ambient music

noun

1. Also called ambient. a genre of instrumental music that focuses on sound patterns more than melodic form and is used to create a certain atmosphere or state of mind.

2. background music.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambient music¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

I’ve written so many songs while getting a massage in the mall, because there’s always ambient music that you can’t totally make out.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It is conceived as a tribute to Brian Eno's album Music for Airports, released in 1979, which is seen as a defining moment in the growth of ambient music, a genre which is supposed to provide a calming influence on listeners, while also being easy to ignore.

Read more on BBC

Balancing hooky dance-rock with more experimental forays into electronica and even ambient music, they pepper their lyrics with references to online relationships, chemical dependency and wry, self-aware humour.

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“Now bring it up to your heartspace, connecting to your heart,” she continued, as ambient music droned in the background.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The meditative sleep stories that transport the listener to far-flung destinations en route to the Land of Nod are accompanied by ambient music and narrated by host Tom Jones, who first began “Get Sleepy” as a local radio show in southern England.

Read more on New York Times