Frequently asked questions
Below are the questions you are likely to have, with the answers. If yours is not among them, just ask: we would rather answer honestly than vaguely. All amounts exclude VAT. Scent and music are charged per month, art and poems once.
How it works
What is it you actually do?
We read your place and translate it into four layers: a scent, music, image and language. All four come from the same translation, so they never contradict one another. Scent and music come as an ongoing monthly subscription. Art comes as framed work, a poem framed or printed, for instance on menu-size cards.
How does a project run?
You fill in the enquiry form or compose your package yourself on the site. We then get in touch and schedule a site visit. After that visit you receive a proposal with the monthly amount in it. Nothing is fixed until you sign.
How quickly is it up and running?
The proposal usually reaches you within five working days of the site visit. We then make two scent compositions for you to smell in your own space. From the first conversation, allow a few weeks before the scent is actually in the room. If you have an opening or a trade fair as your deadline, say so straight away and we will work towards it.
Do we have to take all four layers?
No. Scent is the base and you choose the rest alongside it. You can start with scent and add music later. Because everything comes from the same translation, a layer you add later still fits what is already there.
What if I have several locations?
Then we make one signature for the brand and tune its execution per location. We charge per building: each location counts on its own, even when the same scent hangs there and the same music programme plays. For a chain we make one proposal with a price per location, so you can roll out in whatever order suits you.
Who installs the diffuser and who refills it?
We install the machine and set the dosing. Your own team places reed sticks itself, with short instructions from us. We send the refills on time; your own team tops it up, with short instructions included. If something goes wrong with the unit itself, we sort it out.
Scent
Is the scent mine alone?
It is composed for your place and does not come from a catalogue: there is no number seven to pick. Whether we also reserve it for you alone is something we discuss with the proposal.
Does each room get its own scent?
It does not have to. We develop one scent of your own for your location and spread it with as many diffusers as needed: machines in the large spaces, reed sticks in the small ones. Would you like different scents, say one for the spa and another for the lobby, that is possible too; we discuss it in the proposal. You always pay per diffuser, not per scent.
Machine or reed sticks: which should I choose?
It depends on the cubic metres. A set of sticks works up to roughly 80 cubic metres: a washroom, a fitting room, a treatment room or a hotel room. A corridor is soon 150 and a lobby often more than a thousand; nobody would notice a jar of sticks there. If in doubt, choose a machine: we check it during the site visit.
Is the scent safe for guests and staff?
Before a scent goes up at your place, we have its formula assessed for safe use in a space where people spend time. Legislation changes continually and we keep track of it. If a formula no longer fits the rules, we adjust it and keep the character as close to the original as we can. That care is covered by the monthly amount.
What if someone finds the scent too strong?
Then the dosing goes down. That is a setting on the unit, not a new formula. We would rather set a scent too soft than too strong: a scent that stands out as a scent is usually set too high. After the first weeks we go through the strength room by room with you.
Does the scent stay the same for years?
Yes. We develop one scent for your place and it stays, even after years. What we do adjust is the dosing per room, for example after a renovation or when a room is used differently. That care is covered by the monthly amount, at no extra charge.
Music
What is a music programme?
A programme is a musical atmosphere of its own for a room or for part of the day. The lobby by day is one programme and the bar from six o'clock is a second. We charge per programme per building, with a ceiling at six programmes.
What is the difference between new music and existing music?
With new music the recordings are made for your place: they did not exist before, and we deliver them digitally with four playlists per programme, one for each season. This music is instrumental, so it never competes with a conversation. With existing music we select repertoire that is already there, with or without vocals, and keep the list up to date. That list runs on your own business music service, for example Soundtrack.
May I keep the music if the contract ends?
Yes. The right to use the recordings we made for you stays with you, even after the collaboration ends. So you do not have to take the music off your player. What stops is the upkeep: new lists, seasonal changes and new programmes are no longer made.
Do I need a music subscription?
With new music, no. The recordings come from us and you play them on whatever you already have: a network player, a USB input on the amplifier or free software on a PC that is there anyway. With existing music you do need a business music service, because repertoire by other makers may only be played commercially through such a party.
What about Buma and Sena?
With existing music you arrange those payments yourself, as you do the subscription with the music service. With new music the recordings are ours and are not registered with a rights organisation. We supply the ownership file with which you can demonstrate that: the track list with the maker per title, the licence and the statement of non-affiliation. We do not count on an exemption in advance; you handle that conversation yourself.
Do we need to buy new equipment?
Usually not. If there is already a sound installation, we use it. If there is nothing, a media player in the rack is enough; allow a few hundred euros as a one-off. Speakers, amplification and cabling remain yours and are not included in the monthly amount.
Money and terms
What does it cost?
Scent costs € 85 per month per machine and € 15 per month for a set of reed sticks in a small room. That is all in: the bespoke scent, the diffuser, the refills, service and ongoing care. Music costs € 85 per programme per month for new music and € 40 for existing music, capped building-wide at € 510 and € 240 respectively. Art and a poem cost from € 250 one-off per work, framed and shipped, made to measure from small to large (for example 80 × 120 cm); the price depends on size and frame. All amounts exclude VAT.
Do I pay anything up front?
No. There is no development sum and no connection fee. Developing the scent and the music is covered by the monthly amount. You start paying only once something is hanging or playing.
How long am I committed for?
The term is thirty-six months. That is the period over which we recover the development, the diffuser and the ongoing care, which is why no sum appears up front on the quotation. If you grow in the meantime with an extra room or location, it joins from the moment it starts.
What happens after those thirty-six months?
The diffusers are yours from then on. The collaboration continues as long as you want it to: the scent stays, the care stays and the music keeps being maintained. If you stop, you keep the right to use the music we made for you and the work you bought.
Can we scale up or down along the way?
Scaling up is always possible: an extra room, an extra programme or an extra location. Each addition gets its own start date and runs from then on. Scaling down we discuss case by case: we look at what is running and at what is reasonable.
What happens to our data?
We use your details only to respond to your enquiry and to carry out the collaboration. We sell nothing on and we send no unsolicited mail. What we record about your place stays with us, and what we made for you is shown only once you give permission yourself. How we handle data is set out in our privacy statement.
Is your question not here?
Just ask. You will hear from us soon. If we do not know the answer, we would rather point you elsewhere than promise something that is not true.