death of muzak...

jlee

...well maybe not the death. but the down turn in the economy is now working its way into the elevator music scene.http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7CiLt41ZK.w&refer=home

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Muzak Holdings LLC, the company that made ???elevator music??? famous, sought bankruptcy protection from creditors as its debt matured and restructuring alternatives fell through due to the economic crisis.The company, based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, listed debt of $465.3 million and assets of $324.2 million in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Fourteen affiliates also filed for court protection.Muzak is ???overleveraged,??? with virtually all of its debt ???set to mature in the first quarter of 2009,??? Chief Financial Officer R. Dodd Haynes said in court documents. Over the past two years the company has tried to address its debt load through a merger or sale. Those efforts ???evaporated in the face of difficult economic conditions??? and the company was left with bankruptcy as its only recourse, Haynes said

kitchenknight

2006 profile of the company from the New Yorker; PHENOMENAL article...

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/04/10/060410fa_fact

hemol

John Cage wins.

CousinLarry

Thanks, that was a good article. It sounds like they had a good market share, so I am guessing the overhead and debt had grown out of control, but who knows.

pickwick33

Myself, I was wondering if Muzak wasn't already gone.

Everytime I'm in a place with piped-in music, it's usually real songs, rather than background instrumentals.

kitchenknight

Myself, I was wondering if Muzak wasn't already gone.

Everytime I'm in a place with piped-in music, it's usually real songs, rather than background instrumentals.

As the article states, they've grown into almost-satellite programming, including real songs.

verb606

Myself, I was wondering if Muzak wasn't already gone.

Everytime I'm in a place with piped-in music, it's usually real songs, rather than background instrumentals.

Muzak provides that though. I was job searching a couple of years ago and stumbled onto their website. I was like, "oh shit! Muzak?" But they assess your business and can basically create playlists that will create the vibe you're going for. They do other stuff too, but they've moved beyond the snoozak of old.

I'm gonna read that article, I think it gets into their recent, pre-bankruptcy steez.

troubleman

didn't Ted Nugent try to buy the company to shut it down?

Saracenus

The copy shop I bookkeep at uses Muzak (I know because I enter the monthly bills from them) and almost all the music being piped in is the actual songs now.

Occasionally a song will be a "cover" like they do in Guitar Hero. I am not sure why they have to use cover versions, but my guess is its cheaper than the real song.

Now if I could get my boss to stop playing "classic" 70s rock all the time... At least I have my ipod.

pickwick33

Occasionally a song will be a "cover" like they do in Guitar Hero. I am not sure why they have to use cover versions

probably because they couldnt get the rights

the beatles (or their copyholders) were sticklers about that shit (until recently)

BigSpliff

Yeah, Muzak hasn't been about "stock" music for a while. Ironically, now is when lots of big advertisers are switching to stock or vocal-free music to save $$.

trzakhstan

Its all about smooth jazz versions of rap songs from the past 10 years.

The latest edition had some guy screaming "crunk jazz!" at the start of one track.

hcrink

didn't Ted Nugent try to buy the company to shut it down?

Ted Turner, I think.