I’ve been trying to find any articles/academic papers etc on the evolution of muzak and background/elevator music up to the bland aspirational ‘dance’ music found in the back of travel vloggers videos today.
I was wondering if anyone has come across any interesting reading on any of the above?
Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on these phenomena!
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Yep looks like it
Bollocks!
It’s so quiet in here all I can hear is a tinny and insipid approximation of bossa nova by anonymous session musicians!
Another Steely Dan thread?
Still don’t think this is a real band and the music board along with their powerful backer Geordie ‘Greep’ are executing an elaborate psyop on me.
Get this in my head quite often
This Decoder from a few years ago spent 45 minutes on the subject of Muzak and was really interesting.
Thank you!
No worries. This was the description of it helps with deciding on whether it’s worth a listen:
“ On this episode, we explore the misunderstood history of Muzak, formerly the world’s foremost producers of elevator music. Out of the technological innovations of World War I, Muzak emerged as one of the most significant musical institutions of the 20th century, only to become a punching bag as the 1960’s began to turn public perceptions of popular music on its head. By the 80’s and 90’s, Muzak was still the butt of jokes, and was trying to figure out a new direction as they happened to employ many players in Seattle’s burgeoning grunge scene. This is the story of how different ideas about pop music butted heads throughout the 20th century, including inside Muzak’s offices.”
Probably of no use but here’s an interview with Devo about their muzak album
No, this is very much appreciated, thank you!
Jerry Dammers said More Specials was his attempt at turning their sound into muzak.