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High-impact Music Activation Proves that Curated, Licensed Audio Can Turn Retail into Immersive Brand Storytelling – With Speed, Authenticity, and Scale
DENVER, COLORADO, September 30, 2025 — Last month, as 180,000 fans prepared to fill San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for the three-night ‘Dead & Company’ celebration of the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary, California-based apparel and lifestyle brand Aviator Nation was readying its own unique celebration. With two of its stores located just blocks from the legendary band’s Haight-Ashbury roots, the company had pre-planned a music-first in-store experience that would resonate with fans beyond the park gates.
What Aviator Nation delivered was a retail activation rooted in music culture, built on a real-time collaboration between the apparel brand and Custom Channels, the business-focused licensed music streaming platform. Together, they turned a one-weekend concert into a memory-making retail moment – one that ultimately helped to accelerate a chain-wide Aviator Nation rollout of the Custom Channels solution.
According to Lizzie DeGroat, Aviator Nation’s Regional Manager and National Retail Event Director, Aviator Nation is more than apparel. Its retail locations are full-sensory environments, lined with vintage guitars, records, and surf-rock aesthetics pulled from the ’60s and ’70s. Music isn’t in-store background – it’s brand identity.
“Music has been part of our brand from day one,” said DeGroat. “We play mostly ’60s and ’70s rock to maintain our aesthetic, and Custom Channels has been instrumental in curating that feel in a licensed, consistent way.”
So, when the idea came up to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the band that started in its own backyard, Aviator Nation knew the sonic experience had to be as authentic as the merchandise sold. That meant not just any playlist, but a curated, legally licensed music solution that could reflect the brand’s ethos – and be deployed quickly.
Thanks to its existing partnership with Custom Channels, Aviator Nation was already ahead of the curve. Since Fall 2024, the company has deployed the Custom Channels’ platform to stream professionally curated, era-specific playlists across select locations, helping maintain the brand’s immersive in-store vibe.
With the event dates approaching, Custom Channels quickly curated and deployed a Grateful Dead playlist takeover across Aviator Nation’s two San Francisco stores, running from August 1–3 to coincide with the anniversary shows. The stream integrated seamlessly with Aviator Nation’s existing music systems.
“Most providers wouldn’t pause their programming for a two-store, three-day event,” said Jeremy Bookman, Director of Sales at Custom Channels. “But for us, it was a no-brainer. This wasn’t just a Grateful Dead playlist – it was a cultural moment – and it segued perfectly with the Dead & Company concerts.”
The entire effort came together in under 48 hours, according to DeGroat.
While music was the centerpiece, the stores were transformed visually into full-on celebration zones to mark the occasion. Aviator Nation created an immersive environment with in-store signage, sidewalk art, and collectible stickers, all designed to extend the Dead’s legacy beyond the park and onto the streets.
“Customers were hugely excited about our tailored Grateful Dead experience,” DeGroat added. “It was authentic, it was timely, and it elevated the entire Golden Gate Park concert weekend. You could feel that people were connecting with it in the stores.”
The carefully crafted playlist reflected not just the band’s biggest hits, but a spectrum of tracks designed to align with Aviator Nation’s vibe – ensuring the activation felt organic to the space, and not just promotional.
Though the activation ran for only the concert’s three days, in two stores, the impact has been long-lasting. Within weeks, Aviator Nation committed to expanding Custom Channels across its entire fleet – 18 stores total, excluding one music venue-based site.
“This wasn’t just a win for the weekend – it was a turning point in the partnership,” Bookman said. “The Dead event helped demonstrate the value of branded music as an emotional driver and business differentiator. That realization pushed the rollout forward.”
The rollout was made simple through Custom Channels’ streamlined platform, which offers wholesale pricing for multi-location brands, optional in-store messaging and branded audio content, and fully compliant public performance licensing. For retailers looking to scale ambiance without sacrificing control – with hardware-free deployment and real-time scheduling – it’s a future-ready solution that sidesteps the legal risks of other consumer-based platforms.
The Grateful Dead event was just the beginning. Both Aviator Nation and Custom Channels are now exploring additional activations around artist launches, local festivals, and retail-driven music tie-ins.
“We’d love to partner again for more music-related activations,” DeGroat added. “Working with Custom Channels was seamless – collaborative, creative, and completely aligned with who we are.”
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