Michael Smith doesn’t like being overpowered by lousy background music. But that’s just what happened shortly after this Los Angeles-based music consultant sat down to brunch at Bouley Bakery. He grimaced at the pop songs bellowing from the speakers of the trendy TriBeCa restaurant. Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville” got him a bit off-kilter. “That’s perfect for hanging out in the Keys, not in a bustling New York City bistro,” he said. Then came “Juke Box Hero” by Foreigner. But it was “Welcome to the Jungle” that pushed him over the edge.

“Think about it. You spare no expense creating the perfect restaurant, but then you blow it by letting your maitre d’ blare his own iPod mix all day. Would you allow that guy to write the menu and prepare the food, too?”

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A quick check with one of the waiters confirmed Mr. Smith’s speculation that the restaurant’s maitre d’ was indeed playing his own iPod during brunch. “I see this happen all the time,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Mr. Smith creates what he calls “audio identities” for stores and restaurants. He’s a pioneer in doing for ambient sound what interior decorators do for creating an overall look of a place. He founded Michael Smith Event Music about four years ago, but it’s only recently that he’s gone from spinning records at high-profile parties to designing background-music playlists for New York City and Hollywood clients.

His most remarkable commission to date has been to design the sound for Philippe Starck’s Katsuya restaurants. Mr. Starck, who has created a widely identifiable brand with his flair for interior design, contacted Mr. Smith to develop the right sound in each of his three Japanese restaurants after he heard him spin a party.

“I always start out asking myself what we want the end result to be,” Mr. Smith said. “If it’s a restaurant, then what’s the crowd like? Are people hip and young and mostly there for drinks, or are they older and more sophisticated and there to enjoy the food?”

Mr. Smith said it’s also important to consider what the clientele would be listening to at home during that time of day. His case in point: The Sunday brunch crowd at Bouley Bakery wouldn’t be banging their heads to Axl Rose. Another rule of thumb in designing a good sound identity is that every fifth song on a playlist should make people take notice of it, if even very casually. Mr. Smith doesn’t stick to musical genres in forming a list; a fifth song could as well be a Bach capriccio as it could a wild new remix. “It’s all about developing that mood, that distinctive sound brand,” he said.

In the case of the Katsuya restaraunts, Mr. Smith has chosen three playlists for each of the locations (the third of which opens this April in Los Angeles). The idea is that there’s an entirely different groove for lunch patrons in downtown Los Angeles than the dinner set in Hollywood. “Michael has been able to help us define the Katsuya brand with his selection of innovative music,” the restaurant’s general manager, Brooke Brown, said. “He’s been instrumental in helping us create our young, edgy, sexy ambiance.”

Mr. Smith charges handsomely for these services: Because he is a DJ who commands $10,000 for one live performance, he said he has no qualms about his $30,000 up-front fee to get started. An additional $20,000 annual maintenance fee ensures that he is constantly updating playlists and looping them at proper intervals for each time of day in a restaurant, art gallery, or store. He does so from a computer server in his Los Angeles office. “Hey, if you want to pay $15 a month for Sirius Satellite Radio instead, knock yourself out,” Mr. Smith said.

Local investment bankers and sell-side analysts at UBS might be familiar with Mr. Smith: He spins at that bank’s parties here. The Museum of Modern Art brings him in at least once a month to spin live. Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana, Vogue, and Vanity Fair are regular party clients as well. During the holidays, he spun at W magazine’s Christmas party at the Donna Karan flagship store, a benefit for the Hassenfeld Children’s Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders at NYU, and an ABC network presentation at Avery Fisher Hall.

Another interesting facet of Mr. Smith’s music consultancy is a reflection of the times: Well-heeled clients who don’t have the patience to program their music players hire him to create personalized playlists. Just this week, Mr. Smith confirmed that he’ll be designing background music for 15 locations of the bowling alley and restaurant chain Lucky Strike in America and Canada.