aesthetics are matched with the gameplay mechanics and the music that provides a soundscape. Music can often be overlooked, but it creates an atmosphere and can have a subtle influence on how the player behaves and how the casino functions.
This article examines how music impacts casino life and how musicals and live music are becoming a staple part of the overall ‘entertainment’ of the casino experience.
Finding the Best Online Casino for You
Before we get into the ins and outs of music and musicals at casinos, if you want to find the best online casinos for NZ players or anywhere else around the world, it is best to use an aggregate site with reviews and a countdown of the best online casinos to suit your needs.
This is always the best way to see a list of online casinos that include helpful reviews and guides covering licenses and other regulatory and security aspects that players want to know about before committing to an online casino where they’ll deposit cash and play their favorite casino games.
Why Is Music an Important Part of the Casino Experience
Music impacts the overall mood in any situation. A casino is a perfect example of how this works and how it can impact the players and the staff. The music will differ depending on the type of atmosphere the casino is attempting to create. Music takes different forms, too, with an online casino having a soundtrack for individual online casino games or sound effects and physical casinos having a soundscape and songs playing in the background.
When it comes to elegant casino destinations, such as Las Vegas, you’ll find live music acts, musicals, and other ‘event experiences’ that add another dimension to the entertainment that the players experience. It adds to the levels of enjoyment experienced.
Types of Music Played at Casinos
Depending on what type of atmosphere the casino is attempting to create, the following music genres can be played in the background or as more of a direct approach to players that they are actively hearing. Genres include:
- Smooth jazz: Is a commonly heard genre of music in physical casinos, and there is a very good reason for this. It has a slow tempo and a quite calming effect on players. This creates a peaceful environment that is likely to create a calm framework from which players can place bets and make clear decisions.
- MOR: Middle of the Road, soft pop music is similar to smooth jazz in sound levels and is a fantastic option for background music that creates a calm and enjoyable ambience but is not too distracting for players. Soft pop vocals are often preferable to instrumental music as they offer some level of entertainment.
- Classical music: A genre of music that brings about plenty of emotion. It can be dramatic, energetic, romantic, and elegant. Familiar pieces of classical music provide calmness to players, especially if they associate the music with casino movies or other gambling-related media.
- Rock: Rock music is not as commonly heard in casinos due to the louder noise volume and energetic beats. This is great for casinos looking to create energy and an edge, a modern casino floor with young players. Rock music is a fantastic choice for slot machines, which is why you will also hear it used for certain energetic themes for online slot games.
Most casinos will look to create a calm atmosphere, a laid-back setting where the players feel very relaxed and happy to play for a long period of time leisurely. This works for both physical and online casinos, where the aim is for the player to unwind and feel at home at a casino that they’ll call their own and return to time and time again. This obviously changes depending on the casino brand or with different types of games that are more energetic, such as slots.
Benefits of Good Music Use at Casinos
What are the reasons behind the clever use of music at both physical and online casinos? Let’s take a look at a few of the different reasons why a casino will choose the music they play carefully, whether you are listening to background music, specific songs or music written for use within an online game or a live music act at a big Vegas casino.
- Create the perfect casino atmosphere: The main goal of utilizing music at a casino is to create and cultivate the perfect atmosphere for that casino brand. This could be smooth jazz music playing at a low volume level in the background or a band or musical act playing for crowds in between sessions of play. Online casinos have taken this strategy of choosing music that live casinos have carefully curated for decades and used it for new online casinos, enhancing gameplay.
- Player engagement: Music isn’t just used to create a nice, calm atmosphere; it can also be used well to keep players engaged for as long as possible. Think about the impact of dynamic soundtracks that respond to specific player actions. For instance, the soundtrack might change as a player achieves a specific goal playing online slots, giving the player a dopamine hit.
- To differentiate between different games: Another role that music plays in casinos is to mark the different areas of the casino and different types of games. Like we’ve already said, rock music is often used for slot games, which are generally more energetic in style of play, whereas some table games and card games require a more elegant, slow-paced music to go with the gameplay.
- Influence player behavior: Some music can be used to help either speed up or slow down the play, to help relax the players or to get them energetic and to enjoy the games more than they might be. It can be a subtle indicator of what the casino wants to create.
Musicals and Gambling
Music and musical theater have always played a big part in the casino industry, especially in traditional casinos and in destinations such as Las Vegas. If you think about casinos and live musical acts, you’ll most likely conjure up an image of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack singing and swinging in Vegas. From the mid-20th century, the ‘golden age’ of Las Vegas with Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin became a staple part of the Vegas and casino nightlife. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the music shifted to the popular choices of the day, such as rock, pop, and disco music, to entertain the masses.
In the last few decades, up to today, the staple has been famous artists in residency at the biggest Las Vegas casinos and arenas. Celine Dion, Adele, Elton John, U2, Elvis, and many more. Since that time, the late 1990s through to today, there has been another move towards dance music, such as EDM, with DJs becoming a staple part of the casino experience, hologram performances and other modern, digital methods of entertainment alongside the growing technological advancement of online casinos and live casino gameplay.
Las Vegas and Musicals
The Rat Pack shows, in particular, were like musicals, with wise-cracking jokes, songs, and dance set-ups throughout the show, and this format has continued through to today with the following current musicals in Vegas.
Vegas: The Show at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino
One of the biggest musicals in Las Vegas for decades, this is an immersive production about the glitz, glamor, and gossip of Vegas culture. You’ll get to see the Rat Pack, Elvis, and modern-day performers.
Mystère by Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino
A show full of high-octane dancing and acrobatics, Cirque du Soleil is a show not to be missed, and where better to see it than in the most fashionable, glamorous place of all, Vegas!
Menopause the Musical at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino
A laugh a minute through this hour-and-a-half musical comedy that celebrates women who are going through ‘the change.’ The cast sings all the greatest hits from the 1960s up until the modern pop hits.
As you can see, music, musicals, and casinos have a lot of history, and it is no wonder that modern-day casinos are continuing this theme to attract and retain customers who want a wider experience than ‘just’ playing casino games.
