History

MUZICRAFT has been serving Southern California since 1952

Mr. David Payne started Muzicraft in 1952 in Santa Barbara, California.  With a population of around 45,000, Mr. Payne introduced MUZAK to Southern California.  I’m sure you know the term Muzak now, but please remember that the term Muzak wasn’t trademarked until two years later in 1954!  Additionally, Muzak wasn’t anything close to the music we hear from MOOD, today.  The music was programmed in 15-minute blocks, gradually getting faster in tempo and louder and brassier in instrumentation, to encourage workers to speed up their pace. Following the completion of a 15-minute segment, the music would fall silent for 15 minutes. This was partly done for technical reasons, but company-funded research also showed that alternating music with silence limited listener fatigue, and made the “stimulus” effect of Stimulus Progression more effective.

1935-1950

Signals Across Electrical Wires

1935-1950 Muzak was the invention of Major General George O. Squier, the U.S. Army's Chief Signal Officer during World War I. Radio was still a fledgling art in the 1920s, difficult and expensive to manage, so Squier created a way of transmitting signals across electrical wires, no radio necessary

1935-1950

MUZAK

Squier remained involved in the project, but as the home market became eclipsed by radio in 1934 he changed the company's focus to delivering music to commercial clients. Intrigued by the made-up word Kodak used as a trademark, he took the first syllable from "music" and added "ak" from "Kodak" to create Muzak, which became the company's new name.

1950's

Trevillian Enterprises

Doyle McClurg and David Payne ran Trevillian Enterprises in Santa Barbara CA selling background Music, Juke Boxes and installing small sound systems

1953-1961

MUZAK in the White House and in space

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to pump Muzak into the West Wing, and Lyndon B. Johnson owned the Muzak franchise in Austin, Texas. NASA reportedly used Muzak in many of its space missions to soothe astronauts and occupy periods of inactivity.

1960's

MUZICRAFT is born

Trivillian Enteprises name is changed MUZICRAFT Incorporated and became a Muzak Franchisee for the tri-counties. Transmitting Muzak over phone lines via large reel to reel machines.

1970's

Subsidiary Communications Authority (SCA)

David Payne assits in the creation of Subsidiary Communications Authority (SCA) transmission of Muzak through the use of broadband signals coming from FM Radio towers.

1980's

Sole proprietor | MUZICRAFT

Doyle McClurg passes and David Payne becomes sole proprietor. David Payne Junior and Deena Lockhart join Muzicraft.
Hermas Garcia and Eric Borroel join Muzicraft.

1990's

Music with vocals | Sattelite

Muzak begins using music with vocals from original artists.
Satellite transmission begins. Linda Sedeno joins Muzicraft.

2000-2010

3 Million | IP Delivery

Muzak distributed 3 million commercially available original artist songs. It offered almost 100 channels of music via satellite or IP delivery, in addition to completely custom music programs tailored to their customers' needs.

2011

MOOD Media Acquires MUZAK

Mood Media's acquisition of Muzak will create a global in-store media provider servicing over 470,000 commercial locations in over 39 countries. In the U.S., the combined business will serve over 200,000 national and 100,000 franchisee locations.

2010-PRESENT

Deena Lockhart | Digital Signage

David Payne passes. Deena Lockhart becomes new owner.
Digital Signage becomes a focal product with Muzak. Zeke Gauna, Jay Ruiz, Roland Duenes, Norma Uriarte, and Austen Thompson join Muzicraft.

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