What on earth motivates the choice of hold music? In my last workplace I didn’t even realise that we hold music until I rang in one day to say I would be late. Terrible crimes against music were being perpetrated via our telephones, the worst examples of midi lift Muzak I had ever heard. Needless to say I turned it off, and changed it for a nice computer voice telling people they were on hold every 20 seconds, with some inoffensive bleeping in between (the choices were limited, and there was no ‘upload your tune here’ option).
At the moment I am on hold to IT and for some reason they have chosen a tasteless midi version of the music from France Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet (more popularly known for its use on Our Tune).It is driving me round the bend, and I am just wondering why on earth IT thought that the romantically-tinged midi strains of Our Tune would inspire me to continue to hold rather then destroy the telephone with a sledgehammer.
I would like to know what the readers of achingbrain have heard while on hold, either truly awful or pleasantly surprising. My personal favourite is the one at my Dad’s office, a marine salvaging and surveying company, where they have chosen to greet callers with the Titanic soundtrack (with its terrible midi choir, but that’s another blog in itself) - awful music, but appropriately snigger-worthy given the line of business.
Alternatively please join Pipedown in their crusade against ear-assaulting piped Muzak in general.
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December 4th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
I particularly loved the time I was on hold for about 45 minutes to the 02 customer complaint line, about to threaten firebombing their headquarters for lack of service. The music?
I want to be loved by you, Marylin Monroe.
Do you? Do you really?
December 5th, 2006 at 10:52 am
ATB have Metallica as their hold music. Sometimes I don’t want to be taken off hold until the song finishes…
: P
December 6th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
I was dialling in for a conference call at work and while being passed from one of the caller’s secretaries to his desk was greeted with “Money Money Money” by ABBA (the real thing in all it’s glory, not a midi rendition). Given that I was calling an asset management company, a firm that exists exclusively for the purpose of making extremely rich people even richer, the selection was less amusing than tasteless to the point of being vomit inducing…
December 20th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
Without a doubt, the worst hold music I’ve ever heard is the music that corporate travel whores Carson Wagonlit play on hold in their central offices. It’s an (approximately) 12 bar loop - not even a logical 16 - of nasty, NASTY synth sounds, including swoops and awful drum tracks. It amde me want to scream, every time.
The other, really bad, one, is Select’s midi rendition of the Four Seasons. Ridiculous.
xx