UK Supermarkets Struggle to Stand Out as 63% of Grocery Content Uses Stock Music

Sep. 30, 2026

Some of Britain’s biggest supermarkets are being outperformed by international rivals in their use of distinctive sound, according to a new global analysis of 100 grocery brands.

The study by amp, a global sound-branding specialist that helps brands build distinctive audio identities and is part of WPP’s brand and design collective, finds Aldi is the highest-ranked UK supermarket at 32nd globally, followed by Morrisons at 35th and Asda at 37th. Lidl ranks 45th, M&S Food 54th, Tesco 58th, Sainsbury’s 68th, Ocado.com 76th, Waitrose 78th and Co-op UK 86th for sonic performance.

The UK top ten is:

• Aldi – 32nd globally
• Morrisons – 35th
• Asda – 37th
• Lidl - 45th
• M&S Food – 54th
• Tesco – 58th
• Sainsbury’s – 68th
• Ocado.com – 76th
• Waitrose – 78th
• Co-op UK – 86th

The findings come as amp identifies a wider distinctiveness problem across grocery marketing: stock music appears in 63% of supermarket content worldwide, with 77 of the 100 brands analysed using it in at least half of their content.

Only 31 have a sonic logo and just 15 use owned music, representing 3% of industry content.

The contrast with the highest-performing brands is stark. All of the top 10 brands in amp’s global ranking have sonic logos and nine use owned music.

The findings are published in the 11th edition of amp’s flagship publication, amplify: The Sound of Grocery Shopping, which examines how sound shapes recognition, trust, belonging and engagement across advertising, stores, apps, self-checkouts, delivery services and branded playlists.

Are UK supermarkets borrowing rather than building sonic equity?

The report devotes particular attention to UK Christmas supermarket advertising, where brands invest heavily in music to create emotion and memory.

In 2025, almost every UK supermarket analysed used licensed music in its Christmas advertising. But Morrisons was the only one to fully integrate its sonic logo into its Christmas ad, adapting it to the vocal style of Jona Lewie’s Stop the Cavalry.

Asda also incorporated a festive nod to its signature “pocket tap” gesture, accompanied by sleigh bells.

The report argues that while familiar licensed music can provide an emotional shortcut, relying heavily on borrowed music risks building associations with the track rather than creating distinctive sonic equity for the brand.

Sound is everywhere, but ownership is not

The study also identifies a gap between the number of sonic touchpoints available to grocery brands and how effectively they are being connected into recognisable brand systems.

Twenty-nine grocery brands have apps featuring UX or UI sounds, such as checkout, basket and payment cues, yet only 11 also have a sonic logo.

The report argues that these frequently repeated functional sounds have the potential to become a recognisable family of brand assets rather than remaining disconnected feedback.

Implementation is another challenge. Kroger’s “Doin’ It Fresh” identity is strategically designed, but its sonic logo appears in only 34% of content and owned music in 30%, while stock music still accounts for 37%. The case demonstrates that commissioning a sonic identity is only the beginning; consistent application is what allows it to build recognition.

Aldi provides another example of the ownership-versus-execution gap. While the retailer has a sonic logo, Aldi UK deployed it in just 1% of the content analysed.

Discount brands play the long game

Globally, discount supermarkets use owned music in approximately 4.5% of content, compared with 1% for premium retailers, while almost three times as many discount brands have sonic logos.

Those sonic logos appear in 12% of discount retailers’ content versus 3% for premium brands and are 15 years old on average, compared with 4.5 years among premium supermarkets.

Mexican supermarket Chedraui tops the global ranking, followed by Woolworths New Zealand and Líder. Chedraui’s sonic logo is more than 25 years old and appears in 78% of its content, while owned music appears in 45%.

Michele Arnese, Founder and Global CEO of amp and Editorial Director of amplify, said:

“In grocery shopping, sound shapes how people feel, how long they stay, how loyal they become and how much they trust the brand, across every experience, physical and digital, and across the flood of creator content. In-store, sound creates atmosphere, presence and emotional memory; online, it is what keeps a brand recognisable when everyone else is making your content. Yet a flexible sonic identity remains one of the sector’s most underdeveloped brand assets.”

 

Bjorn Thorleifsson, Director, Research & Insights at amp and Executive Editor of amplify, said:

“Our research shows the opportunity is not simply to add more sound, but to connect existing touchpoints through a distinctive, flexible system. The strongest brands own their sound and use it consistently.”

 

The edition also examines supermarket raves, including MOJU Drinks’ Morrisons event in Stratford; in-store audio as retail media; supermarket fandom on Spotify; luxury grocery’s missing soundtrack; and retail sound’s evolution from Muzak to AI-curated playlists.

Paul Hillyer, former Head of International Creative at Mood Media, contributes a guest article on using in-store audio to build the brand, enhance the experience and activate the sale.

With global rankings, case studies, analysis and guidance, plus guest contributions from Paul Hillyer and Lucy Yao, amplify: The Sound of Grocery Shopping is for grocery executives, retail marketers, brand leaders, customer-experience teams, retail-media specialists and digital product owners.