I’ve been put on hold, or I’m in an elevator or at the supermarket. Something is my brain is screaming ” Noooooo!” It’s that Sound of Muzak that suddenly becomes unbearable and I want to flee the building or throw the phone against the wall. This nasty stuff lulls us into wandering aimlessly through the supermarket isles blissfully picking up biscuits we don’t need and specials that will sit in our cupboards gathering dust.
After a brief search through The Source I found this information about the history of Muzak. It makes for interesting and somewhat scary reading and it reminded me of visiting my daughter who was working in a well known clothing store. I hated the music and asked her if she could change it. She said they couldn’t as it was all preloaded and designed to fit the store’s brand. I had no idea that muzak had left the elevator and was now affecting my life in more ways than I expected, or wanted!
Muzak is not after all actually about the music, it is about the emotions that the music creates. It encourages us to buy, to want to be associated with the brand that the company is selling. We might hear music for example from Surfaid artists in an urban surf store, or drift along to the likes of Norah Jones in a store seen as catering for the older and more refined.
Thank goodness once you have reached the luxury of your own home you can play music to suit your mood and taste. Come into the Library for May Music Month. We promise that there will be no muzak!
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 