Elevator music is generally bland, dull, and forgettable— something that you must suffer through as you glide up to a top-floor hotel room or a roof-top bar. But QT Sydney, the quirky, luxury boutique located in the historic Gowings Building, has set out to change the elevator experience.
The hotel recently installed new technology in its five elevators to transform them into “interactive installations.”
Upon entering one of the elevators, custom-designed software senses how many guests are occupying the space at any one time, and selects specific songs from rotating playlists to “match” the number of passengers, time of day, and proposed mood. So, if someone is taking a solo ride in a QT elevator, the one-person playlist kicks in with tracks like “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley or Eric Carmen’s “All by Myself.”
Upon a second guest’s arrival, the elevator sensors will randomly select from the two-person playlist, including songs like “Just the Two of Us” by Bill Withers and “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor. And when the count reaches four people, the songs switch into party mode, with crowd-pleasers in the AM such as “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe. In the evening, the party really gets going with dance classics like Prince’s “1999” and “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite.
The elevators at QT Sydney also feature the digital art installations of Daniel Boyd, which combine elements of indigenous Aboriginal art with the European artistic traditions of Pointillism and Impressionism, fused through a unique digital interpretation.
