Where does Elevator music come from?

In this article, Jack Brouillette talks about the history of elevator music and adds his opinion on modern elevator music.

Where does Elevator music come from?

By Jack Brouillette

Have you ever been riding in an elevator and heard some funky tunes? That was most likely some classic elevator jazz. Elevator music is easy listening, with classical music-inspired piano and soft, brushed drums from early Bossa Nova. In the 1920s, former US Army General George Owen Squier’s wired radio company, later named Muzak, was reinvented to allow consumers to pay to have their music heard. According to Alec Chillingworth of Epidemic Sound, “Traditionally, elevator music falls into the bracket of Muzak: an easy-listening genre created in the 1920s.” This calm, soothing music was used in Squier’s own factories to increase production, and it was reported that workers would work harder and production was increased significantly with this music.

The first modern-day elevator was invented in 1850 by Henry Waterman, but there was never high usage of them until the New York elevator operator strike in 1945. Henry Lawson of Medium Newspaper discusses the New York Elevator Strike of 1945, in which he talks about the economic impact this strike had. "Mail delivery halted, and the federal government lost approximately $8 million dollars per day tax revenue." This massive economic hit lasted for an entire week. This strike caused the city of New York to be forced to implement automatic elevators instead of having workers who pulled levers inside. In 1950, Otis Elevator reinvented the elevator to become what we know today. The automatic elevator had buttons on the inside, removing the need for an elevator operator. This was the much easier option, and led to the total destruction of the elevator operator career. Even with the safety of the new automatic elevator, people were extremely hesitant to use them. However, with George Owen Squier’s Muzak radio, people felt comforted when they stepped into the elevator. Instead of being able to hear the gears turning above them when they ascended, they heard soothing, calm music.

Image of the first Automatic Elevator., from Bowery Boys History.

There are multiple other roots than Muzak, with one of the more influential stemming from Brazil. Brazilian Bossa Nova is a form of jazz that has heavy inspirations from samba, usually consisting of the calmer, simple style, but also mixing in the unconventional “ambiguous” chords. This calming, rhythmic music was perfect for elevators, being introduced in the USA. In March of 1964, Stan Getz and João Gilberto released their collaboration album Getz/Gilberto, which ended up becoming one of the most influential and best Bossa Nova albums to be recorded. This album exploded the popularity of Bossa Nova, with some songs, such as “Girl from Ipanema” and “Doralice”, peaking charts in Brazil and America.

Reference of Corporate art style 'Corporate Memphis' from Art4d

Now, elevator music is much closer to Lo-Fi. It is the same type of music heard at the doctor's office or while shopping in Walmart. Instead of the more jazzy-samba parts of the music, it is a lot more straightforward. Instead of classical guitar or vibraphone, it uses weirdly friendly pop music. This change seems to throw the soul of elevator music straight into the trash. There is almost nothing special about new elevator music. Instead, it sounds just like mush made directly from the corporate trash bin, fed specifically to remind people of where they are. Older elevator music had soul. It had culture. Whether you look at Muzak, Jazz, or Brazilian Bossa Nova, it came from somewhere where culture truly existed. Not just corporate ear-mush.

Ted Gioia in How Did Elevators Lose Their Music? talks about how elevator music is being lost to time, and addresses the fact that future generations will likely not even know what elevator music is. He states, “In most communities, those irritating screens on the gas pump are more prevalent than elevator music.” It disheartens me to see this loss of music in society. Even if this genre is niche and meant to be played as background music, it is still one of my favorite genres. Every time an elevator stops playing its music, an angel loses its wings.

Overall, original elevator music is weirdly one of my favorite genres of music. The energetic, groovy feel from the Bossa Nova mixed in with the Muzak’s jazzier side combines perfectly into an easy-listening experience. Hopefully, elevator music somehow makes a reappearance in the future.

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