Blues has been rated as the most popular hold music, in a study carried out by the University of York.
Academics monitored the reactions of 2,540 people left waiting in a virtual queue in order to explore the psychological effects different types of sounds have on callers.
Each listener was exposed to one of 10 audio experiences, with blues coming out on top ahead of heavy metal, country and pop.
Music psychologist Dr Mimi O’Neill said the findings revealed that different audio experiences could even influence how long people felt they had been on the phone.
“The blues genre is typified by that mellow, chilled out feeling so you sink into it and wallow in the enjoyment of the experience,” she said.
“That’s as opposed to something like metal which is quite frantic, and possibly leads to an increase in stress.”
Researchers monitored heart rate, mood and alertness, to judge what may cause an increase or decrease in stress levels.
Dr O’Neill said the quality of the music was also key.
“We’re really familiar with that broken, stilted, compressed music sound when we’re on hold, and if you have something that’s a bit better than that, it’s going to enhance the experience.”
She added that one alternative to music was playing trivia and general knowledge, with listeners finding that the most preferable experience.
However, she said it wasn’t entirely without its pitfalls.
“It is worth bearing in mind, if you’re not on hold for that long and you don’t hear the punchline of the trivia fact, that might actually be more irritating,” she added.