Elevator music

Elevator music
"Muzak" redirects here. For the corporation, see Muzak Holdings.

Elevator music (also known as muzak, piped music, weather music, or lift music) refers to instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold), cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators. The term is also frequently applied as a generic term for any form of easy listening, smooth jazz, or middle of the road music, or to the type of recordings commonly heard on "beautiful music" radio stations.

The Muzak Holdings Corporation is a major supplier of business background music, and was the best known such supplier for years. Since 1997 Muzak has used original artists for its music source,[1] except on the Environmental channel.[2]

Elevator music is typically set to a very simple melody, so that it can be unobtrusively looped back to the beginning. In a mall or shopping center, elevator music of a specific type has been found to have a psychological effect: slower, more relaxed music tends to make people slow down and browse longer.[citation needed] Elevator music may also be preferred over broadcast radio stations due to the lack of lyrics and commercial interruptions.[citation needed]

This style of music is sometimes used to comedic effect in mass media such as film, where intense or dramatic scenes may be interrupted or interspersed with such anodyne music while characters use an elevator (e.g. The Blues Brothers, Dawn of the Dead, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra and Spider-Man 2).

See also

References

  1. ^ "Annals of Culture: The Soundtrack of Your Life", The New Yorker by David Owen (04/10/2006).
  2. ^ "Encompass LE Program Listing" (PDF). Muzak Corporation. November 10 2006. http://www.muzak.com/downloads/LE_programs.pdf. Retrieved April 19, 2007.  (PDF)

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • elevator music — n. recorded popular music played in the background in public places such as elevators, variously regarded as being bland, monotonous, etc. * * * …   Universalium

  • elevator music — elevator .music n [U] informal the type of music that is played in shops and public places, and is usually thought to be boring …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • elevator music — elevator ,music noun uncount a type of quiet recorded music that is played in public places such as airports …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • elevator music — n. recorded popular music played in the background in public places such as elevators, variously regarded as being bland, monotonous, etc …   English World dictionary

  • elevator music — n. dull, uninteresting music of the type that can be heard in elevators or shops. (As compared to exciting jazz or rock.) □ I don’t want to have to hear elevator music all day. □ Elevator music is better than listening to someone chewing food …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • Elevator Music — Filiale de Hut Recordings (1996 2004) Virgin Music (2004 2007) Fondé en 1996 Fondateur Placebo Statut Mort (2007) Genre(s) Rock …   Wikipédia en Français

  • elevator music — American pleasant but boring recorded music that is played in public places. You can t get away from elevator music in some shopping malls …   New idioms dictionary

  • Elevator Music Ltd. — Elevator Music Filiale de Hut Recordings (1996 2004) Virgin Music (2004 2007) Fondé en 1996 Fondateur Placebo Statut …   Wikipédia en Français

  • elevator music — noun Date: 1978 instrumental arrangements of popular songs often piped in (as to an elevator or retail store) …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • elevator music — noun : instrumental arrangements of popular songs often piped in (as to an elevator or a retail store) * * * noun [noncount] US : instrumental versions of popular songs that are often played in elevators, offices, etc …   Useful english dictionary

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