Sonic Seasoning powered by Marodi

How Music Changes the Taste of Food

We rarely experience taste in isolation. It is shaped by a range of stimuli – visual, olfactory, tactile and auditory. It is precisely this connection between the senses that we explore in our new collaboration with RTL through the series “Sonic Seasoning powered by Marodi: How Music Influences the Taste of Food.”

The initial question was simple: can sound change the way we perceive the same bite?

Taste as a Multisensory Experience

Contemporary research in neuroscience and multisensory perception confirms that the brain does not process the senses separately. Information received through sight, sound, smell and taste is integrated into one unified experience.

In the context of food, this means that ambient sound, musical tempo or frequency range can influence how we perceive sweetness, bitterness or overall intensity. Higher tones are often associated with enhanced sweetness, while lower frequencies may emphasize bitterness and depth.

In other words, what we hear can actively participate in shaping what we taste.

The Experiment: Same Soup, Different Soundscape

In the first episode of the series, we decided to test this theory in a real environment – in the kitchen, without laboratory conditions.

Chef Ivan Vrbanec prepared a tomato soup with Marodi thin noodles – a familiar dish with a clearly defined taste memory. Precisely because it is so universally known, soup proved to be the ideal platform for the experiment.

Participants tasted the same soup in silence, and then again accompanied by two different sound atmospheres – one with higher, softer tones and another with deeper, slower frequencies.

The result was clear: perception shifted. Participants reported differences in sweetness, intensity and overall balance, even though the recipe itself remained unchanged.

The Expertise Behind the Phenomenon

The series features insights from Dr. Mia Suhanek from the Department of Electroacoustics at FER, consumer insights expert Tatjana Rajković, RTL journalist and music editor Ida Hamer, as well as musician and producer Bojan Jambrošić.

Through their perspectives, science, consumer perception and musical practice come together, and theory is tested through a concrete culinary example.

Why This Matters

This topic goes beyond a single experiment. It opens a broader question of how we experience food in restaurants, at home or at events.

If sound can influence taste perception, then ambience becomes an integral part of gastronomy. Music is no longer just background – it can be an element that shapes the overall experience.

For us, this collaboration represents a natural continuation of viewing food as an experience, not merely a product.

Try It Yourself

The experiment can easily be replicated at home.

Prepare a simple dish you know well. Taste it in silence, then again with two completely different musical atmospheres. Pay attention to intensity, texture and overall impression.

The change may not be dramatic – but it will be noticeable.

See how it all unfolded in the first episode of “Sonic Seasoning powered by Marodi.”