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Ah, the many eras of corporate music. Canyon.mid exemplifies the late 80s / early 90s aesthetic - gets me fired up to optimize my multimedia strategy. The curr

Ah, the many eras of corporate music. Canyon.mid exemplifies the late 80s / early 90s aesthetic - gets me fired up to optimize my multimedia strategy. The current era is mostly inspiring 4 chord repetitions with muted guitar and piano, with B-roll of cinematic nature footage and racially diverse businesspeople shaking hands. Also jaunty ukulele riffs with dance claps and some kind of "oh oh ayy-oh" vocal hook. What creative bounties will the coming decades bring?

splatzone 5y ago
Relevant Tantacrul video about the current era of corporate music: https://youtu.be/AIxY_Y9TGWI https://youtu.be/AIxY_Y9TGWI
jim-jim-jim 5y ago
I feel like there was at least one additional generation of corporate muzak between these two movements, but I am slightly too young to really put words to it. I remember bank and tech commercials being full of xylophones and marimbas around the turn of the century. Think the soundtrack to American Beauty. James Ferraro's Far Side Virtual definitely touches upon it too.
WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
Isn’t the ukulele thing straight from Israel Kamakawiwo`ole’s take on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, or a bleak imitation thereof? I want my 60s-70s orchestral muzak back. Complete with grainy 24fps footage of sunny cities with enormous futuristic-looking business centers and viaducts, successful-looking smiling people riding those ginormous cars to work. Keith Mansfield, David Lindup, Alan Hawkshaw. Big names of library music. The synthwave era in comparison sounds somewhat decadent. But I like it too.
- motogpjimbo 5y ago
  For anyone interested in this genre, there is a very large collection of 60s/70s library music available on Spotify. Searching for "KPM 1000" will get you started. There is also a documentary on the subject: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Library-Music-Film-Shawn-Lee/dp/B082LS555Z https://www.amazon.co.uk/Library-Music-Film-Shawn-Lee/dp/B08...
tgv 5y ago
The infinite four chord inspiration sound is quite dreadful (shame on you, Hans Zimmer), but I do hope we never revert to the times of KPMG, we're strong as can be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCvKXgp-Awo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCvKXgp-Awo. If you haven't heard it, first prepare some ear bleach before you click.
- robin_reala 5y ago
  How about the Capgemini rap? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHCnDVHzqv4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHCnDVHzqv4
- liotier 5y ago
  I actually quite like the KPMG anthem's jungle remix: https://soundcloud.com/joey-devilla/the-kpmg-song-jungle-stylee https://soundcloud.com/joey-devilla/the-kpmg-song-jungle-sty...
- lathiat 5y ago
  When I think four chord song I think of Axis Of Awesome :) Medley of a bunch of pop songs on the premise they all use the same 4 chords. https://youtu.be/5pidokakU4I https://youtu.be/5pidokakU4I
taylorfinley 5y ago
In answer to your closing rhetorical, I'd like the throw a curveball: Corporate Businesswave, the genre of truly creative artists riffing on soulless corporate jingle culture. Plenty of 80s/90s aesthetic to go around here. I personally love "Money Can Buy Happiness" and "Mark to Market" by New Century, "Pump and Dump" by Shadow and Mirrors, and "Insider Trading" by Michael Weber. A good jumping-off point: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39pqsBTsb9UNYv1dXbZpff?si=b1ea5573a6874a1e https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39pqsBTsb9UNYv1dXbZpff?si=...
- IggleSniggle 5y ago
  Thank you for this!
- huskyr 5y ago
  Probably the most famous example of this genre is James Ferraro's "Far Side Virtual", which can be listened to in its entirety here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd-uSm8ittU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd-uSm8ittU
- kfarr 5y ago
  Thanks for sharing, favorite so far is also "Money Can Buy Happiness". The song would be perfectly at home in the GTA Vice City soundtrack including lyrics like: "More is more and less is less, money can buy happiness" "Life can be so effortless, money can buy happiness"
  - dirkk0 5y ago
    Awesome find. Here they are on YT, I was the 97th subscriber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chod_eCaGWI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chod_eCaGWI
- twic 5y ago
  I work in finance, so this playlist has been highly entertaining, thanks. Especially when one of my trader colleagues pops up on voice chat to unwittingly duet with Gordon Gekko.
headmelted 5y ago
Gets me fired up to jump over a dolphin. Weird. https://youtu.be/q26aQKRjebI https://youtu.be/q26aQKRjebI
pedrow 5y ago
In the old days you had to sing the corporate song yourself, e.g. Ever Onward I.B.M.[0] [0]: https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/multimedia/everonward_trans.html https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/multimedia/everonward_trans....
- fsckboy 5y ago
  Ever Onward IBM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9oh3gqOEKU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9oh3gqOEKU
  - sneak 5y ago
    https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/punched-cards/2/15/109 https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/punched-cards/2/1...
pnut 5y ago
Obligatory post http://datassette.net/businessfunk/ http://datassette.net/businessfunk/
- libele 5y ago
  it's incredible the number of things you can do with eggs
saltcured 5y ago
Somehow, this made me think of Amtrak when they used a jazz song from the Pat Metheny Group as their radio jingle. That advertisement felt surprising to me at the time, and stimulated oddly nostalgic day dreams about sophisticated train trips that I never actually experienced...

splatzone 5y ago

Relevant Tantacrul video about the current era of corporate music: https://youtu.be/AIxY_Y9TGWI https://youtu.be/AIxY_Y9TGWI

jim-jim-jim 5y ago

I feel like there was at least one additional generation of corporate muzak between these two movements, but I am slightly too young to really put words to it. I remember bank and tech commercials being full of xylophones and marimbas around the turn of the century. Think the soundtrack to American Beauty. James Ferraro's Far Side Virtual definitely touches upon it too.

WesolyKubeczek 5y ago

Isn’t the ukulele thing straight from Israel Kamakawiwo`ole’s take on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, or a bleak imitation thereof? I want my 60s-70s orchestral muzak back. Complete with grainy 24fps footage of sunny cities with enormous futuristic-looking business centers and viaducts, successful-looking smiling people riding those ginormous cars to work. Keith Mansfield, David Lindup, Alan Hawkshaw. Big names of library music. The synthwave era in comparison sounds somewhat decadent. But I like it too.

motogpjimbo 5y ago
For anyone interested in this genre, there is a very large collection of 60s/70s library music available on Spotify. Searching for "KPM 1000" will get you started. There is also a documentary on the subject: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Library-Music-Film-Shawn-Lee/dp/B082LS555Z https://www.amazon.co.uk/Library-Music-Film-Shawn-Lee/dp/B08...

tgv 5y ago

The infinite four chord inspiration sound is quite dreadful (shame on you, Hans Zimmer), but I do hope we never revert to the times of KPMG, we're strong as can be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCvKXgp-Awo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCvKXgp-Awo. If you haven't heard it, first prepare some ear bleach before you click.

robin_reala 5y ago
How about the Capgemini rap? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHCnDVHzqv4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHCnDVHzqv4
liotier 5y ago
I actually quite like the KPMG anthem's jungle remix: https://soundcloud.com/joey-devilla/the-kpmg-song-jungle-stylee https://soundcloud.com/joey-devilla/the-kpmg-song-jungle-sty...
lathiat 5y ago
When I think four chord song I think of Axis Of Awesome :) Medley of a bunch of pop songs on the premise they all use the same 4 chords. https://youtu.be/5pidokakU4I https://youtu.be/5pidokakU4I

taylorfinley 5y ago

In answer to your closing rhetorical, I'd like the throw a curveball: Corporate Businesswave, the genre of truly creative artists riffing on soulless corporate jingle culture. Plenty of 80s/90s aesthetic to go around here. I personally love "Money Can Buy Happiness" and "Mark to Market" by New Century, "Pump and Dump" by Shadow and Mirrors, and "Insider Trading" by Michael Weber. A good jumping-off point: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39pqsBTsb9UNYv1dXbZpff?si=b1ea5573a6874a1e https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39pqsBTsb9UNYv1dXbZpff?si=...

IggleSniggle 5y ago
Thank you for this!
huskyr 5y ago
Probably the most famous example of this genre is James Ferraro's "Far Side Virtual", which can be listened to in its entirety here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd-uSm8ittU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd-uSm8ittU
kfarr 5y ago
Thanks for sharing, favorite so far is also "Money Can Buy Happiness". The song would be perfectly at home in the GTA Vice City soundtrack including lyrics like: "More is more and less is less, money can buy happiness" "Life can be so effortless, money can buy happiness"
- dirkk0 5y ago
  Awesome find. Here they are on YT, I was the 97th subscriber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chod_eCaGWI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chod_eCaGWI
twic 5y ago
I work in finance, so this playlist has been highly entertaining, thanks. Especially when one of my trader colleagues pops up on voice chat to unwittingly duet with Gordon Gekko.

headmelted 5y ago

Gets me fired up to jump over a dolphin. Weird. https://youtu.be/q26aQKRjebI https://youtu.be/q26aQKRjebI

pedrow 5y ago

In the old days you had to sing the corporate song yourself, e.g. Ever Onward I.B.M.[0] [0]: https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/multimedia/everonward_trans.html https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/multimedia/everonward_trans....

fsckboy 5y ago
Ever Onward IBM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9oh3gqOEKU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9oh3gqOEKU
- sneak 5y ago
  https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/punched-cards/2/15/109 https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/punched-cards/2/1...

pnut 5y ago

Obligatory post http://datassette.net/businessfunk/ http://datassette.net/businessfunk/

libele 5y ago
it's incredible the number of things you can do with eggs

saltcured 5y ago

Somehow, this made me think of Amtrak when they used a jazz song from the Pat Metheny Group as their radio jingle. That advertisement felt surprising to me at the time, and stimulated oddly nostalgic day dreams about sophisticated train trips that I never actually experienced...