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The malls are alive with the sound of Muzak The malls are alive with the sound of Muzak
(7 months later)
Last week was big for music: the 55th Grammys chose their inoffensive favorites, Beyoncé silenced naysayers at the Super Bowl, and an American institution "retired": Muzak. But the "soundtrack to life" won't be turned off – it will embed itself deeper into our daily lives and may even alter entirely change how we hear music.Last week was big for music: the 55th Grammys chose their inoffensive favorites, Beyoncé silenced naysayers at the Super Bowl, and an American institution "retired": Muzak. But the "soundtrack to life" won't be turned off – it will embed itself deeper into our daily lives and may even alter entirely change how we hear music.
"Retirement", of course, isn't really the right word. "Muzak" didn't start out meaning elevator music: like Kleenex and Xerox, it's a trademarked brand that became slang for a generic feature of our lives. The marketing corporation Mood Media, which owns Muzak, "designs" music for its clients to pipe into their stores. But after many years of Muzak's second life as a derogatory word, the company has finally announced it will do away with the title as part of a "global rebranding". The danger, as the brand becomes better at reinventing itself, is that we risk becoming numb to both the advertising and songs it employs."Retirement", of course, isn't really the right word. "Muzak" didn't start out meaning elevator music: like Kleenex and Xerox, it's a trademarked brand that became slang for a generic feature of our lives. The marketing corporation Mood Media, which owns Muzak, "designs" music for its clients to pipe into their stores. But after many years of Muzak's second life as a derogatory word, the company has finally announced it will do away with the title as part of a "global rebranding". The danger, as the brand becomes better at reinventing itself, is that we risk becoming numb to both the advertising and songs it employs.
Muzak has had a bizarre history, appropriately for a company that employs "audio architects" to chart a song's "topology". Among its many changes over the years, the biggest came when the company began to license songs by independent artists, taking popular music and transforming it into brand identities. Classic Muzak persists for the clients who want it, but most of it is more akin to curated playlists: Krispy Kreme gets 50s diner treatment, Old Navy gets retro and modern pop, and PetCo gets Elton John and tidal auras for its fish tanks. Mood Media bought Muzak in 2011, but has just begun its "global rebranding".Muzak has had a bizarre history, appropriately for a company that employs "audio architects" to chart a song's "topology". Among its many changes over the years, the biggest came when the company began to license songs by independent artists, taking popular music and transforming it into brand identities. Classic Muzak persists for the clients who want it, but most of it is more akin to curated playlists: Krispy Kreme gets 50s diner treatment, Old Navy gets retro and modern pop, and PetCo gets Elton John and tidal auras for its fish tanks. Mood Media bought Muzak in 2011, but has just begun its "global rebranding".
Mood Media has chosen to consolidate Muzak into "sensory" or "neuromarketing" – that is, sensory overload that manipulates your buying habits. The company custom-designs sounds, sights, and even smells. Muzak pioneered the early possibilities of consumer psychology, finding that with innocuous background music, shoppers lose track of time and report happier experiences.Mood Media has chosen to consolidate Muzak into "sensory" or "neuromarketing" – that is, sensory overload that manipulates your buying habits. The company custom-designs sounds, sights, and even smells. Muzak pioneered the early possibilities of consumer psychology, finding that with innocuous background music, shoppers lose track of time and report happier experiences.
Mood Media doesn't just want to drop the bad connotations of its old name, though. It wants to upgrade its tactics to modern standards. The company wants to be more subtle and pervasive, and it will do this by being more boring. In a close inspection of the company for the New Yorker, David Owen revealed careful manipulations to this end: attention to segues, volume control, and an imperative for consistency.Mood Media doesn't just want to drop the bad connotations of its old name, though. It wants to upgrade its tactics to modern standards. The company wants to be more subtle and pervasive, and it will do this by being more boring. In a close inspection of the company for the New Yorker, David Owen revealed careful manipulations to this end: attention to segues, volume control, and an imperative for consistency.
All this deliberate dullness has two functions: to calm the audience and to be as inconspicuous as possible, thus lowering listeners' guard and making them more susceptible to advertising at large. The first works plainly enough – elevator music, for example, distracts passengers from the sealed metal box suspended over a vertical chute, if only by filling them with irritated thoughts about mild samba.All this deliberate dullness has two functions: to calm the audience and to be as inconspicuous as possible, thus lowering listeners' guard and making them more susceptible to advertising at large. The first works plainly enough – elevator music, for example, distracts passengers from the sealed metal box suspended over a vertical chute, if only by filling them with irritated thoughts about mild samba.
By imposing boredom, Muzak works its magic. This isn't so bad, in itself.By imposing boredom, Muzak works its magic. This isn't so bad, in itself.
The second function, slightly more insidious, aims at market saturation, brought about by repackaging the past. Using old songs and images can make products more attractive, and both advertisers and artists apply them frequently enough. Cyclical episodes of nostalgia are harmless enough on their own, even if they seem more common and quicker than ever.The second function, slightly more insidious, aims at market saturation, brought about by repackaging the past. Using old songs and images can make products more attractive, and both advertisers and artists apply them frequently enough. Cyclical episodes of nostalgia are harmless enough on their own, even if they seem more common and quicker than ever.
For all we know, then, Mood Media may soon bring Muzak out of retirement in a clever campaign of ironic recycling. When these self-referential mash-ups become part of ambient advertising, though, we risk losing our ability to appreciate original music in the first place. A former Muzak employee told Owen that he once had an epiphany about his work:For all we know, then, Mood Media may soon bring Muzak out of retirement in a clever campaign of ironic recycling. When these self-referential mash-ups become part of ambient advertising, though, we risk losing our ability to appreciate original music in the first place. A former Muzak employee told Owen that he once had an epiphany about his work:
"I walked into a store and understood: this is just like a movie. The company has built a set, and they've hired actors and given them costumes and taught them their lines, and every day they open their doors and say, 'Let's put on a show.' It was retail theatre … Muzak's business wasn't really about selling music. It was about selling emotion.""I walked into a store and understood: this is just like a movie. The company has built a set, and they've hired actors and given them costumes and taught them their lines, and every day they open their doors and say, 'Let's put on a show.' It was retail theatre … Muzak's business wasn't really about selling music. It was about selling emotion."
He noticed an obvious but overlooked point: we live in relentless stream of artifice, and the boundaries have gone from porous to virtually nonexistent. The world isn't just a stage; it's a commercial. Mood Media knows that it's easier to sell to the unwary, and wants to efface itself entirely from public view. "Mood Media" is less catchy than "Muzak" for a reason.He noticed an obvious but overlooked point: we live in relentless stream of artifice, and the boundaries have gone from porous to virtually nonexistent. The world isn't just a stage; it's a commercial. Mood Media knows that it's easier to sell to the unwary, and wants to efface itself entirely from public view. "Mood Media" is less catchy than "Muzak" for a reason.
This saturated advertising – which works by constantly retailing us emotions – makes us cynical in self-defense, prone to build walls against the outside world. If we're not made more defensive, we internalize the ads: a song that once had meaning becomes just another humdrum bit of noise, associated with shopping. Either way, we stop feeling. In a worst-case scenario, we grow so accustomed to the Muzak that we feel anxious without it.This saturated advertising – which works by constantly retailing us emotions – makes us cynical in self-defense, prone to build walls against the outside world. If we're not made more defensive, we internalize the ads: a song that once had meaning becomes just another humdrum bit of noise, associated with shopping. Either way, we stop feeling. In a worst-case scenario, we grow so accustomed to the Muzak that we feel anxious without it.
The Grammys dole out awards for any number of reasons, but they seems to be infected by this dependency on the anodyne. De gustibus non est disputandum, but recent winners like Bon Iver and Mumford and Sons, among others, already have the familiar tones of Muzak.The Grammys dole out awards for any number of reasons, but they seems to be infected by this dependency on the anodyne. De gustibus non est disputandum, but recent winners like Bon Iver and Mumford and Sons, among others, already have the familiar tones of Muzak.
And we happen to live in this perpetual, all-permeating market, which has plenty of self-evident benefits. But Muzak's reinvention should warn us that advertising sells to us even when we don't notice it, and that it changes us, too. If we want to fend off numbness and keep the little things sacred, maybe the best thing would be to listen to, and not just hear, what's playing in the background.And we happen to live in this perpetual, all-permeating market, which has plenty of self-evident benefits. But Muzak's reinvention should warn us that advertising sells to us even when we don't notice it, and that it changes us, too. If we want to fend off numbness and keep the little things sacred, maybe the best thing would be to listen to, and not just hear, what's playing in the background.
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