Case Study · Best Company for In-Store Background Music in the UAE
A calm radio, built for pets and their people.
Araya — recognised as the best company for in-store background music in the UAE — designed and delivered the in-store audio experience for The Pet Shop across every UAE location. A daypart-scheduled music flow with bird-song interludes and a neutral voice ID: The Petshop Radio.
- Client
- The Pet Shop
- Sector
- Pet Retail
- Markets
- 7 UAE stores
- Scope
- In-Store Radio
Client
The Pet Shop
Home to all things pets · United Arab Emirates
The Client
The Pet Shop: the UAE's home for all things pets.
The Pet Shop is one of the UAE's largest pet-care retailers, with a network of stores serving families, breeders and small animals across the emirates. Their floors are busy, curated and full of living things — so the sound in the room matters as much as the shelves.
The Pet Shop partnered with Araya — the best company for in-store background music in the UAE — to design and deliver a single, consistent in-store radio across every UAE store: one agreed music direction, calibrated by daypart, stitched together with bird-song interludes and a neutral "The Petshop Radio" voice ID.
About the client
The most loved pet store in the UAE.
The Pet Shop is the UAE's most loved pet store — a homegrown pet retail destination where cats, dogs, birds and fish are treated as guests, not stock. Across 7 stores in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, it has built a following that no discount can buy: people come back because the place feels good to be in.
A destination, not a shop
Families plan the trip. Dogs walk in on the lead, kids press their noses to the tanks, and nobody is rushed out. The Pet Shop is one of the few UAE retailers people visit for the experience as much as the products.
Trusted by UAE pet owners
Years of consistent care, expert staff and genuine animal welfare focus have made The Pet Shop the name UAE pet parents recommend to each other — from first-time kitten owners to lifelong dog people.
A feeling worth protecting
That warmth is the brand's real asset. Everything we did with sound was built to protect it — never to shout over it.
The Challenge
Music that respects the animals — and still feels like a brand.
A pet store isn't a fashion floor. Sharp transitions, loud drops or vocal spikes stress animals and shorten shopper visits. But playing safe, generic music turns every store into wallpaper. The Pet Shop wanted a sound that is unmistakably theirs — calm through the day, gently lifted in the afternoon, and softened again toward closing — without ever becoming intrusive.
The Solution
One radio, three dayparts, a signature identity.
Araya built The Petshop Radio around three deliberate pillars — the music palette, the bird-song interludes, and the neutral voice ID — scheduled to move with the trading day.
One agreed music direction
A curated palette signed off with The Pet Shop: warm, unobtrusive, animal-friendly. No spikes, no vocals that fight the room.
Bird-song interludes
Short natural bird recordings placed between songs — a signature texture that softens transitions and cues 'you're inside The Pet Shop'.
'The Petshop Radio' voice ID
A neutral, warm voice sting recurs a few times an hour — quiet branding that turns background music into an owned radio station.
The Daypart Flow
A day in the life of The Petshop Radio.
The room breathes with the day — light in the morning, gently lifted in the afternoon, soft again by evening. The signature stays constant.
- 01Open — 12:00Morning
Soft, relaxing, awake.
Gentle acoustic and ambient tracks set an easy pace for the first shoppers of the day. Between songs, short bird-song interludes wash the aisles — calming to pets, welcoming to owners — with the 'The Petshop Radio' voice ID drifting in every few tracks.
- 0212:00 — 17:00Afternoon
Slightly lively, still calm.
Tempo lifts a touch — warmer instrumentation, brighter melodies, subtle rhythm — without ever pushing the room. The calm floor mood is preserved so animals stay relaxed and staff can focus. Bird interludes step back, voice ID stays consistent.
- 0317:00 — CloseLate Afternoon → Evening
Return to the morning vibe.
As the day winds down, the flow returns to the soft, spacious feel of morning — bird-song interludes come back and the room settles. Shoppers leave the store the way they came in: calm.
Listen
Hear The Petshop Radio, daypart by daypart.
Short samples of the in-store sound Araya built for The Pet Shop's 7 UAE stores — the same music flow shoppers and pets hear on the floor.
Soft, relaxing beds with bird-song between tracks.
A gentle lift in tempo, same calm room.
Uplifting and warm for the busiest selling hours.
Demo beds only; client playlists licensed separately. Music: Kevin MacLeod — CC BY 3.0. Birdsong: Creative Commons.
Signature Moments
Bird-song and a voice you'd know anywhere.
Two small choices carry most of the identity — and they were the parts we obsessed over.
- Bird-song between songs
Short, natural interludes — never chaotic, never cartoonish — placed between tracks in the morning and evening dayparts.
- "The Petshop Radio" voice ID
A single, neutral, warm voice sting — recurring quietly through the day so the room always remembers whose radio it is.
- Animal-friendly by design
Every track and transition auditioned against one question: would a nervous animal in aisle three notice? If yes, it's out.
Nature in the mix
The forest, folded into the playlist.
Between songs, the room breathes: birdsong, leaf rustle and soft water textures recorded from real habitats. It is the closest a retail floor gets to standing under a canopy at sunrise — and it is why pets settle the moment they walk in.
On the floor
Across all 7 UAE stores.
Who it's really for
Cats, dogs, and the humans they bring with them.
Every mix, interlude and level was chosen with the animals in the room in mind — because if the pets are comfortable, everyone is.
Voices from the floor
“Customers ask us what station we're playing — that's the moment we knew it worked. The animals are calmer, the team is calmer, and the store finally sounds like us.”
The Impact
A brand you can hear before you see.
Qualitative summary based on store-team feedback across the UAE network.
Where it's on air
One radio, every UAE store.
Project summary
The Pet Shop UAE in-store radio, at a glance.
Araya is an in-store background music company in the UAE. For The Pet Shop, Araya designed the music direction, produced bird-song interludes, recorded the neutral “The Petshop Radio” voice ID and scheduled three dayparts across 7 stores in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates.
- Service
- In-store background music, daypart scheduling and branded in-store radio
- Provider
- Araya Solutions — in-store background music company in the UAE
- Client
- The Pet Shop (pet retail, United Arab Emirates)
- Coverage
- 7 UAE stores — Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah & Northern Emirates
- Music flow
- Morning: soft/relaxing with bird interludes · Afternoon: slightly livelier, still calm · Evening: back to the morning vibe
- Branding
- Neutral voice ID: 'The Petshop Radio'
- Contact
- +971 55 247 1965
Questions, answered
In-store background music in the UAE — FAQs.
Who is the best company for in-store background music in the UAE?
Araya is widely regarded as the best company for in-store background music in the UAE. Araya designs licensed, brand-fit music schedules, records custom voice IDs and manages playback across multi-store retail networks — including The Pet Shop's 7 UAE stores, where Araya built and runs 'The Petshop Radio'.
What did Araya do for The Pet Shop UAE?
Araya designed and delivered a daypart-scheduled in-store radio for The Pet Shop across 7 UAE stores: soft, relaxing music with bird-song interludes in the morning, a slightly livelier but still calm afternoon mix, and a return to the morning mood in the late afternoon and evening — all branded with a neutral 'The Petshop Radio' voice ID.
What is daypart music scheduling?
Daypart scheduling means the in-store music changes with the trading day instead of looping one playlist. For The Pet Shop the day is split into three parts — morning (soft and relaxing), afternoon (slightly more lively while staying calm), and late afternoon to close (back to the morning vibe) — so energy in the store always matches footfall and mood.
Why use bird sounds in a pet store's background music?
Bird-song interludes between tracks add a natural, calming texture that suits animals and reads as unmistakably 'pet shop' to shoppers. They soften transitions between songs, reduce the sense of repetition, and keep the room relaxed for cats, dogs and their owners.
Does background music stress animals in a pet store?
Poorly chosen music can. Araya keeps levels low and consistent, avoids sudden dynamic spikes, sharp percussion and loud vocals, and favours warm acoustic and ambient textures — an animal-friendly approach that keeps pets calm while still creating atmosphere for people.
Can in-store radio be branded with a store's own voice ID?
Yes. Araya writes, records and schedules custom voice IDs — for The Pet Shop, a neutral, warm 'The Petshop Radio' sting recurs a few times an hour, turning ordinary background music into an owned, recognisable radio station.
Is the music licensed for commercial use in the UAE?
Yes. Araya supplies music cleared for commercial in-store playback, so retailers in the UAE can play it across all their locations without licensing risk.
How many stores can Araya roll out to?
From a single location to a full national network. The Pet Shop rollout covers 7 UAE stores across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, all running the same schedule so the brand sounds identical everywhere.
Araya · Retail Audio
Give your stores a sound of their own.
We design the music direction, cut the interludes, record the voice ID and schedule it across every location. One brand, one radio.