Muzak files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Reuters ^ | Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:31pm EST | Reporting by Santosh Nadgir in Bangalore and Emily Chasan in New York;

[a fool in paradise]

Music and entertainment company Muzak Holdings LLC, which is known for providing background music in stores and hotels, said on Tuesday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure its debt.

In documents filed with a U.S. bankruptcy court, the Fort Mill, South Carolina-based company listed assets in the range of $0 to $50,000 and liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million.

"We believe chapter 11 will provide us with the opportunity to right size our capital structure and gain financial flexibility...," Chief Executive Stephen Villa said in a statement...

[RobRoy]

>>It was bound to happen someday. There just isn’t the same songbook of hits to turn into instrumentals...<<

I’m also wondering if the ease of using an iPod as a musak system (I know, it violates copyright) is becoming the option of choice for a lot of non-mainstream businesses.

An example of this sort of thing is the deli I buy sandwiches from. They charge 35 cents for using a credit card for purchases under $5. That is against all the rules and if Visa or MC found out, they would lose their ability to accept their cards.

So far, so good, though.

[Revolting cat!]

I remember hearing Muzak at a restaurant where I worked centuries ago, and while much of it was total crap, there was one orchestra, (was it the Hollyridge Strings?) that played real hip arrangements of pop hits, the Beatles among them.

And the programming was carefully done by the hour, with the loveliest music played around lunch time, and then at 3PM to wake you up at your desk, if I remember correctly.

[a fool in paradise]

Muzak isn’t just about piping in music, it’s about piping in “control”. It can be used to stimulate customers (and keep them moving on get them in a buying mood) etc.

Muzak is designed to have a psychological impact.

Employees will tune out the tapes over a short period of time. Much as the inmates in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest did.

[Revolting cat!]

loveliest=liveliest

[JacksonCalhoun]

Where does an unemployed “audio architect” find a new job. That was the title for the “artists” at Muzak who would design a play list according to the type of business and time of day.

Part of their business model was to shop in a store, look for a radio playing, and then return later threatening those stores by saying they were violating copyright of the music, which of course could be mitigated by subscribing to their service. The problem is, this didn’t apply to a business under a certain size.

A lot of places like gyms play SiriusXM commercial free music channels. That may have hurt, although SiriusXM may be joining them in bankruptcy court soon.

[a fool in paradise]

Louis Prima recorded an instrumental cover of Sympathy For The Devil (that beyond getting the opening notes right, pretty much goes off into a Jesus Christ Superstar styled jam and then somewhere else entirely)

http://www.amazon.com/Prima-Generation-72-Louis/dp/B00006JYBU

[library user]

I heard a Muzak cover of “Marrakesh Express” once at an Ohio Turnpike restaurant. True story.

I believe you. It's on my iPod. :O)

[a fool in paradise]

There are plenty of upscale restaurants that pay for such “consulting”.

And there is music while callers are on hold as well as music in an environment.

[Red in Blue PA]

How on earth can a company get into $500 Million in debt by providing background music for stores and hotels.

Is the overhead that great?

[Red in Blue PA]

LOL!

[AustinBill]

Amazing, isn’t it. 10,000-to-1 leverage. They should have been a hedge fund.

[Lord_Baltar]

“The Filing was accompanied by the Muzak Sisters Trio, doing their rendition of Another One Bites The Dust”

[RobRoy]

I really do understand this and that it can be an advantage. It’s just that a lot of stores may be making the decision to sort of, you know, CHEAT, and just use an ipod or even a computer as a music source. They may not take the “psychological benefits” seriously enough to be worth the money.

[Billthedrill]

I think Ray Coniff does Voodoo Child covers on Muzak.

Yeh. (Sniff!) Jimi would be so proud. He'd be 67 this year. I'm thinking LSD in Metamucil. You could call it electric...naw. Not gonna go there.

[NavyCanDo]

Like the 8-track tape Muzak has seen its days.

For so long a department stores, Dr. offices, or whatever, had very few choices if they wanted music to play in the background. Now they can choose various satellite TV music stations, XM Radio, Serius radio, CD Players that can play stacked CDs for hours on end. And we now have more choice in the genre of the music. The customers in my father-in laws office seem to prefer the 1940’s/50s standards like on the Franks Place, the Sinatra station.

[Cheburashka]

Now the elevators are alive with the sound of... well, nothing.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

A great era that included Peggy Scott and JoJo Benson.

[wally_bert]

A few years ago, I applied for an audio engineer type job there at the Fort Mill Facility. Huge buidling and a jammed parking lot of employees.

I went through 3 in person interviews as I was one of two they couldn't decide on. The other person went through the same. At the time, I would have liked working there. Maybe it is just as well I didn't. The guy I interviewed with was OK, a firm/fair type.

[a fool in paradise]

Ray Coniff may never have recorded an album of Hendrix covers but Gil Evans did. He had planned to work with him (as he did on a series of legendary Miles Davis albums).

http://www.amazon.ca/Evans-Orchestra-Plays-Music-Hendrix/dp/B00005TOXQ