Sound machines are by no means new, but the options on the noise color spectrum have certainly expanded in the past 10 years.
So much so that you may not even know that beyond white noise, there is also is pink, brown, green, black and more.
According to the news outlet The Hustle, younger people — particularly those who get most of their information from TikTok — feel that a rainbow of colors is needed because everyone is different.
This is an opportunity for mattress retailers to set up an eye-catching rainbow display in their showrooms to educate and inform consumers about how sound machines work within the entire sleep system.
First, let’s take a quick look at how sound machines work. How quickly a sound wave vibrates is called its frequency, which is measured in hertz. A sound’s color depends on how energy is distributed over its frequencies.
With white noise, it’s evenly distributed across all audible frequencies — which is why it’s so good at blocking out all other sounds.
So what do the other colors signify?
- Pink noise can reduce the difference between the background hum and loud, jarring noises that jolt people out of sleep. That means it can help people fall asleep faster and keep them in a deep sleep for longer. Think rain or wind.
- Brown noise is a deep sound like thunder. This frequency has been linked to helping people calm their breathing and lower their heart rate, allowing them to fall asleep easier.
- Green noise, like waves, can be used to help people with sleep disorders, anxiety and stress. It also aids people who have trouble falling or staying asleep because of environmental noise or racing thoughts by relaxing them.
- Black noise is simply silence. Some people cannot sleep with any noise, and therefore they need complete silence to calm their thoughts.
This video does a great job explaining how several color frequencies work.
Sound machines present a new opportunity for retailers to not only diversify their product offerings but also offer everything a person needs for a full sleep system.
The Hustle points out that “YouTube channels, like ‘Relaxing White Noise,’ have millions of subscribers, while podcasters are making bank with noise streams. One told Bloomberg he makes $18k+/month.”
It’s clear that people are using sounds to help them sleep; however, we also know that constant sound throughout the night can disrupt sleep. So why not use this knowledge to truly become the expert?
