Have you ever actually ridden in an elevator that played music? I’m not sure I can remember ever having that experience.
Of course, I’m familiar with the term “elevator music”. And I don’t doubt music in elevators was a thing or anything. But I’m surprised to hear it’s a thing now-a-days.
I think I’ve probably been in elevators in establishments where music was playing over a speaker system, and the music was audible in the elevator, but the music was never only in the elevator as far as I can recall.
I used to run a theatre and our elevator had a speaker. I could play whatever music I wanted on it. If we had a show in the auditorium, I would put that through the speaker, if I remembered to set up the matrix for it. I rarely did, so there hardly ever was any music playing in the elevator.
Did you ever consider blasting some high energy beats like hardstyle, EDM, euro dance, or something like that?
For a typical, non-live music sound check I used Ghost, or Dio. If it was a speaking sound check I used a JFK speech.
The only time I sent audio from the auditorium to the lobby, and thus the elevator was a live band or a speaking engagement. Otherwise it was filler music.
The elevator was really only used by staff, so thinking about putting music on in it was such an afterthought that it very rarely happened.
One early morning sound check during an event hosted by a coalition of Baptist schools I played Ghost’s He Is, and the head preacher was grooving to it. That was amusing. They did yell at me for doing a sound check with Dio’s Rainbow in the Dark, and Holy Diver. I firmly reminded them they were in the auditorium early, that the space was mine until their rental started.
The self cleaning public toilets in my city always play an instrumental version of What the World Needs Now Is Love.
It feels like it must be an inside joke of some kind. The song, without its singer or lyrics, is relatively unremarkable.
It’s been years since I’ve heard music in an elevator.
Can’t have Grandma twerking on the way up to her doctor’s appointment.
maybe it’s a way to make the ambient feel “elegant” and classy it happens a lot in clothing stores
Because it’s a little known fact that Kenny G owns all the elevator Sound systems in the world.
It’s all thanks to the Muzak company and studies in the 50s/60s that suggested bland music made people work better.
There’s an article on it here to get started.
They start jumpin, jumpin, jump up jump up, everybody jumpin jump up jump up
I might direct you to Joseph Lanza’s book, Elevator Music from University of Michigan Press (2004)
I set up the system to allow elevator music in the waiting room at a clinic, and gave it to the receptionist with instructions on how to use it… That clinic gets very Honky-Tonk. All the time.
