ClearFM (Mock Muzak FM-1 Stream): 15th Anniversary Edition [8-Hour CDi Experiment]

Today—September 1, 2024—marks the 15th anniversary of the mock Muzak FM-1 stream known around the Internet as Clear Foreground Music, or ClearFM for short.

On September 1, 2009, at around 10 AM Eastern time, I'd just received several old Utah speakers from a grocery store. I was sitting around thinking, "it would be great if I had something to play through these speakers after they were installed!" I knew I couldn't play Muzak's FM-1 channel, but the thought occurred to me I could make my own version. Thus, ClearFM was born.

ClearFM is my take on how FM-1 would sound if I programmed it. It contains the current FM-1 library and a wide variety of songs that are either retired from the FM-1 rotation or have never been played on FM-1 but fit the format. A major difference in this format: while FM-1 lost its regular-rotation '60s songs during the Christmas 2008 rotation and its regular-rotation '70s songs during the Christmas 2018 rotation—making it a program currently covering the '80s to the present—ClearFM has covered the '60s to the present from its inception.

What you will hear here is exactly as you'd expect to hear the ClearFM program to sound if it were played off a CDi device like the MCD-1000, manufactured for Muzak by Plextor. Each block contains an hour of music encoded in monophonic for a grand total of approximately eight hours of music.

This playlist and program has led to many long-lasting friendships that I will cherish for the rest of my life. This experiment serves as a tribute to that. Long live friendships, and long live ClearFM! Enjoy!

Standard disclaimer: this compilation is designed for private listening only. I'm not responsible for any consequences suffered as a result of playing this in a business if you don't have an active background music subscription or don't pay royalties to BMI/ASCAP/SESAC/etc. No challenge to copyright or ownership is intended by posting this experimental compilation.