easy listening
Undemanding background music
Easy listening is a style of popular music designed to be pleasant and undemanding—smooth melodies, soft vocals, minimal complexity.
The genre dominated radio formats from the 1960s through 1980s, featuring orchestral arrangements of pop songs and gentle original compositions.
The term now often carries a dismissive edge, suggesting music that's bland or unchallenging: His playlist is all easy listening and elevator music.
Low-durability sedimentary formation
- smooth jazzMellow, polished instrumental genre
- adult contemporaryMellow mainstream radio format
- middle of the roadUncontroversially mainstream stance
- lounge musicRelaxed background instrumental style
light music · elevator music · muzak · background music · instrumental · radio-friendly · airplay · Burt Bacharach
Pleasing sequence of notes
- harmonyAgreement or musical blend
- tuneMusical sequence of notes
- catchyEasy to remember
- singableAble to be voiced musically
lyrical · ballads · refrains · choruses · hooks · crooners · standards · serenades
Without roughness or difficulty
calm · serene · tranquil · peaceful · light · breezy · unhurried · pleasant
One's formative experiences
- unobtrusiveNot readily noticed
- atmosphericOf the air above
- incidentalMinor and unplanned
- understatedDeliberately minimized in expression
subtle · quiet · subdued · minimalist · nonintrusive · mood music · cocktail music · spa music
soft rock
Low-durability sedimentary formation
- smooth jazzMellow, polished instrumental genre
- adult contemporaryMellow mainstream radio format
- middle of the roadUncontroversially mainstream stance
lounge music · light music · elevator music · muzak · background music · instrumental · radio-friendly · airplay · Burt Bacharach · Barry Manilow
melody
Pleasing sequence of notes
singable · lyrical · ballads · refrains · choruses · hooks · crooners · standards · serenades · lullabies
smooth
Without roughness or difficulty
relaxing · calm · serene · tranquil · peaceful · light · breezy · unhurried · pleasant · comfortable
background
One's formative experiences
- unobtrusiveNot readily noticed
- atmosphericOf the air above
- incidentalMinor and unplanned
understated · subtle · quiet · subdued · minimalist · nonintrusive · mood music · cocktail music · spa music · waiting room
- relaxing musiclullaby, ambient music, classical music, piano music, nature sounds
- soft rockAir Supply, Barry Manilow, Carole King, Chicago, Fleetwood Mac
- ambient musicBrian Eno, new age, spa music, atmospheres, textures
- middlebrowbestseller, popular fiction, mass-market, coffee table book, airport novel
- slow musicadagio, adagios, andante, largo, lento
- radio stationsradio station, AM station, FM station, local station, news station
easy listeningheavy metal
Aggressive amplified rock genre
death metal · noise music · extreme metal · grindcore · thrash metal
easy listeningnoise
Unwanted auditory disturbance
cacophony · dissonance · harsh · jarring · grating
easy listeningpunk
Raw, fast rock genre
underground music · avant-garde · experimental music · hardcore · punk rock
easy, ease, uneasy, unease, listening, listener, easing, easier, eased