An audio system for an aircraft passenger cabin and a method for controlling such an audio system for providing passengers with information programs, in which multiple loudspeakers are each disposed at a predefined loudspeaker location in the aircraft cabin, and an audio signal having at least one audio channel is reproduced via the loudspeakers wherein the at least one audio channel is output by a central processing unit to the multiple loudspeakers in the aircraft cabin via a bus system having multiple distribution units and multiple cabin units.