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.
"It's been this ridiculously great viral feature," said Walker. "The feedback I get from people is like, they'll sometimes even show up late to make the other guy listen to the hold music."

“Hardly a month goes by that one of my patients does not compliment us on our On Hold Message. It’s been a great image builder.”
This brings up the ever-present question of appropriate branding for your business. At a funeral home, Green says, you don't want an upbeat pop song, for obvious reasons. Mark Malekpour, who works at Beatsuite, a music library which sells a variety of songs specifically for hold systems, says that companies too often want popular music. "For an insurance company, you don't want something from Queen or U2," he said. "When you're choosing music for an insurance company, it shouldn't feel happy or feel good or lighthearted, because insurance is something you have to have, and you want to think, 'These guys get what insurance is all about.' " (Beatsuite's bestselling hold song is called "Inspiring Innovation," which is tagged as: "Success, achievement, and trustworthy.")