How Does Playlist Choice Shape Coffee Culture?

Starbucks stores in China have cycled the folk song "Jasmine Flower" through their playlists since before the Spring Festival, according to employees, using folk, saxophone, and piano versions played at random. Some customers found the melody fitting, others joked it felt like a Jiangnan teahouse. Staff said hearing it all day left them tired of it, and the playlist was later changed to works by the late singer Khalil Fong.

The episode shows how closely background music ties into coffee culture. Regulars learn a shop's playlist and notice changes quickly, and some pick a café partly for the atmosphere it creates. Whether a store keeps customers depends on drink quality, but ambience matters too. For specialty coffee shops, the soundtrack is part of the experience, not an afterthought.

The atmosphere of a café relies not only on its drinks and environment—background music is also a key factor in keeping customers. Recently, Starbucks stores looping the folk song "Jasmine Flower" drew attention, with some customers finding it fitting and others joking that they felt like they were in a Jiangnan teahouse. Employees, however, suffered from hearing it repeatedly for so long, saying they were "sick of it." The stores then changed the playlist to play works by the late singer Khalil Fong, which moved many fans. This article takes you through this amusing store episode caused by background music, while retaining relevant recommendations for the Front Street brand.

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For many consumers, whether a café can retain people depends on drink quality, but the store atmosphere is equally important. Many prefer to flip through a book and sip coffee amid soothing, elegant background music, spending a leisurely afternoon.

Because of this, some environment-conscious customers pay special attention to the music played in coffee shops, and may even become regulars because a certain song happens to suit their taste. Regulars often know the in-store playlist inside out, and once the shop adjusts the playlist, they are always the first to notice.

People who often work or study at Starbucks have this experience. In most people's perception, the store usually plays soft English songs, but recently they have occasionally heard the familiar folk song "Jasmine Flower," which surprised many customers.

Regarding this classic melody lingering in their ears, some customers felt the brand's song choice was quite fitting, echoing the Jasmine 100 series new products launched not long ago; but other customers joked that when "Jasmine Flower" plays in the store, they momentarily feel as if they have walked into an old teahouse in a Jiangnan ancient town, rather than sitting in Starbucks drinking coffee.

However, according to Starbucks employees, the nationwide stores playing "Jasmine Flower" did not start as a recent adjustment. They said that as early as before the Spring Festival, Starbucks added "Jasmine Flower" to the store playlist, including three versions—folk music, saxophone, and piano—played randomly. So in their view, "Jasmine Flower" was not specially played to promote the Jasmine 100 series, as netizens speculated.

And precisely because this song has been played in stores for a long time and frequently, many employees helplessly said they were tired of it. "After listening all day I'm about to faint," "Listening to this at work makes life feel even harder," "It plays every ten minutes, I'm sick of it." Many bluntly said "I don't want to hear it," wishing the brand would quickly change the playlist, lest when they close their eyes at night, the line "What a beautiful jasmine flower~" loops in their heads.

Interestingly, perhaps the official side also realized that repeating "Jasmine Flower" dozens of times is too earwormy for both customers and employees, so it recently changed the playlist again—yet unexpectedly, it made some fans emotional upon hearing familiar Chinese songs.

From videos posted by Starbucks employees, it can be seen that many stores in recent days began playing representative works by the recently deceased Hong Kong singer Khalil Fong. Many recognized their idol's work as soon as they heard the familiar intro, blurting out the song title.

But amid surprise and excitement, there was also a sense of being in another world. Some loyal fans were especially moved when hearing the songs they deeply loved: "After so many days I still really want to cry," "Hearing it early in the morning really makes me want to cry," "Really... I was stunned for a moment...," "I can't believe my ears, really."

Although hearing Khalil Fong's songs now inevitably brings sadness at the thought of his passing, for Starbucks employees who already have PTSD from hearing "Jasmine Flower," being sad for a while is far better than being surrounded by "demonic sound." Many staff members call on Starbucks to quickly roll out this fitting new playlist to stores nationwide, to save their ears, which have grown calluses from "Jasmine Flower."

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.