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Encyclopedia > Muzak
Muzak Holdings LLC
Image:Muzak.gif
Type Private
Founded 1934
Headquarters Fort Mill, SC
Key people Steve Villa, CEO
Industry Music
Products Distribution of music
Revenue $61.5 million USD (2005)
Employees 1,256
Slogan Creating experiences with music, voice and sound systems.

Muzak Holdings LLC is a company, founded in 1934, that is best known for distribution of music to retail stores and other companies. The word "Muzak" has, in popular usage, broken free from its corporate parent and become a catchall generic term (often pejoratively applied) for easy listening, MOR, or elevator music—indeed, become an epithet for banal, derivative, or repetitive music. As an example, in his "How Do You Sleep?" song lyrics, John Lennon attacked Paul McCartney's post-Beatle composing abilities by writing “The sound you make is muzak to my ears - You must have learnt something all those years". Image File history File links Muzak. ... A private company is a company that is independently owned. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Fort Mill is a town located in York County, South Carolina and a suburb of the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. ... Music is a form of art that involves organized and audible sounds and silence. ... Revenue is a U.S. business term for the amount of money that a company earns from its activities in a given period, mostly from sales of products and/or services to customers. ... Image File history File links Green_Arrow_Up. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 3. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... Look up Slogan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A limited liability company (denoted by L.L.C. or LLC) is a legal form of business company in the United States offering limited liability to its owners. ... In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells individual items or small quantities to the general public or end user customers, usually in a shop, also called store. ... A genericized trademark (Commonwealth English genericised trade mark), sometimes known as a generic trade mark, generic descriptor or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name which is often used as the colloquial description for a particular type of product or service as a result of widespread popular or cultural... Easy listening music is a style of popular music which emerged in the mid-20th century. ... Middle of the road or MOR is a broad term encompassing a number of musical styles. ... Elevator music, also known as piped music or Muzak, refers to the gentle, bland instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for play in shopping malls, grocery stores, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold), cruise ships and elevators. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942, Liverpool) is an English singer and songwriter. ...


In the late 1990s, however, the Muzak corporation rebranded thoroughly, and today hardly any of the music Muzak distributes consists of re-recorded instrumental versions of popular songs. [1] The company focuses on selecting and playlisting existing recordings. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...


For many years, Muzak held a virtual monopoly in the field of background music for businesses. However, the advent of alternate music delivery technologies provides business owners with more options. Both US satellite radio companies have repackaged their service for business use, as XM For Business and SIRIUS Business. These services, by virtue of higher look angles and site diversity resulting from concurrent broadcasting from multiple satellites, are less susceptible to rain fade than Muzak's dish-based technology. Satellite radio's lack of contracts (Muzak typically requires a three-to-five year contract [2]) and lower price points have positioned it to challenge Muzak's dominance in the business music arena [3]. Like Muzak, both satellite radio providers' business subscriptions include the payment of required royalties to performing rights organizations ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. A satellite radio or subscription radio (SR) is a digital radio that receives signals broadcast by communications satellite, which covers a much wider geographical range than terrestrial radio signals. ... XM redirects here. ... Applied Media Technologies Corporation was founded in 1991 in Tampa, Florida as a provider of on hold messaging to US and Canadian businesses under the brand name TelAdvantage. ... In satellite communications, look angle refers to the Azimuth and Elevation of a satellite dish. ... Site diversity is a technique to limit the effect of rain fade in satellite communications, mainly in the Ka band. ... In satellite communications, rain fade refers to the absorption of a microwave Radio Frequency (RF) signal by rain or snow, and is especially prevalent in frequencies above 11 GHz. ... The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) is an organization known as a collecting society that protects intellectual property, ensuring that music which is broadcast, commercially recorded, or otherwise used for profit, pays a fee to compensate the creators of that music. ... BMI may stand for: Bank Melli Iran, a public bank in Iran. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...


According to EchoStar, Muzak's distribution provider, Muzak's business music service is broadcast on rented bandwidth from Echostar VII, in geostationary orbit at 119 degrees west longitude. EchoStar Communication Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) is the parent company of DISH Network and the maintainer of the satellite fleet that provides the signal which DISH Network markets. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with geosynchronous orbit. ...


In recent years, the company has experienced serious problems, losing over $9 million in the second quarter of 2006 alone [4]. The company's current trend has it losing more subscribers than it adds and is in its 11th consecutive year without turning a profit. [5] ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 3. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Contents

List of channels

The following is the list of channels available on Muzak via Satellite, On-Premise or through Echostar/Dishnet platform. The line-ups have gone in effect as of November 2006:


Body And Soul

  • Aura (New Age)
  • Breathe (World Eclectic)
  • The Light (Contemporary Christian)

Classics

  • Cashmere (Adult Contemporary)
  • Funkytown (Funk/Soul/Disco) **Available only in On-Premise line-up**
  • Expressions (Light Pop Standards)
  • Jukebox Gold (Rock 'n Roll Classics)
  • Love Songs (Romantic Melodies)
  • Mo' Soul (Classic Soul)
  • Reflections (Jazz/Pop/Soul)
  • Songbook (Singer/Songwriter)
  • Swing Kings (Big Band Swing)
  • Unforgettable (Adult Favourites)

Country

  • Country Music One (Country Mix)
  • Nashville USA (Current Country Hits)
  • Rawhide (Country Classics)
  • Screen Door (Alternative Country)

Decades

  • '50's and 60's Hits
  • '70's Hits
  • '80's Hits
  • '90's Hits

Electronica

  • Frequency (Club/Dance)
  • Groove Zone (Current Dance) **Available only in On-Premise line-up**
  • Metro (Indie Electronica)
  • NuJazz (Acid Jazz)
  • NuLounge (Lounge)
  • Strobe (Electro Pop)

Holiday [Only available during specific holiday]

  • Christmas (Non-Secular Holiday)
  • Cinco De Mayo
  • Halloween
  • Holiday (Secular Holiday)
  • Independance Day
  • Mardi Gras
  • Oktoberfest
  • St. Patrick's Day
  • Summer Fun
  • Valentine's Day

Instrumentals

  • Easy Instrumentals (Classic Instrumental)
  • Ensemble (Classical Ambiance)
  • Environmental (Easy Listening Instrumental)
  • Intermezzo (Light Classical)
  • Moodscapes (New Age Instrumental)
  • Piano & Guitar (Acoustic Instrumental)
  • Plaza (Contemporary Instrumental)
  • Uptown (Instrumental Jazz)

Jazz

  • City Lights (Smooth Jazz)
  • Impressions (Contemporary Jazz)
  • Jazz Traditions (Classic Jazz)

Latin

  • Caliente Pop (Upbeat Latino/Anglo Pop) **Available only in Satellite line-up**
  • Estilos (Smooth Latin Music)
  • Fiesta Mexicana (Mexican Music)
  • La Musica (Latin Pop)
  • La Frontera (Tejano/Border) **Available only in Echostar line-up**
  • Mojito (Salsa/Merengue)
  • Viva Mariachi (Mariachi)

Pop

  • 7890 (Classic Pop Hits)
  • Backpages (Adult Alternative)
  • FM1 (Classic Pop)
  • Hitline (Current Pop)
  • Hot FM (Pop Hits)
  • Poppers (Teen Pop) **Available only in On-Premise line-up**
  • Venus (Female Pop) **Available only in On-Premise line-up**

Rock

  • Half Pipe (Skate Punk/Hip-Hop) **Available only in On-Premise line-up**
  • Ink'd (Power Rock/Metal)
  • Feedback (Alternative Rock)
  • Perimeter (New Indie Rock)
  • Rock Show (Classic Rock)
  • Stylus (Underground Rock/Pop)
  • Varsity (Rock/pop Hits)

Roots

  • Acoustic Crossroads (Contemporary Folk)
  • Lucille (Blues)
  • Roadhouse (Americana/Classic Rock)
  • Route 66 (American Roots) **Available only in On-Premise line-up**

Specialty

  • Gumbo (New Orleans Music)
  • KidTunes (Children's Music)
  • Shag Beach (Carolina Beach Party)
  • The Circuit (High Energy Fitness)
  • Tropical Breezes (Caribbean Music)

Urban

  • Concrete Beats (Hip-Hop/Rap)
  • The Blvd. (Adult R&B)

World

  • Bellissimo (Contemporary Italian)
  • Destinations (Global Pop)
  • Hawaiian (Hawaiian Music) **Available only in On-Premise & Echostar line-ups**
  • Irish (Irish Traditional/Pop) **Available only in On-Premise line-up**
  • Kingston (Reggae)
  • Little Italy (Italian/American Standards)
  • Quebecois (French Canadian) **Available only in Satellite line-up**
  • World Travels (World Music) **Available only in On-Premise line-up**

NOTE: Not all channels are available on all platforms


Language Note

"Muzak" is also used as a synonym for ambient music, or to describe any music used to fill 'aural space' in corporate situations, such as "on hold" music in telephone queues. This use is technically incorrect, but is gaining popularity in colloquial use.

Look up muzak in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ...

See also

Elevator music, also known as piped music or Muzak, refers to the gentle, bland instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for play in shopping malls, grocery stores, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold), cruise ships and elevators. ...

Similar companies

Applied Media Technologies Corporation was founded in 1991 in Tampa, Florida as a provider of on hold messaging to US and Canadian businesses under the brand name TelAdvantage. ... Sirius Satellite Radio NASDAQ: SIRI is one of two satellite radio (DARS) services operating in the United States and Canada. ... InStore Broadcasting Network (also known as IBN) is a retail media provider of narrowcast in-store background music, in-store video content and advertising for delivery within supermarkets and drugstores. ... Music Choice is a name used by two different companies, one in the US and one in Europe. ... Reel Sound Productions is an audio marketing company that creates audio for websites, telephone systems and On Hold systems. ... Image:Trusonic. ... XM redirects here. ...

External links

  • Official site
  • Muzak Voice - On Hold Marketing Solutions
  • Muzak Inc Company History
  • Comprehensive UK anti-muzak site
  • Pipedown Internation - The campaign against piped music
  • The Soundtrack of Your Life, New Yorker company profile

  Results from FactBites:
 
The Straight Dope: Where does Muzak come from, anyway? (459 words)
Muzak is recorded by studio musicians, so the smart aleck in us is inclined to agree that a lot of it is produced under the influence of drugs.
The 16th channel, the Environmental Channel, is closest to the Muzak of old, with familiar tunes re-recorded to lose the vocals and any excessively edgy instrumentals.
Muzak maestros are masters of subtle manipulation--which has some people worried.
Muzak (780 words)
Muzak arrangements feature steady tempo, steady solo-tutti relationship, uninterrupted phrase-continuity, smooth joins between sections, absence of dramatic highs or sudden silences, and a definite beginning and end to each item (rather than the expressive or impressionistic fade-out effects of commercial recordings).
Muzak moreover regards itself as 'a technique of contemporary management,' and therefore not a medium of art or entertainment.
He also sees in Muzak the seed of a general dulling of aesthetic sensitivity, whereby the inescapable exposure to its quasi-music could make unwary ears gradually less and less receptive to the conscious listening experiences not only of true art- and entertainment-music but also of the natural environment.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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