It's almost a #MusicMonday ...

Photo of two men and a woman in a room full of large electronic equipment.

It's almost a #MusicMonday, but I can't seem to remember the tune . . . This image is from an article in a September 1950 issue of Nation's Business focusing on the rise of Muzak.

While Muzak has since become a generic description of a genre of background music, it emerged as a brand name in 1934. Over the years, the Muzak name has been owned by large corporations like Warner Bros., the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and the Fields Company of Chicago.

At the time this article was written, the Muzak brand had recently begun recording music using its own orchestra and arrangements consciously designed to reduce listener fatigue and influence listeners’ behavior and mood. The article discusses the use of Muzak to improve efficiency in workplaces, draw diners to restaurants, boost sales in retail environments, and soothe patients in hospitals and other medical care environments.

Nation’s Business was a monthly publication from the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, a private lobbying group representing American business interests. The Chamber used the publication to inform the business community about commercial trends and to solidify political support around key positions on government policies regarding business and economic life.

Nation's Business is call number f HF1.N38 in the Hagley Library's Published Collections Department; our holdings cover all the years of its publication (1912 to 1999), with most volumes included in their entirety. All of the issues in our collection from 1915 on have been digitized - you can view them online now by clicking here.