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On this week’s program, we turn our attention to the history of industrial music – not the noisy music genre – but music played in industrial settings for workers. A variety of services offered (and still offer) background music for workplaces. Muzak and the RCA Plant Broadcasting System are just a few of the products that were sold to companies in the hopes of increasing morale and/or efficiency. Our guest, Alix Hui is associate professor of History at Mississippi State University and has been studying the history of industrial music systems, as well as background music generally.
Show Notes:
- Alexandra Hui profile at Mississippi State University website
- Alix’s paper at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference: “Laboring Sound: Industrial Music Systems, Worker Morale, and Pan-Aural Listening”
- Walter Van Dyke Bingham, industrial psychologist (Wikipedia)
- Muzak history (Wikipedia)
- Mood Media website
- Attention K-Mart Shoppers: K-Mart radio/audio collection on Archive.org
- Muzak to Get Mutated To: E-Z Listening with DEVO (article on Dangerous Minds)
- Scholar Emily Thompson
