Background music

Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but instead used to influence the atmosphere of an environment. Its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behavioral and emotional responses in humans such as concentration, relaxation, distraction, and excitement. Listeners are commonly exposed to background music in public, commercial, and occupational settings, often with limited control over its volume or content. Research shows that people respond to background music in many different ways, with responses varying widely based on where the music is heard, what people are doing, their cultural background, or even what time of day it is. Studies in retail environments suggest that background music can influence consumer mood, arousal, and the amount of time spent in stores, which may in turn affect purchasing behavior.

Due to the growing variety of settings (from doctors' offices to airports), many styles of music are utilized as background music. Because the aim of background music is passive listening, vocals, commercial interruptions, and complexity are typically avoided. In spite of the international distribution common to syndicated background music artists, it is often associated with artistic failure and a lack of musical talent in the entertainment industry. There are composers who write specifically for music syndication services such as Dynamic Media and Mood Media, successors of Muzak, and MTI Digital. Multiple studies have correlated the presence of background music with increased spending in retail establishments.

Types

Incidental music

The use of incidental music dates back at least as far as Greek drama. A number of classical composers have written incidental music for various plays, with the more famous examples including Joseph Haydn's Il distratto music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Thamos, King of Egypt music, Ludwig van Beethoven's Egmont music, Felix Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream music, Robert Schumann's Manfred music, Georges Bizet's L'Arlésienne music, and Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt music. Parts of all of these are often performed in concerts outside the context of the play. Vocal incidental music, which is included in the classical scores mentioned above, should not be confused with the score of a Broadway or film musical, in which the songs often reveal character and further the storyline. Vocal incidental music sets the tone for a film through using various beats or sounds, portraying the emotions of certain scenes. Since the score of a Broadway or film musical is what actually makes the work a musical, it is far more essential to the work than mere incidental music, which nearly always amounts to little more than a background score; indeed, many plays have no incidental music whatsoever, allowing the actors to express their characters solely through words and their expressions.

Furniture music

The term furniture music was coined by Erik Satie in 1917, and demonstrated by him in three sets of compositions: Musique d'ameublement (1917), Sons industriels (1920) and Tenture de cabinet préfectoral (1923). It fell into disuse when the composer died a few years later, and the genre was revived several decades later. After his death, furniture music was reinterpreted and programmed in concerts; many individuals found that it filled the awkward pauses, allowing audiences to become better immersed into the performance. Typical of furniture music are short musical passages, with an indefinite number of repeats.

Muzak / Elevator music

Elevator music (also known as Muzak, piped music, or lift music) is a more general term indicating music that is played in rooms where many people come together (that is, not for the explicit purpose of listening to music), and during telephone calls when placed on hold. There is a specific sound associated with elevator music, but it usually involves simple instrumental themes from "soft" popular music, or "light" classical music being performed by slow strings. More recent types of elevator music may be computer-generated, with the actual score being composed entirely algorithmically.

The term can also be used for kinds of easy listening, piano solo, jazz or middle of the road music, or what are known as "beautiful music" radio stations.

Corporate music

Corporate music (or corporate production music) is a term for background music, made to work with company presentations: rather subtle, understated and unobtrusive. However, it should not be confused with "corporate pop" - pop music produced by corporations and that "blurs the line between independent and mainstream".

Video game music

Video game music (VGM) is a soundtrack for video games. Songs may be original and composed specifically for the game, or preexisting music licensed for use in the game. Music in video games can be heard over a game's title screen, menus and during gameplay.

Website music

The early social media website Myspace has supported a feature where specific songs chosen by the user would automatically play on their profile pages. Research on website design and user experience suggests that background audio along with other sensory elements, can influence user engagement, emotional responses, and the experience of "flow" while browsing, depending on how the website features are implemented.

Background non-music

Business audio

Business audio refers to music and other audio content licensed for use in public or commercial environments. This includes background music services—sometimes called elevator music—and business news programming designed to enhance the customer experience or inform staff and patrons.

Providers of business audio and background music services include:

Muzak Holdings LLC
DMX
PlayNetwork
MTI Digital
XM for Business
Music Choice
Applied Media Technologies Corporation
Trusonic

In the United States, the terms "elevator music" and "Muzak" are commonly used to describe business audio services that deliver background music in retail or hospitality settings.

Most audio content is licensed for personal and home use only. Business audio services allow clients to use audio content in public and commercial settings by paying appropriate royalties to performing rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GEMA in Germany.

Historical devices

The 1959 Seeburg 1000 was a stack record player, playing both sides continuous and repeating up to 1000 songs and up to 25 special vinyl records with a center bore at  RPM.
The Rowe Customusic was an endless tape cartridge player, loading simultaneous six C-type Fidelipac cartridges.
The 1964 3M Cantata 700 played continuous and auto-reversing one of its large and proprietary magnetic tape cartridges, containing up to 26 hours of music.
Rediffusion’s Reditune system was popular in the 1960s UK.

References

Works cited

Sanseverino, Domenico, et al. ““Don’t Stop the Music,” Please: The Relationship between Music Use at Work, Satisfaction, and Performance.” Behavioral Sciences, vol. 13, no. 1, 24 Dec. 2022, p. 15, https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13010015
Goldsmith, M. “Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Moodsong.” CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, vol. 42, no. 6, American Library Association CHOICE, 2005, pp. 1031-.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "incidental music". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Dec. 2014, https://www.britannica.com/art/incidental-music
BridgeTTC. “What Is Acting?” The Bridge Theatre Training Company, 18 Apr. 2023, http://www.thebridge-ttc.org/what-is-acting/#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20acting%20is
Potter, Caroline. Erik Satie: A Parisian Composer and His World. NED-New edition, Boydell & Brewer, 2016. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt18gzfkq. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.
MFP, JEAN. “Importance of Background Music | Music for Productions.” Music for Productions, Stock Music, Production Music, 6 Oct. 2020, http://musicforproductions.com/importance-of-background-music-in-your-videos-2/