Expert reveals the hidden secrets behind airline music – and how Jet2’s iconic Jess Glynne song will have gone through an ‘immensely robust stress testing process’

As you board the plane, you may hear calming, inspiring, soothing music, or the catchy (if slightly annoying) Jess Glynne song that passengers on Jet2 flights love and hate in equal measure.

Either way, the music that accompanies your journey is sure to impact your onboard experience.

Max De Lucia, 34, from London, is the co-founder of DLMDD, a music advertising agency responsible for the music (‘sonic branding’) behind major airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Norwegian Airlines.

Max spoke to the Daily Mail about the secret world behind the music we hear on planes, and it’s not as simple as a 30-second jingle would have us believe.

He says: ‘B‘We always say that an airline or a plane is a tin can in the sky until you fill it with all the elements.’

For Max, an airline’s voice is as important as its visual logo. This is one of those things that most passengers barely notice, but airlines think very carefully.

The music that plays as you board a plane is often designed to shape the emotional experience of travel, and when executed well, it can become as recognizable as a logo or uniform.

Perhaps the most famous example of music currently associated with airlines is the Jet2 mantra and theme tune.

Perhaps the most famous example of music currently associated with airlines is the Jet2 mantra and theme tune.

Max explains: ‘Everyone is aware of it, it’s gone completely viral. And they definitely slammed the Jess Glynne Hold My Hand track wherever they could.

‘Someone asked me, is it terrible what they did to that song? If you’re Jet2’s marketing manager, you’ll be doing a mic drop right now.

‘This is a great example of using music and sound to make a brand famous.

‘I know it probably drives some people crazy, but that’s the job, getting the brand recognized and talked about – and look, that’s what we’re talking about, right?’

Max says the popularity and dramatic impact of sound (even ‘annoying’ music like Jet2’s trademark) is related to a psychological phenomenon called the ‘mere exposure’ effect.

He explains: ‘The best way to put it is if you hear a song on the radio for the first time that you’ve never heard before, you might not like it, you might be indifferent to it.

‘Now, you will hear that song the next day; potentially two or three times a day if the song is heavily syndicated or on the radio.

‘By the third week, you actually quite like that song, know the lyrics and are humming it; However, when you first heard him, you didn’t feel much for him.

‘Maybe you didn’t like it the first time you heard it, but when you hear it for the 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th time, there’s something you actually like.’

In fact, this is a psychological phenomenon that allows people to prefer certain things over time; just because they are familiar with them.

Max attributes the success of Jet2’s ‘nothing beats a Jet2 holiday’ mantra to this effect.

But choosing the ideal music for flights isn’t always as easy as you might think.

Max explains that each airline has its own identity. Max says Jet2 is about ‘being loud and proud’.

These are exactly the kinds of emotional states they evoke in passengers through music.

A long process is followed to create such an effect.

Max explains: ‘From a practical standpoint the first thing we do is the brand comes in and says “we want to understand what we sound like”. We are conducting a discovery process for the brand to find some musical references that strengthen the brand’s image.

‘Then we find great composers and music producers from around the world and build the right creative teams to respond to that demand.’

They then listen to various options to find the perfect sound.

Max concludes: ‘Probably no one thinks about the fact that when they sit on that plane, they go through a very robust and sometimes quite tedious process of stress testing to make sure that the music playing around them is the right, perfect music for that brand and that brand’s experience.’

‘Brands from all over the world come to us and say ‘we know what we look like but we want to be famous because of our voice,’ says Max.

Peaceful passengers: Every airline has its own unique voice, and Singapore Airlines aims to evoke feelings of calm and kindness.

‘We work with them to create an identity in the music world. KWhenever someone travels or gets on a plane anywhere in the world, they tend to be in a highly emotional state. ‘They’re going somewhere and your experience of the world is greatly influenced by your senses.’

Statistics also support his claim; According to Max, sound is approximately 800 percent more powerful than visual stimulation.

He adds: ‘Airline music on planes, interesting as they are, should be ignored. The idea is that if you’re getting on a plane, you can sip a glass of wine, read the newspaper, and that sets the stage.

‘But if your ear lingers on that piece of music, there is artistic depth to it. There is beauty in its design. This isn’t just a ridiculous cycle.’

For example, DLMDD created the voice identity for Singapore Airlines heard by approximately 40 million passengers annually.

The aim was to translate the airline’s famous floral visual identity into sound.

To do this, the team developed a special instrument that actually converts color frequencies into musical notes; composers later used it to write the airline’s boarding and landing music, known as the ‘Flower Symphony’; The result is a piece of music that evokes exactly the kind of peaceful feelings he wanted to embrace.

The ways composers create certain moods are complex and technical.

Max says: ‘Like the author of a literary work, a composer has a palette with which to work.

‘There are all these levers they can pull.’

For example, they avoid minor tones (music that give a sadder feel) when composing airline music.

He explains that rhythm and melody must also provide a ‘feeling of going somewhere’ and that it cannot be overly repetitive, going around and around all the time. This will alienate and annoy passengers.

And the situation becomes more touchy and technical if the airline is the flag carrier.

He says: ‘We can choose certain modes, scales, that will take us more towards the Middle East or the US.’

United Airlines, for example, has used Gershwin’s famous masterpiece Rhapsody in Blue for years, given its very American, New York style; which made you feel like you were in a good, real American environment.

Salute to Norway: To capture the essence of a national career, Max and his team worked with composers to distill the necessary emotions and feelings.

Similarly, when Max was working with Norwegian airlines, the aim was ‘to capture the essence and sound of Norway, and we recorded in a place called Trondheim, where it doesn’t get dark’.

When recording with the Trondheim Orchestra, they ‘injected only Norwegian musicians. It was all recorded in this amazing studio in the Trondheim fjords overlooking Norway. It feels very Norwegian in nature. ‘Very clean, forward-looking and beautiful’.

“Everybody wants Netflix’s level of fame,” Max explains, referencing the two-second sound everyone associates with the brand.

He concludes: ‘Most carriers carry not only the brand but also the nationality.

‘Achieving this level anywhere takes many years of determination.’