Musical Space 11/1: Muzak

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KMUW / Mark Foley

This week on Musical Space, Mark Foley discusses that annoying non-presence, Muzak.

You can imagine that I had mixed feelings when I heard that the Muzak company had recently emerged from bankruptcy. These are the guys who used scientific research to design background music which had an effect on our buying and working habits. You’ve heard it in elevators, dentist offices, and supermarkets; an ubiquitous wallpaper music made deliberately bland so that you didn’t think about it. I’m uncomfortable with the idea that a company can influence my unconscious decisions, but what really bugs me about background music is that is designed not to be listened to. 

Anybody with ears can listen to music closely and critically. But here is a music that is made only to distract and never engage. Our brains are rendered unable to form thoughts about what we are hearing. But is seems that this is the plan—to make it hard for people to think critically.

Another thing occurs to me: Why do they play background music in elevators? I think it is to protect us from uncomfortable silences. We might prefer to be distracted from the reality that we are a group of strangers confined to a small box. But for music to be a distraction takes away from our ability to have an aesthetic experience. It might be that a great way to learn to appreciate music would be to first learn to appreciate silence.