background music

American  

noun

1. music, often recorded, intended to provide a soothing background, usually played over loudspeaker systems in public places, as railway stations or restaurants.

2. music composed specifically to accompany and heighten the mood of a visual production, as a movie.

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Etymology

Origin of background music

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

When Harry and Ron and the other first-year students enter the Great Hall at Hogwarts for the ceremony that will sort them into their school houses, there’s so much going on in the background—music, giggles, footsteps—that the listener must strain to catch Ms. Jumbo describing the long tables in the candlelit room being laid “with glittering golden plates and goblets.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Not the mellow, easy-listening variety that serves as background music in elevators and waiting rooms.

From Los Angeles Times

This is part of the background music in America: Americans who aren’t unemployed and do have a house are afraid that in the next few years they could lose their job, their security.

From The Wall Street Journal

Included in Russia’s newly privatized health care system were private clinics for the ultra-wealthy offering hotel-like amenities, including private rooms, tea and soft background music.

From Salon

"This will be fine for background music for most people," she continues, "but it won't work for creating the superstars of the future who, of course, draw on the past but then make something completely new out of it."

From BBC