elevator music

Elevator music, also known as lift music (in the Commonwealth), piped music or muzak, refers to the gentle, bland instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for play in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, public toilets, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold), cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and of course, elevators. The term is also frequently applied as a generic term for any form of Easy Listening, Smooth Jazz, or MOR music, or to the type of recordings once commonly heard on "beautiful music" radio stations.

The Muzak corporation is perhaps the best-known supplier of such music. In fact, the term muzak has become a generic epithet for excessively bland music. However, the Muzak Corporation moved away from this type of image, for the most part, in 1997, [1] and now uses only "original artists" for its music source, except on the Environmental channel.^[1]

"Elevator music" is also a term used disparagingly by jazz purists to describe smooth jazz.^{[citation needed]}

Elevator music in popular culture

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• The film The Blues Brothers provides an example of elevator music in use. The Brothers ride an elevator while a soft music version of "The Girl from Ipanema" plays in the background, contrasting humourously with the noisy scene of a massive police and national guard force in pursuit.

• The music video for the Foo Fighters' song "Learn to Fly" has an elevator music version of the song "Everlong" (another song by the Foo Fighters) playing at the beginning and end of the video.

• The music video for the Foo Fighters' song "Monkey Wrench" has an elevator music version of the song "Big Me" (another song by the Foo Fighters) playing while Dave Grohl rides an elevator. The song was chosen because Grohl thought it particularly uplifting.^{[citation needed]}

• The music video for the Midtown' song "Give It Up" has an elevator music version of the song "Give It Up" (The same song by Midtown playing when Gabe Saporta enters the mini-mart)

• "Elevator Music" is a song by Beck from his album The Information.

• John Lennon refers to Paul McCartney's music as 'muzak' in his 1971 song, How Do You Sleep?.

• The film A Night at the Roxbury contains elevator music used for comedic effect, the signature tune What is Love is played in a Muzak style.

• The film Grosse Point Blank uses the Guns N' Roses cover of "Live and Let Die" as the main character stands in front of a convenience store, which turns into a muzak version of the same song as he enters.

• The music video for the band Travis's song Closer features a muzak version of the same song, while Ben Stiller's character walks into the supermarket where the band is playing.

• An issue of The Amazing Spider-Man mentions the character Ezekiel having an elevator music version of "Helter Skelter" play in his office buildings, as it "keeps the employees on their toes."

• The popular online game Disney's Toontown Online has memorizable elevator music in cog elevators.

• In the video game "Conker's Bad Fur Day" right after Conker escaped from the robotic mines in Tediz's base, by getting into the elevator. He asks himself if it could go any worse, to find that the elevator has music to his disgust.

• In the 1999 Academy Award winning film, American Beauty, Thora Birch's character, Jane, says, 'Mom, do we always have to listen to this elevator music?', whilst eating supper with her parents, played by Annette Bening and Kevin Spacey, who won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role.

• The song Intermission, on progressive rock band Tool's album Ænima, is a muzak version of Jimmy, the next track on the album.

• In two separate episodes of Married... With Children, Al Bundy states that he has been on hold on the phone, listening to the Muzak version of "Muskrat Love"

• In Episode 1, Season Six of Family Guy, "Blue Harvest", Han Solo (Peter Griffin), Luke Skywalker (Chris Griffin), and Chewbacca (Brian Griffin) listen to an elevator music version of the song "Imperial March" as they ride an elevator up to rescue Princess Leia (Lois Griffin).

• In Tori Amos' song "Little Earthquakes" she mentions elevator music.

References

1. ^ Encompass LE Program Listing. Muzak Corporation (November 10 2006). Retrieved on April 19, 2007.

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Elevator music

• Ambient music
• Furniture music
• Background music
• Toontown Online
• Light music
• Space music

External links

• Muzak's own "Environmental" channel sample, the original Elevator Music
• Elevator Music A Surreal History of Muzak, by Joseph Lanza
• Anti-muzak site in the UK
• The King has Just Left the Building: an art project related to elevator music.

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