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.

---

Etymology

Origin of background music

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

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 • Dec. 11, 2025

Our expert content team has a way of sprinkling soothing magic on all of our Sleep Stories through the narrator's cadence to the background music to get people to lull to sleep.

From Salon • Nov. 8, 2024

In the past year, Trump has attended at least four such events, often making fighter-style entrances with background music and an entourage.

From BBC • Jul. 18, 2024

For years, he had her toss the discus in practice to the background music of the Blue Danube Waltz.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2024

However, if the entire class likes background music, try to play the same baroque music during the test that was used during the original presentation of the material: it acts as an auditory memory cue.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin