MSD spends $13k on hold music

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) spends over $13,000 a year on hold music for their Studylink and Work and Income call centres.

The hold music for Studylink, which administers student loans, is famous among students – who can sometimes find themselves hearing a lot of it.

An Official Information Act request reveals MSD spent $13,137.22 in 2016 in order to license and use the music. This represents roughly 0.00006 per cent of the money MSD administers every year.

‘‘The Ministry contracts OneMusic to provide hold music for both Studylink and Work and Income call centres, enabling up to 600 phone lines to play hold music simultaneously,’’ a spokesman said.

OneMusic is New Zealand’s main music licensing body, handling royalties for music played in cafes, other businesses, and even school dances.

Their website said hold music ‘‘has a positive impact on creating the right atmosphere and can be an extremely valuable business tool when customers and clients are phoning your office, professional rooms or business’’.

Rates are indexed to inflation and begin at $276.86 a year for just one to five lines.

Each additional line above 400 costs $24.24 each.

Otago University student and editor of Critic Joel McManus used the Official Information Act recently to get a full list of Studylink’s songs earlier this year, which he was personally a big fan of.

‘‘This is like the new generation of Nature’s Best,’’ MacManus said.

‘‘I really wanted to get my hands on the rest of the playlist but I wasn’t keen to keep calling.’’

The playlist is entirely made up of Kiwi musicians, including four Six60 songs and Lorde’s breakout single Royals.