Why do so many retail stores, bars and restaurants play Brazilian music?

If it's something you only noticed recently, it could also be because of the World Cup going on now.

At this point, using "The Girl From Ipanema" as either hold music or elevator music has reached the point of cliche, so I wonder if this goes pretty far back.

I can't recall going into a Starbucks, for example, and hearing anything but Brazilian music when I'm there. Could this be something local to your area, or confirmation bias? Because I go to Starbuck's every work day and they always play indie/folkie type of music, often the music from the CDs they're trying to sell near the register. I can't say I remember hearing anything Brazilian.

My guess is that Brazilian music is upbeat, uptempo, etc., and so it is thought that it produces in consumers a feeling of energy, happiness, etc. Better that than a funeral dirge. That said, I don't think I've ever heard Brazilian music in Starbucks before. Where do you live? Perhaps there is a large Brazilian population there?

The kind of Brazilian music that cafes and restaurants play is a step more mellow than Manu Chao, while fitting into that same niche of "pleasant and inoffensive world music." (Obviously Brazilian music is far broader, but it's a small subset that fits this profile and gets used this way here.) Some years back you heard the Buena Vista Social Club played in those settings; a bit further back there was a time when you heard more African music, like Ladysmith Black Mambazo. All of these are tonally fairly similar, neither too shrill nor bass heavy, more or less mid-tempo, with great production values, and are guaranteed to offend no one. The American equivalents are probably the soundtrack to Oh Brother Where Art Thou and Lana Del Rey.

It used to be Peruvian Flute Music for awhile, then Salsa. You have to admit, Sambas and Bossa Novas are pretty nice working music. I worked in Miami though, so we had that vibe.

Or does it make you feel like the coffee you're drinking came off the boat from South America only minutes before it was brewed?

There's a long history of Brazilian music, especially bossa nova, being popular in the US. It's hard to undo over 50 years of an established trend.

Somewhere ("Why we buy"?) I read that many stores play Beatles because it's cross-generational and cross-cultural. Maybe the same goes with bossa nova: happy thoughts for all.