Tired of Music at the supermarket or restaurant? Take it from Muzak

In supermarkets, Music. In the restaurant, music. At the bank, music. “It’s horrible, it’s impossible to escape,” assures Nigel Rodgers in a tone as good-natured as his accent is English. The Briton got so tired of dealing with unwanted hits all day that he launched Pipedown, a movement aimed at sweetening music in places open to the public.

“We are not made to live in constant stress. In the long term, this increases blood pressure, causes problems for people who have presbycusis problems, tinnitus, but also for autistic people,” assures the one who worked to ensure that Gatwick airport, Marks & Spencer or Waterstones bookstores turn the button to “off” to remove the “muzak”.

This is not a typo, but quite simply an American portmanteau, between music and kodak. Across the Atlantic, this word is synonymous with “elevator music”, “convenience store music”, “airport music” or “functional music”. It is above all the name of a company which has worked hard to ensure that you buy, today, a bunch of leeks while humming the lyrics of “Mambo N°5”: Muzak Inc.

A brilliant soldier behind

This company was named Muzak the same year its founder died of pneumonia, in 1934. Before that, George Owen Squier's life had been a rich one. A major general in the US Army, he was the first military passenger in aviation history aboard the Wright Brothers Flyer, and one might be tempted to call him brilliant. “He is known for being the inventor of multiplexing by telephone operator,” confirms Nic Vigilante, doctoral student in music and sound studies at Cornell University (United States).

“Squier contributed to the advent of the “global village” by creating a system of…

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