Where this creates an extra snag with music on hold is that the loudest part of a song doesn’t typically come in until the final chorus or reprise. This means that if you just listen to the first 10 seconds to check that your new hold music is working, then chances are you’ll be blissfully unaware that three minutes into holding (just as customers are beginning to feel irritated anyway), you start playing a sound like fingernails on a blackboard to them.
The song was immediately polarizing, as far as these things go, which the company's executives,saw as a good thing; it generated buzz on Twitter, and gave people something to talk about when they got on the phone. Some people hated it, Cornell said, and others loved it so much they downloaded it. Cornell was invited to do a live performance for one company, where sales staff listened to the song all day long. It wasn't meant to fade into the background, and perhaps that's why it's lasted so long.

With LinkedPhone, adding a business line to your cell phone has never been easier or more convenient. Get the powerful business features you need to grow. Try us risk-free for 7 days.
For a more modern example of a bad choice of hold music, let’s take an example I have to endure on a regular basis, Month of Sundays by Passenger. At CD quality it’s got lots of interesting stuff going on, which you’d imagine might be ideal to distract someone from the fact they’re being kept on hold for ages. However, playing it over the phone it’s simply too busy. As soon as the brass and backing vocals kick in it just sounds yuck.