Piped Music Piped or Background

Piped Music

Piped or background music (also known as muzak) is one of the most ubiquitous aspects of modern-day living. It is constantly played in public places such as shopping malls, supermarkets, pubs, restaurants, hotels, elevators and is even piped down our telephone when it is put on hold. Its supporters, led by the companies that produce and market it, contend that background music is soothing and relaxing; helps to increase productivity in the workplace, boosts employee morale, and increases sales in stores. Opponents of piped music dislike it intensely, consider it "a pain in the ear," a violation of their "right to silence" in public places, and challenge the claims about its positive effect on productivity and sales. In this paper, I shall trace the origin and development of piped music, and explore its negative and positive effect on people.

Origin and Development of Muzak

Piped music was invented in 1922 by an American 2-star general, George Squier, who gave it the tradename, "Muzak" by combining the words "muz" (from music) and "ak" (from Kodak -- Squier's favorite company. It was first introduced in office typing pools to help boost productivity. Soon thereafter, buldings got taller and elevators were installed in them. Since a number of people felt nervous in being lifted in the newly invented contraption, building owners decided to play soothing music in the elevators to allay the fears of the passengers; 'elevator music' was thus born. ("Muzak: Past, Present, and Future") in the early days, background music was played on phonograph records and transmitted over electrical lines to workplaces. Advancement in technology in the 1940s and 50s made it possible to prerecord "muzak" on audio tape and transport it to workplaces and stores that ordered it. This gave a boost to the use of background music and muzak spread into retail shops, restaurants and other businesses all over the U.S. And beyond. It was first played in the White House during Eisenhower's administration and astronauts listened to Muzak in the Apollo lunar spacecrafts in the 1960s; it is even said to have echoed through the empty halls of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon as North Vietnamese soldiers stormed the evacuated building in 1972. (Braun) by the 1980s, the company started to use satellite service to beam canned music for its subscribers and now customized music according to the specific customer requirement is produced and distributed by Muzak.

How Does Background Music Affect People

Reliable research on the effect of background music is scarce. Some studies released during the 1930s revealed that playing piped music in offices and factories improves productivity. It was also suggested that certain kinds of music influence the shopping habits of shoppers and may have a soothing effect on people. More recent researches, especially in the UK, suggest otherwise. For example, the Gatwick Airport, London carried out a survey of travelers' attitudes to piped music being played in the airport in April 1994. Out of the 68,077 respondents, 43% disliked the piped music, only 34% liked it, while the remainder had no opinion. ("The Truth about Piped Music") as a result of the survey, Gatwick Airport discontinued its practice of playing piped music.

In a more wide-ranging study carried out by NOP OMNIBUS in 1998, people were surveyed to determine what they thought about background music played in public places such as shops, restaurants, pubs and hotels. The research found that 86% of hard-of-hearing people find muzak annoying; 34% of the general public in the NOP survey expressed their dislike of it while 36% of the general public said that they never notice background music. ("Research Carried Out by NOP...") Age too was found to be an important factor in how a person feels about background music as 45% of the 45- to 54-year-olds surveyed found piped music to be annoying compared to 21% of the 15- to 24-year-olds. (Ibid.)

Background music is particularly annoying for hard of hearing people since it drowns out important sounds such as speech and announcements for them. Even those using hearing aids find muzak problematic as most hearing aids amplify all sounds equally, making speech and background music become very hard to distinguish.(Ibid.)