# 233 | Musical Tasting Menu

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/top-floor-6321208/233-musical-tasting-menu
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/top-floor-6321208/233-musical-tasting-menu.md
Podcast: [Top Floor](https://stenobird.com/podcast/top-floor-6321208)
Published: 2026-03-03T08:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/233
Audio file: https://pdcn.co/e/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/topfloor/233_Musical_Tasting_Menu.m4a?dest-id=3007631
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/top-floor-6321208/episodes/233-musical-tasting-menu
Duration seconds: 2519

## Resource

Kurt Oleson is the Chief Operating Officer and co-owner of Custom Channels, a Denver-based company delivering fully licensed, human-curated music solutions for hotels and restaurants. A classically trained pianist turned music technologist, he helped build early music-recommendation algorithms before joining his company. Susan and Kurt talk about licensing landmines and algorithmic ethics. What You'll Learn: • Why playing Spotify in your restaurant could cost you $10,000 per song • How performance and composition licenses protect artists • How following "passion-adjacent opportunities" can shape an unexpected career • The upside and ethical gray areas of algorithm-driven music discovery • Why human-curated playlists still outperform AI in hospitality settings • How tempo, energy, and traffic patterns should shape your daily music flow • How many songs you actually need to avoid repetition • Why commoditizing music undermines its impact on your brand *** Our Top Three Takeaways Music isn't background noise—it's a business tool. When aligned with traffic patterns, brand identity, and desired guest behavior, audio can increase dwell time, improve turnover, and even become a profit center. Playing unlicensed music is a massive legal and financial risk. One audit could mean fines of up to $10,000 per song, making proper licensing non-negotiable for hospitality operators. Human-curated music is still a competitive advantage. AI can assist with scheduling and context triggers, but brand-aligned, emotionally intelligent curation drives better guest experiences. Kurt Oleson on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtoleson1/ Custom Channels https://www.custom-channels.com/ Cayuga Hospitality Consultants https://cayugahospitality.com/ Hive Marketing https://www.hive-marketing.c…

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## Transcript

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