The Sound of Muzak

[ForeverAutumn]

Elevator music company Muzak files for bankruptcy under heavy debt load

NEW YORK - Muzak Holdings LLC, the maker of elevator music, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday.

The company had heavy debt load, and it filed to try to refinance some of its debt. Its total debt is between US$100 million and $500 million and it has assets of less than $50,000, Muzak said in a court filing.

A company spokeswoman, Meaghan Repko, said total assets were actually higher, at roughly $320 million. That includes the Muzak LLC operating company, she said, which also filed for bankruptcy. She declined to give a more exact figure for the company's total debt.

Many of its biggest creditors are music companies that license songs for use on Muzak playlists. While the company is known as the creator of elevator music, its business is now more focused on creating playlists for use in retail stores, installing professional sound systems and other services.

Fort Mill, S.C.-based Muzak filed for court protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware in Wilmington. The company expects to continue to operate as is. A statement said it has "sufficient means" to support itself through a bankruptcy reorganization.

The company got an extension last month on $105 million in debt, it said in a statement. The extension ran out Tuesday.

Among its biggest unsecured creditors is U.S. Bank NA, which is owed $371 million according to a court filing. Bank lenders typically are classified as secured lenders. Secured lenders are paid before unsecured lenders.

Other top unsecured creditors include vendors such as Universal Music Enterprises, owed $349,321; EMI Capital Records, $320,323; AT&T, $257,384; and Dish Network, $251,276. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is owed $213,020, the filing said.

Sony Music, BMG Film & Television Music, United Parcel Service and Virgin Records were also listed among the unsecured creditors.

A list of secured creditors should be filed later.

[bobsticks]

I guess there's always a silver lining if you look hard enough.

[Finch Platte]

I hope this is a long, painful drawn out process, just like the long, painful drawn out times I've spent listening to their "music."

[GMichael]

May they be forced to listen to their own music 24/7.

[Demetrio]

Well, now I know where the title of that Porcupine Tree song (from their brilliant album "In Absentia") comes from...

Cheers,
Demetrio.

[ForeverAutumn]

Yep. It's that mind numbing stuff of elevators and shopping malls.

Here's something interesting...at least I thought so...

I was watching a documentary on the weekend called The Musical Brain about, in part, Daniel Levitin's research. In the documentary, Sting agreed to be a test subject and they ran cat scans on him while asking him to listen to various types of music, to measure how his brain reacts to each type. The results were high levels of brain activity for each musical genre except when he listened to muzak. When told the results, Sting responded that he wasn't surprised. He enjoys listening to all types of music but Muzak is repetitive and predictible and he doesn't enjoy it at all.

It was a very interesting documentary.

[Kevio]

He enjoys listening to all types of music but Muzak is repetitive and predictible and he doesn't enjoy it at all.

I don't think this is a good description of what makes Muzak bad. I'm pretty sure they made Muzak versions of popular Police and Sting songs.

[Auricauricle]

I think I read somewhere that, now that waterboarding is out, the gov is considering piping Tie a Yellow Ribbon into inmates' cells as a way to facilitate "information gathering"...

[ForeverAutumn]

I don't think this is a good description of what makes Muzak bad. I'm pretty sure they made Muzak versions of popular Police and Sting songs.

Fine then, you tell Sting that his opinion is wrong.

[Auricauricle]

Just wait 'til Sting's music becomes part of the Muzak Collection....Imagine, Lazarus Heart in the elevator at the local mall....

[Kevio]

Fine then, you tell Sting that his opinion is wrong.

While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and let him know that most of his solo work bores me. Do you have his e-mail address?

[Auricauricle]

The other night, the local Public Television station aired the Police reunion concert. I just couldn't get into it. Sting's voice was pert near monotonous....Really a shame, because I think highly of Copeland and Stewart, who seemed intent on doing their level best. Sting, in contrast, was almost blasé.