Muzak
Muzak refers to a background music service that gained prominence in the mid-20th century, particularly known for its role in enhancing ambiance in various public spaces like restaurants, shops, and offices. Originating in the 1930s, it was initially viewed as a prestigious offering, featuring specially programmed music designed to aid productivity without drawing attention. The service utilized a carefully curated library of recordings, avoiding commercial tracks and instead relying on performances by notable musicians of the time, such as the Dorsey Brothers and Fats Waller. Muzak was distributed over telephone lines, and its high-quality recordings were designed to create a soothing atmosphere, with different music types tailored for various settings and times of day. Despite its early success and international franchising, Muzak later faced criticism for allegedly replacing live music performances. Today, it evokes a sense of nostalgia and represents a unique chapter in the evolution of background music and soundscapes in modern commerce.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Muzak
Date Established 1934
Muzak changed the way music was implemented in the daily lives of Americans. It was used to program mood, and its creation meant that most public spaces were filled with canned music.
The Telharmonium distributed music by telephone wires to New York City clients in 1906, and a music service over power lines was offered in Cleveland in 1929. Both were limited by available technology; however, music via phone line became practical in 1934, and Muzak Holdings LLC led the way.
The name Muzak was inspired by trademarks such as Kodak and Kleenex, though eventually it became viewed as a derogatory term, implying canned music and elevator music. During the 1930’s, however, Muzak was considered to be a prestige service with little competition. Muzak was heard and generally welcomed in high-quality restaurants, shops, and offices. Fine dining meant a printed program of the evening’s Muzak proudly displayed on each table.
Muzak was not random. It was programmed by psychological content for the time of day and was to be heard but not listened to, an unobtrusive aid to productivity. There was music for daytime shopping and business, for evening dining and dancing, and up-tempo selections to keep factory workers alert in the predawn hours.
Commercial recordings were never used. Instead, a dual-purpose record library was created. The Associated Recorded Program Service offered music of all types to radio stations, while appropriate selections doubled for use as Muzak, many of which fall into a forgotten classification known as “hotel music.” The library’s list of big-name performers of the 1930’s includes the Dorsey Brothers, Victor Young, Andre Kostelanetz, Ray Noble, Morton Gould, Ben Selvin, Ozzie Nelson, Xavier Cugat, and Fats Waller, though most were not known outside New York, except perhaps on radio.
Muzak used a high-quality Western Electric recording process, developed from the Vitaphone motion-picture sound system of the 1920’s. The 12- and 16-inch cherry-red vinyl discs played at 33-1/3 revolutions per minute, and the vertically modulated groove was traced by a sapphire stylus. Despite superior disc quality, the sound was compressed and bandwidth-limited when distributed as background music over leased telephone lines.
Impact
Muzak was successfully franchised beyond New York in 1939 and became international. Some complained that it replaced live musicians. Others considered the slow extinction of supper club orchestras as inevitable. Muzak’s legacy includes fascinating and forgotten musical styles of the 1930’s, preserved in its library.
Bibliography
Bellamy, Edward. Looking Backward. New York: Dover, 1996.
Lanza, Joseph. Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Moodsong. Rev. and expanded ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004.