Seasonal soundscape in the city

Christmassy background music as calendrical decoration

Authors

• Meri Kytö https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7877-5522

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30666/elore.110825

Keywords:

joulu, koristelu, äänimaisema, taustamusiikki

Abstract

The tradition of creating a christmassy atmosphere in city space is a calendrical soundscape event spanning from late November to the end of December in various cities around the world, with different religious backgrounds. This article explores the experience of christmassy background music in urban environements and how it, as a phenomenon, likens to decoration with visual elements. With local, contextual and changing expectations concerning timing, choice of music, volume, and temporary PA solutions, the public discussion around Christmas background music is vivid and often affective. The end of the year season is an exception in background music practices in the urban commercial space, and this makes it an interesting phenomenon to study as it points to changes in the accepted, overlooked and often willfully ignored musical environment in cities.

In this study christmassy background music is being studied as being an integral part of urban soundscapes, urban space and musical cultures in Finland. The primary material data collecting method was to ask the public to report if they heard Christmas music while they were out in town. This consists of numerous short reports via instant messaging or using a given hashtag from acquaintances and members of the public of where and when they have heard music that they recognize as Christmas music. At times these reports included screen shots of music identification applications like Shazam. Reports were seldom neutral, but had a note on some aspect of the heard experience or even reports on not hearing any music. Secondary material in the study is an autoethnographical listening diary. During 71 days an online public diary was kept on what was heard and reported. 

The material is divided into four recurring experiential themes that answer questions about its decorational and seasonal nature. These themes are 1) the experience of “bumping into” music and of contagion, 2) the beginning, the full mood, and anticipating of the ending of the season, 3) the avoidance of background music and gamification of this avoidance, and 4) the spatial ubiquity of christmassy music. The analysis is backed up with an overview of Christmas music as part of background music culture and as a designed product. This study presents a reading of christmassy background music as a sonic ritual of decoration and of consumerist sensory agency. The research shows that the everyday experience of hearing background music is more diverse and nuanced than those who sell and promote background music products tend to imply.