Does background music make you more focused?

Before “deep focus” and “study beats” playlists came muzak—one of the most widespread (and widely hated) forms of music of the 20th Century. But does background music really have the power to improve worker productivity? To dictate our wine preferences? Or, God forbid, even affect how long we spend in our favourite brothel?!? Rich shows Ben that the genre’s history doesn’t always make for easy listening.

Show Notes: Sources and links:

Advertising Cliche (n.d.) “The Visual Primer of Advertising Cliches: Muzak Corporation” [amazing online archive of historical print ads]

Allan, David (2008) “Sound retailing: A Review of Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Music on Shopping Behavior,” in Tina M. Lowrey, ed. Brick & Mortar Shopping in the 21st Century. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Anderson, Paul Allen (2015) “Neo-muzak and the business of mood,” Critical Inquiry, 41(4).

Bradshaw, Alan, and Morris B. Holbrook (2008) “Must we have Muzak wherever we go? A critical consideration of the consumer culture,” Consumption, Markets and Culture, 11(1).

Camp, Gregory (2017) "Mickey Mouse Muzak: Shaping Experience Musically at Walt Disney World,” Journal of the Society for American Music, 11(1).

Chebat, Jean-Charles, Dominique Valiant, and Gelinas-Chebat (2000) “Does Background Music in a Store Enhance Salespersons' Persuasiveness?” Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91.

Hulyer, Jake (2018) “Inside the booming business of background music,” Guardian, 6th November.

Illouz, Eva (2018) “Introduction: emodities or the making of emotional commodities.” In Illouz, ed. Emotions as Commodities: Capitalism, Consumption and Authenticity. Routledge.

Inside the Score (2022) “Satie's Furniture Music: Designed to be Ignored?” [YouTube]

Gorbman, Claudia (1987) Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music. Indiana University Press.

Jones, Simon C. and Thomas G. Schumacher (1992) “Muzak: On Functional Music and Power,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 9(2).

Kotler, Philip (1974) “Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool,” Journal of Retailing, 49(4).

Lanza, Joseph (1994) Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Moodsong. 1st ed. Picador.

Mercer, Jason C. (2018) “Elevator Music -- MUZAK -- Stimulus Progression” [YouTube]

[Muzak ads archived]

North, Adrian C., David J. Hargreaves and Jennifer McKendrick (1999) “The Influence of In-Store Music on Wine Selections,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(2).

[Satie, Carrelage Phonique]

Veix, Joe (2019) “Fitter, happier, more productive: The odd history of ‘productivity music’” Dropbox: Work in Progress.

Incidental Music:

Best of lofi hip hop 2023 🎉 - beats to relax/study to

Artist(s) name – squeeda x tonbo - Inertia

Provided by Lofi Girl – Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmKguZohAck

Listen: Spotify

Local Forecast - Elevator by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/

Promoted by MrSnooze

Creative Commons — CC BY 3.0 I https://goo.gl/Yibru5

Credits:

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland

Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman

Creative producer – Rachel Wood

Technical producer – Caroline Pringle

Technical production – Colin Frank