Elevator Music: 1920s Idea Helped Calm Nervous Riders

In the closing minutes of The Blues Brothers, after what is arguably the single most gratuitous (and comically destructive) car chase scene in cinematic history (see reference below), Jake and Elwood Blues are in the final throes of their mission to cover an overdue tax bill for their former home, the St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud Orphanage. The brothers remain undaunted in their quest, even as they’re pursued by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of military and law enforcement quickly bearing down on the duo by air, water and land.

And yet their 106-mile car chase to downtown Chicago brilliantly culminates with a perfect scene centered around, of all things, an elevator. Specifically the one that Jake and Elwood take inside the Cook County Building up to the tax assessor’s office on the 11th floor.

The elevator scene heightens the contrast of the moment because the audience is in on the joke: While there’s an exploding cacophony outside, Jake and Elwood stand there calmy awash in the smooth jazz sounds of, yes, you guessed it, elevator music.

Few audio references are perhaps as universally recognized or, let’s face it, consistently maligned, as elevator music. The ubiquitous background tunes inside elevators have become an invisible part of many passengers’ vertical transport experience. And yet the origins, purpose, and ongoing evolution reveal a deeper story about psychology, comfort, and how the elevator industry has adapted to human needs over the years.

But long before the smooth jazz and easy listening defined the elevator experience, riding a lift was a very different, and often uncomfortable, experience. Understanding how elevators evolved from basic mechanical boxes to reach floors built higher and higher helps explain why music became such a powerful design tool, and why it continues to matter today.

Early Passenger Elevators: Functional, Noisy, and Often Unsettling

When passenger elevators began appearing in commercial buildings in the mid-19th century, they represented a revolutionary concept. The safety brake, introduced by Elisha Otis, was first used publicly starting in 1857 at the E.V. Haughwout & Co. department store in New York City. The new installation made vertical travel viable, but early elevators were far from pleasant, compared to modern standards.

These early elevators had several challenges including:

Noise: They were loud, with audible gears, pulleys, and steam or hydraulic components

Speed: Older elevators were slow, especially by any modern standards

Ambience (or lack thereof): The lifts were often dimly lit and/or poorly ventilated

For a myriad of riders, the sensation of being lifted vertically inside an enclosed box triggered anxiety. After all, this was an entirely new experience and the idea of trusting one’s life to cables and machinery was unsettling at best to many.

From a psychological perspective, early elevator rides activated several discomfort factors:

Claustrophobia from being in a confined space

Loss of control, an attendant controlled the operation.

Continued uncertainty about safety, even though the safety brake prevented falls

Awkward social proximity to strangers

In addition, silence inside the cab amplified these sensations. Every creak, shudder, and mechanical sound reminded passengers of the machinery at work. So, as buildings grew taller and elevator speeds increased, these anxieties often intensified (Scientific American and other magazine reports from the 1890s describe dizziness, nausea, and sensations of organs “rising up” when elevators stopped). Builders and developers, along with those in the elevator industry, recognized that improving passenger experience required more than mechanical reliability.

It also required emotional comfort.

Enter Background Music: The Clever Solution

Introducing music into elevators, among other public settings, was not simply about entertainment. It was an early example of human-centered elevator design. It other words, it was a way to use environmental cues to shape perception in everyday life.

Music Masks Mechanical Noise

As anyone with headphones today will tell you, one of music’s most practical benefits is sound masking. In the case of elevators, background music softens or hides operational sounds such as the motor whine, guide rail vibration, or door mechanisms. When passengers hear melody instead of machinery, they subconsciously perceive the ride as smoother and more refined.

Music Alters One’s Perception of Time

A mix of psychological studies over the years have shown that music can compress the perceived passage of time. A 30-second ride accompanied by pleasant music can seem much shorter than 30 seconds in silence. For elevators, where wait times and ride times are key performance indicators, this matters.

Music Reduces Stress and Anxiety

Moreover, other studies have suggested that certain tempos and tonal structures are associated with lower heart rate and reduced cortisol levels. Soft, slow-tempo music can:

Decrease tension

Promote relaxation

Create a sense of predictability

For an enclosed environment like an elevator cab, this is especially valuable.

Music Establishes Emotional Neutrality

Elevators place strangers in close quarters. Music provides a shared auditory backdrop that reduces social awkwardness. Silence invites self-consciousness; music offers psychological cover.

Together, these effects made music a simple, cost-effective way to transform elevators from purely mechanical devices into controlled sensory environments.

Elevator Music, Major General George Owen Squier, and the Birth of Muzak

Music first began appearing in elevators in the late 1920s. That first push came from building owners and building managers of luxury hotels, retail stores and office buildings, not elevator manufacturers themselves. At the time, the elevator industry itself was highly focused on technicians, safety, and speed for obvious reasons. These same owners were already starting to pipe similar music into lobbies, dining rooms, and lounges, so extending background music into elevators was a logical next step, especially given the challenges facing elevator passengers in many instances.

At the time, it was not yet a distinct genre called elevator music, which came later. Those early elevator tunes drew from existing styles of the day that were already popular in upscale public spaces. Historical references say these first tunes leaned on light classical repertoire and salon-style pieces including:

Short orchestral works

Simplified arrangements of well-known classical melodies

Lush string and piano instrumentation

But the person most responsible for institutionalizing background music (and giving it the name we would all assign to the entire genre of ambient music later) was Major General George Owen Squier, a U.S. Army officer, inventor, and communications pioneer.

In 1922, when radio was still a relatively new broadcasting medium and not without its challenges, Squier developed a method for transmitting music over electrical lines, a concept he called “wired radio.” His goal was to deliver centrally controlled music to multiple locations without relying on traditional radio broadcasts. Squier coined what he believed was a modern-sounding name, Muzak, by blending “music” with “Kodak,” a consumer brand he admired for its simplicity and memorability.

Squier and his Muzak creation did not invent the idea of elevator music. Rather, he professionalized and commercialized it.

Early Applications: Restaurants, Hotels, Factories, and Eventually Elevators

Muzak initially targeted hotels, restaurants, factories, and offices for his piped in music. The technology allowed building owners to play relaxing, consistent background music into spaces such as lobbies, waiting areas, and hallways. But it was elevators that quickly became a natural fit to calm the nerves and distract those riding up and down a building’s vertical corridors in a small box.

Music Beyond Elevators: Shaping Modern Environment

Elevator music did not exist in isolation. It became part of broader movement toward ambient sound design in shared spaces in our personal and professional lives. Consider the following:

Offices

Background music has been used to:

Improve focus

Mask conversational noise

Create brand identity

Today, many offices use curated playlists or soundscapes instead of generic background tracks.

Retail Environments

Retailers carefully select music to engage their target demographics and influence the buyer experience, such as:

Shopping pace

Time spent in-store

Brand perception

Slow-tempo music encourages browsing. Upbeat music promotes faster movement. And of course there are examples like Starbucks, known for their coffee-house soundtracks. They boldly state, “Music has played an essential role in the Starbucks experience for over 40 years. We handpick the artists and songs that are played around the world.”

On-Hold Phone Systems

Lastly, “Hold music” serves the same purpose as elevator music:.

Reduces perceived wait time

Lowers caller frustration

Prevents dead silence

Efficiency at Scale

The Empire State Building incorporated multiple elevator banks, each one serving a defined vertical zone above. Some elevators ran express to sky lobbies, where passengers transferred to local elevators serving upper floors. This, in fact, was a strategy that foretold modern super-tall design (it was actually a key design element of the World Trade Center twin, 110-story towers in New York prior to 2001).

Even today, the Empire State Building’s elevator logic is still recognizable to elevator mechanics and industry professionals. The technology has evolved, but the underlying principles remain remarkably consistent.

What the Future of Elevator Music May Look Like

As buildings become smarter and more personalized, elevator music and other ambient sounds are likely to follow similar trends. And yet, the fundamental psychological benefits and daily utility of background music are more grounded and timeless. As such, the more things change moving forward, the more things may stay the same. Namely that elevator music will continue to:

Act as a mental and emotional tool for comfort

Mask of mechanical noise and sounds
Define commercial and hospitality branded environments

More Than Background Noise

From the noisy, anxiety-inducing elevator rides of the 19th century, to today’s carefully curated elevator cab environments, music has played a quiet but important role in shaping how people experience vertical transportation.

These days the perceptions around elevator music are more of a cultural punchline, than a critical enhancement for elevator design. And yet, the origin of elevator music stems from key areas that remain critical today, such as human-centered design and behavioral science.

For professionals in the elevator manufacturing, elevator modernization, and elevator service sectors, this history underscores a larger truth: elevators are not just machines. They are experiences. And sometimes, the smallest design choice, such as the addition of music, can make the biggest difference. A calm in a stormy world outside. Just ask Jake and Elwood.

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[1] When The Blues Brothers film was released in 1980, it held the record at the time for the most vehicles destroyed: 104.