Visiting shops where there is sound coming out of speakers (I hardly dare call it music) always winds me up. Now, thanks to the wonderful book Timothy gave me for Christmas, I understand WHY. I had heard the word 'musak' but just found out that in 1934 the Muzak Corporation was set up . The aim? to provide music over telephone lines for distribution by loudspeakers and the destination - the company vice president, in 1977 is quoted as describing it as 'functional music as a tool of maagement in environmental situations. We furnish music in work areas, primarily in offices and factories ... sequentially programmed in such a way as to have an ever-risign stimulus curve.' It went on to selling 'atmosphere music' to factories, restaurants, banks, hotels, salons........ where music becomes the object of a a treatmeent akin to castration, called 'range of intensity limitation' which, far from stimulation, consists in a dulling process. The music to be used is calssified by genre, length and type of ensemble, and is nowadays programmed by a computer into sequences of 13.5 minutes on 8-hour tapes to suit both the locale and the time of day. Another Muzak executive says. 'We do not sell music; we sell programming' !!!!
So, take care - wear your earplugs maybe - you are under attack when you go into the workplace, on the telephone ('you are being held in a queue, please wait until one of our operators becomes available......') or any of the above-mentioned places. Maybe it is even happening in some churches?