Editing Elevator music

{{Short description|Background music played in waiting areas}}
{{for multi|the trademarked brand|Muzak|other uses|Elevator music (disambiguation)}}

'''Elevator music''' (also known as '''[[Muzak]]''', '''piped music''', or '''lift music''') is a type of [[background music]] played in [[elevator|elevators]], in rooms where many people come together for reasons other than listening to music, and [[music on hold|during telephone calls when placed on hold]]. Before the emergence of the Internet, such music was often "piped" to businesses and homes<ref>Kate Mossman. [https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music/2021/03/science-background-muzak 'The science of background muzak'] in ''The New Statesman'', 31 March 2021</ref> through telephone lines, private networks or targeted radio broadcasting (as in the BBC's ''[[Music While You Work]]'', where powerful speakers were set up in factories to make the broadcast audible).<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000tlw8#:~:text=This%20programme%20serves%20as%20part,use%20or%20misuse%20of%20technology. ''The Day the Muzak Died''], BBC radio documentary by Falling Tree Productions, broadcast 30 March 2021</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Music While You Work: An Era in Broadcasting |last= Reynolds |first=Brian |publisher=The Book Guild Publishing |location=Leicester |year=2006 |page=2 |isbn=1-84624-004-2}}</ref>

There is no specific sound associated with elevator music, but it usually involves simple instrumental themes from "soft" popular music, or "[[light music|light]]" classical music being performed by slow strings. This type of music was produced, for instance, by the [[Mantovani|Mantovani Orchestra]], and conductors such as [[Franck Pourcel]] and [[James Last]], peaking in popularity around the 1970s.<ref>Lanza, Joseph. ''Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-listening, and Other Moodsong'', University of Michigan Press (2004)</ref>

More recent types of elevator music may be computer-generated, with the actual score being [[algorithmic composition|composed entirely algorithmically]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Michael |date=August 26, 2015 |title=People are confusing computer-generated music with the works of J.S. Bach |newspaper=Quartz |location=New York |url=https://qz.com/488701/humans-are-confusing-music-composed-by-a-computer-for-j-s-bach/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710213452/https://qz.com/ |archive-date=July 10, 2022}}</ref>

==Other uses==
The term can also be used for kinds of [[easy listening]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vSpqAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA52|page=52|title=American Popular Music, Grades 5 – 8|author= Mark Ammons|publisher=Mark Twain Media|date= 6 Aug 2010|isbn=978-1-58037-983-0}}</ref> [[Lounge music|lounge]], [[piano]] solo, [[jazz]] or [[middle of the road (music)|middle of the road]] music, or what are known as "[[beautiful music]]" radio stations.

This style of music is sometimes used to comedic effect in [[mass media]] such as [[film]], where intense or dramatic scenes may be interrupted or interspersed with such anodyne music while characters use an elevator. Some [[video game]]s have used music similarly: ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots|Metal Gear Solid 4]]'' where a few elevator music-themed tracks are accessible on the in-game [[iPod]], as well as ''[[System Shock]]'', ''[[Rise of the Triad: Dark War]]'', [[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|''GoldenEye 007'']], ''[[Mass Effect]]'', and ''[[Earthworm Jim]]''.{{original research inline|date=November 2016}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Easy listening}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elevator Music}}
[[Category:Elevators]]
[[Category:Easy listening music]]
[[Category:Industrial music services]]