It is typically played at low volumes from multiple small speakers distributing the music across broad public spaces. It is also used in artificial space, such as music played while on hold during a telephone call, and virtual space, as in the ambient sounds or thematic music in video games. The range of responses created are of great variety, and even opposite, depending on numerous factors such as, setting, culture, audience, and even time of day.īackground music is commonly played where there is no audience at all, such as empty hallways and restrooms and fitting rooms. Listeners are uniquely subject to background music with no control over its volume and content. JSTOR ( July 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)īackground music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behavioral and emotional responses in humans such as concentration, relaxation, distraction, and excitement.
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