Perhaps inspired by the success of Muzak, another, creepier company tried to encroach on their market. According to a piece in Time, in 1979, department stores around the U.S. began utilizing a black box developed by Behavioral Engineering Center to pipe music over store sound systems that repeated hidden messages 9,000 times per hour.

The content of the messages varied. Some were intended to dissuade shoplifters, repeating, “I am honest, I will not steal.” A real estate office in Toronto, meanwhile, tried to encourage employees with, “I love real estate. I will prospect for new listings for clients each and every day.”

The black box’s creator, Hal C. Becker, envisioned a utopian future built on subliminal messages. “I see no reason why there won't be audio-conditioning in the same way we now have air conditioning,” Becker told Time. "We could eliminate weight problems in one generation, reduce auto insurance by 50%."

It’s worth noting that Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, when doing commercial work, would often hide subliminal messages in the ads that countered the pitch they were serving. In a 1987 Hawaiian Punch commercial, for example, he hid the message “Sugar is bad for you.”

Supposedly—with a lot of emphasis on that supposedly—the black boxes cut down on thefts at one store 37%, saving $600,000. The specific store was never named, and the study’s details are hard to come by. Lost? Shredded? Non-existent? Who knows.



Can the use of music actually boost productivity? Like, if one needed to write, say, a meandering essay about an outmoded style of music at an above-average pace, could listening to something like Stimulus Progression help? Anecdotally, yeah, sort of.

Empirically, it’s a little trickier to confirm, as things involving human subjectivity tend to be. Though the studies cited by Muzak and Behavior Engineering Center ooze of mid-century pseudoscience, there are others that are perhaps more convincing. Here, look:

1982 : A study published in the Journal of Marketing found that slow-tempo music increased sales 38.2% compared to fast-tempo music.

: A study published in the Journal of Marketing found that slow-tempo music increased sales 38.2% compared to fast-tempo music. 1985 : Researchers found that people would eat at a faster “bites per minute” rate if fast music was played in the background. But it didn’t make much of a difference, as nobody in the study finished their meals any faster.

: Researchers found that people would eat at a faster “bites per minute” rate if fast music was played in the background. But it didn’t make much of a difference, as nobody in the study finished their meals any faster. 1997 : A study found that depending on the music played in a supermarket (French or German) the wines from that country would sell better.

: A study found that depending on the music played in a supermarket (French or German) the wines from that country would sell better. 1998 : Another study found that different kinds of music influence how we behave. Classical music, for example, caused diners in a cafeteria to spend more money, while muzak had a worse effect than silence.

: Another study found that different kinds of music influence how we behave. Classical music, for example, caused diners in a cafeteria to spend more money, while muzak had a worse effect than silence. 2003: And yet another study was conducted that found that classical music caused restaurant patrons to spend more money.

So whether or not Stimulus Progression or subliminal message black boxes specifically are audio snake oil is a tricky question to answer definitively. At the very least, numerous studies do back up the fact that music can influence mood and behavior (which, no duh, right?). The kind of music that achieves this effect seems at the very least subjective/contextual. It depends on what’s playing, who’s listening, why they’re listening, where they are, if they’re hungry, and on and on in an infinity of variables.

It would seem that if one is looking to find something to listen to that might help them work harder/better/faster/stronger, it should be whatever music they find makes them feel comfortable. Though it might help if it isn’t too distracting.



Over the decades, Muzak faded from prominence. Tastes changed. The muzak sound became so pervasive that it became a cliché joke.

Technology changed, too. Suddenly, businesses and workplaces didn’t require a corporation to provide a box to play music in their store. They didn’t need a radio, either. They could just insert a CD or cassette tape or now, click “play” on a personal Spotify playlist, and have their own customized experience.

Though Muzak eventually went bankrupt, its legacy remains. It normalized listening to music at work, and forever changed the sounds of our public spaces. Now, all music is muzak. Rather than stick to a regimented genre, stores hire consulting companies to choose songs that fit the moods of their stores. Whenever you hear Katy Perry blasting over some tinny overhead speaker while you shop for dandruff shampoo, you have a dead Army general to thank.

And weirdly, the Muzak “sound” has taken on a nostalgic glow. Look at the popularity of the K-Mart tapes, or the entire vaporwave genre, which is basically warped infomercial interstitial music. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, after all.

Meanwhile, a new kind of “productivity music” has largely taken over, in the form of binaural beats. For those unfamiliar, it’s basically two different tones played dichotically, creating the illusion of a third tone. Supposedly, this can stimulate the brain, allowing for better focus/sleep/super intelligence. It has also created an incredible new genre of YouTube thumbnail art that looks sort of like ’60s acid paintings mixed with the 3D demonstrations seen in commercials for OTC pain relievers. But various studies haven’t really confirmed the legitimacy of such claims. But if you like them, of course, it doesn’t hurt to listen...

Ultimately, I wonder if some of the muzak hate wasn’t primarily due to its sound, but rather gradually developed as a natural side-effect of its intended purpose. That is, the situations it was designed to soothe—sterile shopping environments, claustrophobic elevators, stressful workplaces, etc.—were so radioactive that they destroyed all public perceptions of the music itself.

Perhaps no array of sounds can be powerful enough to soothe the dull horrors of modern life. Maybe this indicates the folly of attempting to band-aid such environments retroactively with things like muzak. Instead, we must design them better from the start.

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