Slots with musical background: Effects on players’ psychology

When people think about the strategy casinos use in order to generate bigger revenues, they tend to overlook the large impact slot music can have on the human mind. Regardless of the platform or format, the music played during a slot game has been proven to shape the performance and general mood of players in various ways.

How casino sounds influence the gambler’s subconscious

Most casinos use enchanting music to lure customers towards the slot machines, so they get to stay and gamble for as long as possible. Studies show that the soundtracks used as background music in slot machines tend to significantly influence the player’s perception of the machine.

Further research shows that casinos use popular music to target their audience, aiming to stimulate impulsive gambling behavior in their customers. Scientists show a great connection between the atmosphere created through music and the buyer intent. It turns out that ambience music does encourage customers to spend more when gambling on slot machines.

The constant sounds that can be distinguished in-between the music played in casinos are usually money falling into the payout tray or sounds played when one hits a winning combination. The choice of the background sounds is no accident – it’s all part of the casino’s strategy of determining players to spend more.

The background sounds used by casinos are meant to create the impression that winning occurs more than losing. They are meant to emphasize the feeling that a winning line is near, so the players should keep gambling.

This kind of induced behavior can become extremely problematic, causing real distress in the mind of the customers who keep on losing while winning sounds surround them.

Most gamblers tend to associate the quality of a slot game with the quality of the music and sound effects it provides. Some players will choose a specific game based solely on its auditive power to create a certain atmosphere that thrills or – on the contrary – soothes them.

When designing a game, developers try to make music into a distinctive feature of the specific slot that players will remember, which facilitates further gambling in the future.

An excellent example is the case of the Red Tiger Gaming, which uses a rather unique guitar sound when users are placing a bet on its slot games. Studies have shown that players are more likely to gamble again to the same games to experience that certain sound.

Music in Online Slots: What’s behind it?

Making the transition from land-based casinos to online websites no longer allows owners to create a certain atmosphere through the music they play throughout the gambling lobby. It all comes down now to the soundtrack music and sound effects used by developers when creating online slots.

There are two ways the iGaming developers tend to use music to their advantage when designing a new slot game: by choosing an upbeat tune or settling for a relaxing atmosphere created using well-known popular songs.

Implementing upbeat music in the Slots’ design aims to stimulate the production of oxytocin, dopamine, and adrenaline into the gamblers’ minds. Such an effect is meant to determine gamblers to make bolder, riskier decisions when making bets on slot games. That’s why casinos often use party songs, disco spins, or Samba tunes to recreate a lounge-like, thrilling environment.

On the other hand, providing customers with popular relaxing music they are familiar with can lead to having them play for hours without interruption, to preserve the feel-good mood induced by the casino’s tune.

It all comes down to engaging users to stay connected for as long as possible, playing the games, and investing substantial amounts of money. Developers rarely if ever use random music when creating a slot game. The whole purpose is to choose enticing music, preferably opting for songs that are already a hit among their target audience.

Online slots based on TV shows or movies are becoming quite popular among the new titles that gain rapid popularity with players. Music certainly plays an essential role in this swift popularity rise. Developers often choose to use the original soundtrack of the title a specific slot is based on, so fans of the original source can derive more enthusiasm when playing the game.

Between the popular choices used in the design of online slots, we shall mention the tunes of Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, and Guns N’ Roses, since their songs are part of the world’s common knowledge. Hearing familiar songs will make people feel more comfortable playing, offering them a homey feeling.

To sum it up – we certainly stand by the studies that Slots’ music can have strong psychological effects on the human mind. Listening to music is proved by numerous researchers to uplift the customers’ mood and make them lean towards gambling more money.

Slots’ sounds are also relevant in the overall strategy of the casinos to induce more money spending, being an optimal addition to the background music.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com