The best hold music has few instruments and preferably only one. Simple music handles the change in quality better than a full orchestra arrangement. The latter gets distorted, particularly if it’s too loud for the phone to handle and clipping happens. No one wants to hear a dirge-like cacophony masquerading as “Pachelbel’s Canon in D.”
There are many online companies that specialize in creating on-hold recordings, such as Snap Recordings, On Hold Company, or On Hold Marketing. They each offer a range of services at varying price points.

So, given that hold music is such a powerful potential source of frustration, why do companies continue to get it wrong? Reading the articles that are out there, there seems to be a lot of speculation regarding the best choice of music to placate or even entertain customers while they wait in your queue. Some common suggestions include “Hanging On The Telephone” by Blondie, or Lionel Richie’s “Hello, is it me you’re looking for?”. Or how about looking up the customer’s record in your call centre CRM, grabbing their date of birth, and playing something based on their age range - pop for the under 25s and presumably something fusty for the oldies?
The word “Ringback” is perhaps unfairly associated with a niche market of cell phone users. A ringback tone is a signaling tone that the caller hears while the phone is ringing. In America, the tradition has been to have a two second tone with a four second pause, mirroring the two second ring and four second pauses on the other end.