Muzak Loses Its Name As It Merges With Mood Media

It's official. After nearly 80 long years of delivering only the blandest of elevator music, Muzak is retiring its name. Called "the musical equivalent of white bread," the company will consolidate with Ontario-based Mood Media and lose its oft-mocked name, according to the New York Times.

When Muzak began in 1934, the company described itself as the "founders of piped music." The brand, which has over time become synonymous with flavorless mood music, will now join forces with Mood to provide stores and businesses with songs, visuals and sometimes even smells to enhance the shopping experience.

Mood Media, which purchased the company for $345 million in 2011, hopes to retire Muzak's bad reputation. Lorne Abony, Mood Media’s chairman and chief executive, explained to the New York Times: "It is often perceived as an epithet for elevator music. Muzak was not the connotation that suggested that we have come a long way."

As you honor the slow, often agonizing beats that defined Muzak's legacy, we'd like to remind you that Muzak's ubiquity even extended outside our humble planet. As Robert Siegel reminded us on NPR: "Muzak even reportedly played during the Apollo 11 space mission to keep the astronauts calm."

Do you think renaming it will shake off the brand's baggage, or is Muzak doomed to be the butt of every elevator joke?

We hunted Twitter for the most elated and enraged reactions to the rebrand. Let us know where you lie on the spectrum in the comments.