Yeeun Namkoong

The project addresses the history of music functionalism from Muzak and how Spotify serves as a neo-Muzak function. Muzak, a company well-known for elevator music, curates programs to intentionally create specific atmospheres to manage the listener’s mood or productivity. In this way, the music becomes a background, a wallpaper. Spotify follows a trajectory similar to Muzak, in which the former’s focus is not only on music curation but also on affect management and mood enhancement of the streaming platform’s users, which is most evident in its personalised mood-based playlists. As a part of a sound performance, I created a machine listening-based feedback loop program using Supercollider, an audio programming language. I aim to draw attention to our consumption patterns of chill music, which is often used as a background or a wallpaper.