When I say I had been subjected to “stimulus progression,” it
does not mean I built up my body to have ripped abs and guns – the term sounds
like it comes from an intensive CrossFit-like exercise, as alien to me as the
words “abs” and “guns.” Neither does “stimulus progression” mean I have been blind
to the machinations of some deep state, as conspiracy theorists would have me
believe. No, this sinister-sounding team is to do with music, mixed with a
large dollop of business and psychology.
Once upon a time, most music heard outdoors, particularly in
the background of shops and other public places, could have been provided by
the Muzak Corporation, whose name hoped to evoke the new technology
demonstrated by companies like Kodak. The name originally had more to do with how
you heard the music: George Owen Squier, inventor of multiplexing for telephone
lines as early as 1910, wanted to adapt the process to transmit multiple
channels of music, as a way of competing with radio. However, as radio took off
in the 1920s and 30s, a series of takeovers built Muzak into a well-known
provider of piped music. It benefitted from being owned for a time by Warner
Bros., whose vast music archive, built by the film studio as they introduced
sound to film in the 1920s, was among the music provided.
“Stimulus Progression” was the next stage of Muzak’s development,
after the company was bought in 1947 by William Benton, publisher of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica (last printed edition published 2012, continues online). The new
process grouped specially-recorded orchestral versions of existing songs into
fifteen-minute chunks, during which the tempo of the songs played would speed
up, and the brass-led instrumentation would become louder and brassier. Each
programme would be separated by fifteen minutes of silence, so the listener
could not become fatigued. Indeed, the intended effect was to speed up productivity
in factories and offices, meaning a bit of ebb and flow was needed. A similar
effect was attempted on BBC radio in the UK, as “Music While You Work” provided
half-hour programmes of brass-led music from 1940 to 1967, although the music
stayed at the same pace, and there were fewer attempts to accuse the BBC of
mind control and brainwashing.
The downside of the exercise is how the original intention
of the song is squeezed out of it. A Muzak instrumental I wanted to buy, from the
ominously-titled album “Stimulus Progression 5” (sounding like “Stimulus Progression,
Level 5”) turned out to be a version of “Living Together, Working Together,” a
song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1973 remake of the film “Lost
Horizon.” I thought a Bacharach tune could be spotted from a mile off, until
now, the changed tempo and unsubtle arrangement turning it almost into its own entity.
It’s OK, but it’s no longer what it was.
“Stimulus Progression” ended in 1984, when Muzak, taken over
by another firm, began programming other peoples’ songs again, in answer to
shifting tastes. These days, what is left of Muzak, which has been in and out
of bankruptcy, is now available to download by the general public for nostalgia
purposes, which is a very recent event. However, anyone listening to their favourite
songs hopes for a certain outcome, whether it is “Stimulus Progression” or not.
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