Let’s Give Them Something to Yelp About
You’ve done it! Before you commit to making a purchase, you do a quick web search and see what the consensus is on the ...
Don’t Let Your Venue Get Marginalized. How to Be Part of the 1%
You don’t have to be a mathematician to know that margins in the hospitality industry are razor-thin. Successful venues ...
Why Guest Experience is More Important Now Than Ever
Everyday it looks more and more like we are headed toward a recession, but that is no need to panic. Everyone still ...
How the Little Things Make a Big Difference in Guest Experience
Did you know that a whopping 51% of Americans said that their dining experience would stand out if a server simply ...
Why Your Atmosphere is Important in These Tough Times for Restaurants
From the onslaught of takeout options taking away from in-house visits, to some predicting an oncoming “restaurant ...
How Anticipation Can Boost Attendance at Your Bar/Restaurant's Events
There’s a fascinating moment in music that grew in popularity over the last decade, though has its origins in 1970s’ ...
Eatertainment Brings New Challenges in Crafting Atmosphere
Eatertainment concepts aren’t really anything new, but their popularity has undeniably skyrocketed in the 21st century. ...
Why Playlists Matter in Restaurants and Bars
Music has a lot of power in the spaces we find ourselves each day. In our cars, at the grocery store, even when you’re ...
3 Valuable Insights for Attracting Generation Z to Your Restaurant
The struggle to increase in-house traffic continues to be complex in the restaurant world. Research from The NPD Group, ...
Increase Revenue with Music Videos and Infotainment for Restaurants
Restaurants and bars have to be savvier than ever to compete in the fast-paced, ever-changing business of food service. ...
4 Little Things That Make a Big Difference in Restaurant Music
Building your restaurant’s atmosphere is a challenging but rewarding piece of the foodservice puzzle. The colors, the ...
How User-Generated Content Benefits Restaurant Brands
User-generated content (UGC) is any kind of online content that’s produced by your customers. Pictures of people having ...
How In-House Entertainment Helps Tell Your Brand Story
Storytelling is deeply ingrained in us as humans. It’s how we come to understand the more complicated aspects of our ...
3 Entertainment Problems Control Play Solves in Bars and Restaurants
Entertainment has become much more important to the guest experience at bars and restaurants as of late. While very ...
Control Play Keeps Guest Experiences Fresh in Your Bar or Restaurant
Guest experience is everything in the food and beverage industry today. Expectations regarding that experience are also ...
6 Things Control Play Does Different In Restaurant Background Music
Control Play is unlike any other entertainment service out there. The software itself is built specifically for the ...
Build Brand Awareness with Digital Signage
Increasing consumer consciousness regarding your brand—aka, brand awareness—is a key factor in driving recurring guest ...
4 Dining Trends That Made an Impact This Year
This year, the food and beverage industry saw rapid change in both technology and consumer habits. Innovation and ...
Competing with Takeout: Reinvesting in the In-Restaurant Experience
It’s not difficult to see that ordering-in has been on the rise since the advent of apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, and ...
Innovative Ways Today's Restaurants Accommodate Guests
Businesses are striving to provide personalized guest experiences as it’s becoming more and more expected by restaurant ...
Why Your Venue Needs to Be a Destination Rather Than Just a Location
“Good enough” may be the two riskiest words uttered in the food and beverage industry today. Without a competitive ...
6 Great Tips for Propelling Guests Through the Doors of Your Restaurant
Technology is growing at an incredible rate and shaping the very nature of our industry. The popularity of ...
3 Guest Experience Moments to Personalize at Your Bar or Restaurant
Do you remember the first time an online ad suggested a product to you based on your search history? A lot of us were ...
7 Signs Your Bar or Restaurant’s Music Service Isn’t Working Out
You wouldn’t let your restaurant’s bread to go stale, so why let the music? When something is off about the experience ...
What Restaurants Can Learn From ‘the New Nightlife’ of Eatertainment
Combining entertainment with quality food service is becoming more and more popular as Americans seek out experiences ...
4 Modern Social Media Tips for Restaurants and Bars
Big brands and independent businesses alike have, at the very least, made a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and ...
Music Video Streaming for Restaurants Is Innovating the Guest Experience
The most successful bars and restaurants aren’t just serving up great food, they’re creating entire experiences. New ...
How to WOW Guests with Innovative Video Experiences
It used to be that adding the latest trend to your menu, changing décor, or adding new technologies to your venue was ...
3 Ways to Drive Recurring Guest Visits in Your Restaurant
From increased labor costs to decreased foot traffic, the food and beverage industry has seen a substantial number of ...
6 Innovative Technologies Making Waves in the Food and Beverage Industry
What once was an industry catching up to current trends is now a leader of some of the world’s most innovative ...
Why Restaurant Chains Need to Focus on the 'Wow' Factor of Guest Experience
Millennial spending is still the trend to keep up with in the food and beverage industry. Predicted to be the biggest ...
How Restaurant and Bar Chains Can Stand Out from the Competition with Control Play
Modern conversations in the food and beverage industry largely center around the ever-increasing demands of consumers ...
5 Summer Crowds Worth Attracting to Your Bar or Restaurant
Summer is a lucrative season for the food and beverage industry. People are in search of pubs, patios, and places to ...
Control Play Sets Up Bars and Restaurants for Summer Concert Season
“Cause a little bit of summer is what the whole year is about.” ~ John Mayer
Why You Shouldn’t Settle for Basic Music Streaming Services in Your Venue
Background music can tend to fall to the back of priorities for bar and restaurant owners—but creating the right vibe ...
How and Why “Old Town Road” Blew Up the Charts
“Old Town Road” was an unexpected hit from 2019 that blends country with hip-hop in ways few had ever heard before. It ...
How to Make the Most of Patio Season in your Bar or Restaurant
Warm weather, blue skies, and plenty of thirst to quench—patio season is here! It’s a time when people are naturally ...
Stop Wasting Your TVs! Modernizing Screens in Bars and Restaurants
Too many restaurants and bars are wasting their TV screens. Maybe they don’t know what else to put on, maybe they ...
Modernizing Music in the Food and Beverage Industry
It’s hard to picture a restaurant setting without background music. For many restaurateurs, the benefits have been ...
Have You Upgraded Your Bar or Restaurant to Music Video Yet?
Music videos are far from a dying medium—in fact, they’re more popular now than ever. According to stats from Vevo, the ...
Enhancing Game Day Events with Digital Signage
If you’re in the food and beverage industry, chances are you're seeing your venue full of crazed sports fans during the ...
How Control Play's Digital Signage Passed the ROI Test
Here at Control Play, we push to go above and beyond to help our subscribers exceed their guests’ expectations. We’re ...
The Benefits of Remotely Managing Music and Entertainment at Bars and Restaurants
We previously wrote about the benefits of brand consistency in the hospitality industry, but now it’s time to get into ...
You Spoke, We Listened: How Subscriber Feedback Transformed Control Play's Software
“It’s always been about being really flexible and open to listening to the opinions of subscribers who’d say, ‘Hey, ...
17 Facts About Lizzo: Why She Should Be on Your Playlists Right Now
Melissa “Lizzo” Viviane Jefferson is a confident, body-positive American musician. Her 2017 song “Truth Hurts” ...
Brand Loyalty Beyond a Program
There’s no denying that loyalty programs drive regulars through your door. Customer engagement platform Thanx states, ...
Do You Have a Professional Music Mixologist Helping You Craft Your Brand?
You may have heard about mixology before; Merriam-Webster defines it as “the art or skill of preparing mixed drinks.” ...
The Secrets to Thirsty Lion Gastropub's Rapid Expansion
From humble to rumble The Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill may have started off small in Oregon, but it’s expanded into a ...
Personalizing the Guest Experience in Casual-Dining Restaurants
Is it possible for big brand restaurants with multiple locations to deliver the intimate, personalized guest experience ...
The Impact of Music on Productivity in Hospitality
Music has the potential to improve or disrupt our concentration. It can lift our mood, get us dancing, and bring back ...
Hospitality Marketing to Millennials: A Millennial Marketer’s Perspective
I’m a millennial—wait, keep reading, it gets better—and I’m a marketer. That’s right, I have a career and everything. I ...
Is Your Music Volume Hurting Your Employees & Restaurant?
Figuring out what music license your venue needs and what your dayparting strategy will be are just the tip of the ...
Sensory Marketing: How Restaurants Can Engage Guests With All 5 Senses
You’ve nailed down your menu with amazing dishes that are sure to please. But if that’s all your restaurant is ...
The Benefits of Brand Consistency in the Hospitality Industry
Maintaining consistency within a brand builds trust in customers. The predictability it creates lends itself an air of ...
Stay Ahead Of and Exceed Customer Expectations with 'Control Play'
In a study by Eventbrite, 78% of Millennials—who control well over $1 trillion in spend these days—prefer to invest ...
Differentiating the Experience at Smoked Burgers & BBQ with ‘Wow Moments’
It’s not always easy to stand out from the crowd in the restaurant business, especially when that crowd is as ...
How RollHouse Entertainment Designs the Ideal Guest Experience
If you live in Ohio, RollHouse Entertainment needs no introduction. It has seven locations throughout the state, and ...
How Nacho Daddy's Guest Experience Is Exceeding Expectations
“Our name can come off whimsical, and some guests don’t take us very seriously right off the bat,” says Christina Vino, ...
Bringing The Cinematic Experience To Hospitality
The clock is ticking down on a large, red, LED screen like something out of a James Bond film, and though the room is ...
7 Crucial Tips For Using TV Screens In Bars And Restaurants
Are you using your TV screens to their fullest potential?
5 Sure-Fire Ways To Ruin Guest Experience And Drive Away Business
*Note* the following article is satirical and should not be taken as actual advice. There is, however, a lot to be ...
What You Need To Know About Music Licensing For Bars And Restaurants
The right music for the right people is essential in establishing atmosphere in your restaurant, but it doesn’t come ...
Control Play On Foodable: How Background Music Impacts Guest Experience
If you know anything about Control Play, you know that we’re obsessed with music and its ability to impact guest ...
Lights, Music, Attraction! 7 Ways To Effectively Create Ambiance In Your Bar
A survey was carried out by Big Hospitality across 236 hospitality professionals that found “72% [of guests] have left ...
The 4 C’s of the Ultimate Guest Experience: Culture, Consistency, Care, and Comfort
The guest experience is absolutely paramount to the success of the hospitality industry. These days, customers will not ...
Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler! The Key Elements to a Great Mardi Gras Party
Even if you’re not a bar in the deep south, a Mardi Gras party is one of the ultimate celebrations everyone can enjoy.
Super Bowl Checklist: 5 Essential Tips For Bars And Restaurants
The biggest game of the year is here! Make sure your bar can handle the influx of customers and host a Super Bowl party ...
How Digital Signage Can Improve Your Sales
Advertising is critical to the success of bars and restaurants everywhere. With an over-saturated market and a lot of ...
3 Reasons to Use Personalized Playlists in Your Bar or Restaurant
Did you know that background music drives our behavior? The impact of music is undeniable—bars and restaurant owners ...
How To Enhance Your Guest Experience With A Trivia Night
Running a trivia night at your is a lot of fun—for both you and your guests!
7 Things You Need to Know to Run a Bar
If you’re managing a bar and are lost in a sea of disorganization and tasks that seem impossible to start, then let's ...
How to Run the Best Wing Night
Want to give customers the most bang for their cluck? It’s time to start mastering wing night at your bar or restaurant!
5 Easy Steps to Running the Best Girls' Night
Thinking of hosting a ladies' night at your bar or restaurant? Don't fall into the habit of using the same tired pink ...
Do You Know the Optimal Hours for your Bar?
Understanding when your bar's optimal hours are allows you to staff more efficiently, cut down on labor costs, and ...
Is Brunch Profitable for Your Bar or Restaurant?
Brunch isn’t anything new, but recently the surge in patrons looking for the hottest brunch spot would make you think ...
How In-House Advertising Can Boost Your Profits
Nowadays, it's likely that you’ve got someone working at your bar or restaurant who also manages your social media ...
Public Performance Music Licensing For Restaurants
Background music licensing fees for bars and restaurants can seem complicated and even frustrating—but they don’t have ...
Control Play - We Are The Playlist Company
We are the playlist company. What does that mean? play·list (noun) "a list of recorded songs or pieces of music chosen ...
5 Easy Ways Sports Bars Can Maximize Football Season
Don’t fumble through the football season. Check out these five easy tips to hike your revenue this fall!
Central Social Hall Creates a Delicious Guest Experience in Casual Dining
Ever since his inauguration into the hospitality industry at the age of 13, Jesse Kupina had a passion for food, ...
Everyone’s a Regular at Brightside Tavern
There’s more to running a successful bar or restaurant than great food and drinks. Nowadays, it’s more important than ...
The Magic Mix for Your Restaurant’s Background Music
When you opened your bar or restaurant you had a vision, an image, a story you wanted to tell, a feeling you wanted to ...
9 Reasons to Support Local Bars and Restaurants
When we go shopping, we often scour the sales racks or take our hunt online to search for the perfect gifts.
5 Ways Hosting a Theme Night Benefits your Bar or Restaurant
Theme nights are a great way to attract new customers, build loyalty and engage with your regulars. They can also boost ...
The Dark Side of Using Music Apps for Background Music at Your Bar or Restaurant
If you walk into a bar or restaurant and don’t hear music, what do you think? You’re probably going to assume the ...
5 Easy Facebook Tips to Build a Social Media Community and Enhance Your Brand
You've heard it a thousand times for a reason: social media can make or break your business.
How Digital Signage Can Increase Your Bar’s Game Day Revenue
Does digital signage really make a difference to your pub’s bottom line?
4 Important Tips to Navigate Restaurant and Bar Music Licensing
It’s no secret that most patrons are looking for a certain ambiance when they select a venue for a night out. The right ...
Are Music Videos Right For Your Business?
There's this misconception that music videos are for clubs only. You might be thinking, “we’re beer, wings and ...
Your TVs Could Help Grow Your Revenue Through Infotainment
The secret to effective digital signage is to incorporate your marketing messages into your entertainment offerings and ...
Forward Thinking about Background Music for Restaurants and Bars
Foodies travel in herds—perhaps half-a-dozen strong—constantly "trying new places." There's a lot of potential for you ...
11 Questions About Music Licensing For Bars And Restaurants
As the leading music, music video and digital signage provider to restaurants and bars and hospitality, we're often ...
12 Songs For Mom This Mother’s Day!
As part of our Music and Music Video Services for Restaurants and Bars, we make it easy to create the best playlists ...
Modern Blues for your Bar & Restaurant Music
BBQ Joints, Smokehouses, Taverns, Corner Bars, and Blues theme nights have never been better, especially since we've ...
Digital Signage in Your Music Video System?
Is digital signage and infotainment incorporated into the music video system for your bar? The reality is that digital ...
What Does A Music Video Service For Bars Have To Do With Roast Beef?
"If you are a chef, no matter how good a chef you are, it's not good cooking for yourself; the joy is in cooking for ...