Thank You for the Music

This film resembles muzak in style. It combines and mixes different types of material (film, video, computer animation) to underline muzak´s Esperanto-like nature. There is no strict storyline; music plays the key role throughout the film. In fact, many scenes are minimalist music videos. Their visual look is true to muzak´s economical, wryly surrealistic and sterile spirit. To the accompaniment of 26 muzak recordings, established professionals talk about ,aking, programming and distributing the music. Since muzak has never been made in Finland, the film focuses on the American author Joseph Lanza and the Dutch programmer Theo van Leeuwen. For nearly 30 years, van Leeuwen has programmed the entire repertoire of Phillips Background Music, which is used throughout the western world. About half of the music heard in Helsinki, for example, is by van Leeuwen. The film also visits van Leeuwen´s house band, the Paul Natte Orchestra, at a studio in Hilversum, The Netherlands – the “roots” of European background music. The film takes viewers to the grey area that is the world of muzak and answer the question: “Dad, what did you listen to before we had 20 commercial radio station?” How long does a life last?