Visual Muzak: The most horrifying phrase for an artist

Before I get into the details of this article, I should clarify that it is inspired heavily by a video by ‘Pillar of Garbage’s’ video ‘Slop Economics‘. Go have a watch if you want a longer-form video on this subject. Though while that one mostly focuses on the slop side of this argument, I will be focusing on how we treat art.

Do you know what a ‘Muzak’ is? You probably do, you just don’t know the word for it. It is elevator music, shop music, background music. Things you don’t really pay attention to as you do something else like shopping, walking, waiting, all that boring stuff. It’s meant to add a bit of relief to the transitional and repetitive periods of the day. Everywhere does that. It’s not unique.

What is interesting, however, is the phrase ‘Visual Muzak’. This would imply that a visual piece of art is meant to be simply put on in the background, not really focused on or all that interesting. Just something to play. An advertisement could be considered a Visual Muzak, for example. Maybe even a busker, or a loading screen in a video game.

Or if you’re a Netflix executive, art.

Many streaming shows, specifically Netflix, are now designing their shows around the idea of a ‘second screen viewing’. This basically means that the audience can work on other stuff and come back to the media without feeling confused or lost and then turning it off. It’s just meant to be background noise while they browse their phone or do their emails or the cleaning or whatever else.

And I’m not going to say that having media on in the background is inherently bad. I listen to video game music for basically all of my writing, I listen to podcasts and other music while moving from place to place. I’ll even have YouTube videos play in the background while I’m playing a simple game like Minecraft. Hell, like I said the term ‘Muzak’ is just background music for shopping. It’s not bad to have media playing while you do other things.

But that’s not the problem. The problem is that these pieces of media are purposefully being made easy to follow and repetitive, sacrificing the original artists intentions. The art is no longer the goal, just that all important watch time. Because if the watch time is down, then viewer ship is down. And if viewer ship is down, then the service is failing. And these services can’t handle that.

Some ways you can spot if a show has been designed around this approach is if they repeat the same information over and over again. That way a casual viewer can keep up to date with what is going on in the story without feeling lost. A small remark for exposition or to show of a character is no longer possible with this approach. They must be simple and easily understandable at a literal glance. They can not be complex.

Another more subtle difference is the actual plot of the movie. Is it super clichéd and easy to follow? Does it have a simplistic colour palette that you could cut up and put in a bunch of different movies without looking out of place? Congratulations! It’s Muzak.

The sad thing about this is, is that streaming content used to be very good. For a while all the best content was on these streaming services. Mostly this was to entice people to sign up and watch, but it also showed that the idea of this is possible and can help show others new pieces of art with a much lower barrier. Which are you more likely to do: watch a new movie from the comfort of your own home, or go to the cinemas or buy a DVD from the store for the same price as that subscription? Most likely the former.

But now that we are subscribed to these services, they have to make their money back somehow. And if people are getting lost, they will probably decide to stop paying for the service all together. The executives can’t have that, so they make sure that while we do other things, their million dollar movie can continue to play and show shareholders that they should keep funding the platform.

Now, in a rare case of empathy to executives, we can’t entirely blame them for thinking this either. Like I said, sometimes we do just have things playing in the background while we do other stuff. It’s not bad, it’s just what we do now. Can you honestly say the last time you watched a movie or show at home and didn’t look at your phone during it? Probably not. And that’s okay! We get distracted. But that shouldn’t be taken out on the art we consume. Netflix has made movies where the plots are more complicated and interesting. Something that gives you ideas to think about. Something that expands your interest. So why can’t they return to it?

If we keep this progress of only making things that are to keep your attention, then they may as well make TikToks. And to be honest, I don’t want to live in a world where the highest quality entertainment is designed for a vertical screen that can fit in my hand.

So watch the smaller products Netflix has. Find a unique and interesting movie and keep watching it. Show them that we want more high-quality products for the service we pay for.

Image courtesy of ‘Pexels free photos’