Functional music
Have you ever been in an elevator and stopped to notice the music? Or casually bop along in the supermarket aisles to a vague tune in the background? Most likely you have been listening to music specifically composed to not be noticed and is there as a function.
Music was first introduced in elevators shortly after their invention as the contraption caused great anxiety for some people. The music - which was purposefully ambient and soothing - was there to calm the anxieties of the lift passengers so that more people would use the labour saving device. The same concept happened shortly after with music being piped into doctors surgeries, hospitals and most places where silence created an eeriness.
This led to the development of Muzak, a company who founded piped music and the science/psychology of how music affects people doing certain tasks - like shopping.
The music is designed to encourage certain tasks. Most shops in shopping centers have this ambient music that is just familiar enough to recognize, but general enough that the music does not distract the customer or become intrusive. Muzak produced smooth jazz versions of popular songs for this exact purpose and studies have shown that shoppers made more purchases with the music compared to without.
So why is this?
This kind of music is similar to music of games and apps where the music is usually only a couple of bars that seamlessly loops together to create an endless feel. This encourages us to carry on with the task at hand and we end up in a warped time (metaphorically). A perfect example of this can be heard below.
This is the ‘theme song’ in a sense, of the popular app Candy Crush Saga and is known for being very addictive. The music is interesting enough that you hear it but is hard to tell where it loops back around and gives this endless time feel. Hundreds of apps and games have this kind of elevator music that pulls you in and ends up with you playing the game for hours without realizing. Some examples of this include:
Minecraft (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjQQ9JYGgTM)
Clicker games
Mario Kart (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl3RcxfefhE), this one creates excitement and pushes you to keep playing - enhances the competitiveness of the game
Subway Surfers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMIWqUPlEtE)
Bubble Witch Saga (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8w2VHMp3bo)
and many many more! Next time you spend hours on a game without realising, now you know why!