After almost 80 years in the business, it was announced today that iconic background music brand Muzak is losing it’s identity in a rebranding move that Canadian owners hope will help reflect the improvements background music marketing has seen over the years.

Founded by retired US Army Major General George O. Squier in 1934, and named to resemble the sound of Kodak, a company who’s name he liked, Muzak has since become synonymous with elevator music, but it was not always so. In the 1940s, Muzak was widespread, the soundtrack behind your time spent in hotel lobbies, grocery stores and offices. It was discovered to improve worker productivity and even accompanied the Apollo 11 space mission astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon.

Two years ago the iconic American brand was bought out by Canadian sensory marketing company Mood Media. The company, which specializes in sight, smell, and sound advertising sees most of its revenue come from background music services, such as Muzak. In a move to improve business in the wake of the increasing power of e-commerce, Mood will be bringing all its services under the umbrella brand Mood, thus brining an end to the name Muzak. Cue the sad music.

[via The New York Times]

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Eva Voinigescu is an intern at Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter @EvaVoinigescu.

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