A ubiquitous and uniquely American art form is in grave danger. On February 10, 2009, Muzak Holdings LLC filed for bankruptcy protection. You know, Muzak, often referred to as "elevator music":

The style of music used was deliberately bland, so as not to intrude on foreground tasks, and adhered to precise limitations in tempo and dynamics. This style of music blended into the background as intended in most situations, but was sometimes noticeable (particularly in quiet spaces such as elevators). Thus the word “Muzak” began to be used as a pejorative for this type of “elevator music.”

Muzak is an acquired taste. I suspect that many of you haven't invested the necessary time to come to terms with Muzak. It takes persistence and a wide-open sense of musicality to enjoy this specialized art form. Muzak itself has been at fault for much of this lack of appreciation. Consider Muzak's obstinate failure to take its music and its musicians on nationwide tours and its failure to provide Muzak-appreciation courses for grade-school students. Nor has Muzak taken the time to go into the inner cities to enrich the lives of underprivileged children with its idiosyncratic art form. Perhaps, though, these failures were all for the best, give the attendant risk to enjoying Muzak: based on my own personal experience, Muzak is capable of triggering an especially pernicious and annoying form of earworm. On a serious note, Muzak-type music has intentionally been employed as a social repellent:

During the last ten years, another use of elevator music has emerged, not with the aim of relaxation and pleasure, but to make loitering less attractive for those people who dislike the music (allegedly aimed toward drug addicts, prostitutes). For this purpose serious classical music (e.g. opera, marches or sonatas) is used and played louder than usual. One of the first places it was tested was in Amsterdam.

The bottom line is that Muzak is struggling and we might need to figure out what else we can possibly do in elevators and stores. Maybe we'll have to work harder to become interesting to ourselves. Consider, finally, The Onion's requiem for Muzak.