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

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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.com/

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