Pop Xulture Newsletter # 33
Xollection Machine: Muzak, Christian Media, AI, 3 New Metal Albums. 4/26/25
¡Hola amigos! I hope you enjoyed my last Newsletter’s coverage of WonderCon 2025. Today I’ll give you a quick writing update, a mini-article on the surprising side of muzak, and highlight a few pop culture-y items.
Xurrent News
In writing my humility book, I’ve secured a few endorsements, completed drafts of the first two chapters, and am exploring how pride is the hub of all sins for Chapter Three. I’m also starting the rough draft of an article on Back to the Future’s 40th anniversary for Christ and Pop Culture (CAPC). Semi-related, you can read my review of Back to the Future: The Musical here.
Xomposition Exclusive
Muzak’s Musical Manipulation: A Mini-Article
I never gave muzak much thought, other than bland music assaulting my ears in grocery stores and elevators. But recently I found that inventor General George Squier created the company Muzak in 1934, after patenting technology capable of transmitting music through long-distance wires. Over time, the company performed several studies, eventually piping muzak into factories to increase productivity (“Stimulus Progression”).
I was alerted to some of Muzak’s more “nefarious” psychological components in musician Sam McPheeters’ book Mutations. “Postwar America migrated this concept to retail,” says McPheeters, “using fast tempo to get customers in and out (supermarkets), slow tempo to boost browsing (high-end retail), its twangy guitars licks and ethereal synth lines and sleepy sax solos used strategically to lure certain demographics and subtly repel others.”
McPheeters’ ideas of luring and repelling got stuck in my head like an earworm, which gave birth to this article. So I did some research. In 1991 Southern Californian convenience stores started blasting muzak in their parking lots to “repel youthful chronic loiterers.” Although the company did not propose this use, they were happy profiting from it.
A few years later, writing for The Seattle Times, Elisabeth Dunham summarized Muzak’s psychological effect on consumerism: “Much of the research has focused on supermarkets. Studies show that if you play slower music, people shop at a more leisurely pace.” I found the difference between the initial supermarket techniques mentioned by McPheeters and later sales approaches recorded by Dunham interesting. Who knew that boring ’ol muzak was actually being used to manipulate behavior?
[END EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE CONTENT]
Xollection Machine: Christian Media and AI Conversing with AI, Metal Albums
Christian Media Critique
Back in 2023 I wrote an exclusive article for you titled “How to Improve Christian Video Media for Artists and Audiences.” It was fine, but over the months I’ve seen a couple of other articles about Christian media that expand what I was shooting for. Check them out:
“Christian Filmmaking Needs a Shift” by Cap Stewart via CAPC.
“Amazon’s House of David Takes Biblical Speculative Fiction to the Next Level” again by Cap Stewart via CAPC.
Both above articles happen to be by Cap Stewart, you can subscribe to his Substack “Unpop Culture” here.
Robo Talk: AI Conversing with AI
Sure, I’m nervous about AI and Skynet, but this video is crazy cool. Warning: my wife had a visceral reaction:
Nu Metal: Three New Metal Albums
I’ve been cycling through three new albums:
Bloodywood’s “Nu Delhi”: YouTube album playlist here
Memphis May Fire’s “Shapeshifter”: YouTube album playlist here
And new to me: Shepherds Reign’s “Ala Mai (Digital album)”: YouTube album playlist here
Xoncluding Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this volume of the Xollection Machine. I’d love to hear your comments – disagreements or otherwise. I appreciate your reading!
Thanks, in Him,
-Chris (the Bearded Wonder) Fogle