Muzak, often called elevator-music or doctor’s office music, is usually thought to be a modern phenomenon, but the concept of it was developed in 1920. Inventor/scientist/military general George Owen Squier invented the system and received patents for it throughout the 1920s. The original system sent music over electric lines, and clients were charged on their electric bill. In 1934, Squier, impressed with the made-up brand name “Kodak” for the camera company, decided to make up his own company name by mashing “music” and “Kodak” together and created “Muzak.” From the beginning, Muzak was used to manipulate factory workers’ moods by playing music in 15-minute blocks. The blocks of music became progressively faster and used more brass to encourage workers to speed up their work. Research by the military had shown that this system worked very well, and later research conducted by university professors discovered more sophisticated means to encourage shoppers to spend their money quickly and leave the shop or linger in high-quality expensive shops and develop a mood to buy more expensive items. Muzak used the research to develop music genres that could target particular clientele for different markets. This marriage of music, psychological research, and commerce became a staple for modern capitalistic companies to encourage workers to work harder and faster and to nudge shoppers to behave in ways the client companies desired of them (Jones, S. & Schumacher, T., 1992; North, A., Sheridan, L., & Areni, C., 2015).

BUT, the basic principles of Muzak’s commercial success can also be used by educators to affect students’ moods. When students need to be “woken up,” for example, in the first period of the day, coming towards lunchtime, right after lunch, and towards the end of the day, appropriately motivating music can be used to awaken them. Conversely, when students need to quiet down and concentrate on the task at hand, soothing, calming music can be used. This is the basis for educators’ Muzak described in this article.