On the surface, you might think music and gambling aren’t hugely related. But you may be surprised by some of the connections out there. From back when slot machines were purely mechanical, gambling operators have understood the role of sound and music in gambling psychology.
From the soundtrack choices on casino floors, to major artists playing gigs at casinos to licensed slot games and brand deals, these are the ways gambling and music are now permanently linked together.
The Role of Sound and Music in the Casino Experience
Casinos have long used music to create an engaging atmosphere. The right music, along with other elements like lighting and layout, encourages the state of flow. Which means patrons become absorbed in the games and play for longer.
Advertising research has proven that upbeat music, often used in slots, can encourage more risk taking and faster betting. Slower and more intense music helps players zone into longer sessions in more thoughtful games like blackjack, baccarat and poker.
If you’ve ever placed a sportbet you might know that music isn’t so prevalent in this specific gambling sector. Top class sports bettors use the vast amount of data generated in sports to comb sportsbooks for the best undervalued odds – and music could prove distracting.
Online sports bettors use top bonuses and promotional offers to their advantage while combing through markets like a spreadsheet, in contrast to the loud and over-the-top bells and whistles of slots and live casino games.
Slot games, and now live casino game shows, use carefully designed sounds and music to enhance the experience, and encourage more play. For example, you might have seen when you hit two out of three scatter symbols needed for a bonus round, the game makes a suspenseful whooshing or whirring sound as it you wait for the outcome of the final reel to stop spinning.
This is an example of the near miss effect, where accentuating nearly hitting a big win makes you think one will be more likely in the next spins. When in reality, each spin resets to exactly the same chance of a win.
Musicians Playing at Casinos and Slot Brand Deals
The reliance on music for casino and game atmosphere, coupled with the growth of musicians as celebrities over the past century, has resulted in closer ties between the two businesses. Most major casino resorts in the US and around the world now have in-house performance spaces, and often large concert venues.
Many of the world’s biggest musical acts have played residencies in Las Vegas in recent years. Just a few of the Stars that have played regular shows in Sin City casinos include:
- Celine Dion, Elton John and Adele at Caesars Palace
- Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars at ParkMGM
- Britney Spears and Shania Twain at Planet Hollywood
- Rat Pack era days of Frank Sinatra and before that Elvis Presley
Some of these musicians have been known to frequent casinos themselves. Sinatra enthusiastically embraced high limit gambling for most of his career in Vegas. Meanwhile Bruno Mars has long been rumored to have large outstanding gambling debts to MGM.
Some musicians don’t just perform at casinos though. There are plenty of big name artists and bands that have lent their official music – and likenesses – to slot game developers.
Just a few officially licensed music themed slots available at online casinos today include:
- The NetEnt Rock series including licensed games from Guns N’ Roses, Motorhead and Jimi Hendrix
- Michael Jackson: King of Pop slot
- KISS: Shout it Out Loud slot game
- Play’n Go’s Deff Leppard slot
Musicians and Their Songs About Gambling
Interestingly, people were writing songs about gambling long before the concept of brand deals even existed. Just a few popular songs from the past 80 years of recorded music that are themed around gambling include:
- The Gambler by Kenny Rogers
- Motorhead’s Ace of Spades
- Elvis Presley’s Viva Las Vegas
- Banned From The Vic – an album by pro poker player and rapper Sly Moon
- Lady Gaga’s Poker Face
Gambling makes an attractive metaphor for musicians, even if they aren’t specifically gamblers themselves. The high risk, high reward nature of the game can be compared to famous musicians taking a chance on themselves and their musical careers over getting a day job.
Others songwriters just enjoy a gamble themselves, and naturally create music about what they know. There are also musicians who don’t write about gambling in their songs, but post about their high stakes bets to their social media fans.
Performers across all eras, from Frank Sinatra in the Rat Pack days to Motorhead’s Lemmy in the 1970s and 80s, to modern stars like Drake or 50 Cent and their high stakes sports bets, rich and famous musicians of all kinds have loved a gamble.
So there you have it. The subtle sound design behind casino floor and slot game soundtracks. The musicians who played at Las Vegas casinos. The bands who licensed slot games, or the stars who enjoyed a gamble themselves. The absolute belter songs written about or inspired by gambling. These are the ways the worlds of gambling and music sometimes play together in sweet harmony.