A taste of Chicago music on tap for local air travelers

MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport will begin playing music exclusively by Chicago artists over their loud speakers in early February, thanks to an effort by the Chicago Music Commission and the Chicago Department of Aviation.

Paul Natkin, acting executive director of the music commission, compiled the music playlist with the intention of promoting Chicago's entire music community.

"There's a cross-section of blues, country, jazz, classical," he said. "It's everything from the Chicago Symphony to Buddy Guy."

But don't expect to hear any Fall Out Boy or other upbeat rock music.

"One of the guidelines is that the music can't be frenetic," Natkin said. "Because you know, people are stressed enough at the airport. [The aviation department] would have preferred instrumental, but we put in a lot of vocal [music] too."

Natkin said the music commission will stock the airports with fliers about the music, and the commission's Web site will list all of the artists and information about where to purchase their albums. The commission hopes the airports soon will make the musicians' albums available at kiosks or souvenir stores.

After about six months of planning, the local music will be broadcast in the airports' terminals and rail vehicles shuttling passengers between terminals.

"We wanted to take the opportunity for local artists to reach a national and international audience and for that audience to be exposed to our local talent," said Karen Pride, spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation.

Chicago isn't the first city to bring local musical flavor into its airport. The airports in Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tenn., both host live performances five days a week. Nashville also asks local country music celebrities to record greetings, which are played over the airport's announcement system.

The Chicago Music Commission has other projects in the works to promote the local music scene, said Natkin. They hope to hold free concerts at City Hall on Friday afternoons. The commission also wants people to hear local music when they call government offices and are placed on hold.

"You have to play something," Natkin said. "You might as well play something that helps your city."