As part of the Retail Marketing Consulting course, students of the SBWL Retail and Marketing were commissioned by AKM in the winter semester 2024/25 to investigate the acceptance of background music in service environments (especially in retail and gastronomy) and how music influences consumer behaviour. To investigate these questions, observations were made on the use of music in 27 retail stores (from seven retail sectors) and 158 people were interviewed about their experience when leaving the stores. In a CAWI survey of 522 people, attitudes towards the use of popular music, functional music and AI-generated music were also investigated.