What to write about … what to write about? That is the question. I wanted to write about something unusual this week, something that didn’t fit under the traditional mold of album, CD, mix tape. (Does anyone still listen to mix tapes?) So, I was thinking about where else we get our music. Concerts, of course, but that still falls under a somewhat traditional genre. By the way, is anyone else heinously excited for The Flaming Lips? Cuz I am. Our little brothers’ high school jazz band. (You get your music there, right?) Musicals. There’s some unusual potential there. Movies. Ooh, soundtracks, that’s good! Ringtones (gross), background music on hold with NYSEG because they over-charged you for the bajillionth time (more gross), commercial jingles (“5 … 5 … 5 dollar foot long”) and elevators. Hey, Muzak! That’s different, right?

So, musicals, movies and Muzak. Some new sources for you to try out in the month of March. Now, to be totally fair, I don’t know if Muzak is officially music, but we’re gonna include it anyway. For those of you who don’t know, Muzak refers pretty much to elevator music, it’s “American background music.” It’s also a company — Muzak LLC — the provider of all things background music. I honestly don’t know much about Muzak, so I Googled them, and found, first off, their official slogan: “Get all your music business solutions from Muzak!” Does that seem ridiculous to anyone else? Your Muzak business solutions? Solutions to what? Fixing corporate boredom one bad mix tape at a time! Woohoo! The website has case studies, terms like “audio architecture” and sample listening from their various collections, including, but SO not limited to “Swing Kings,” “Decades” (pick a decade, any decade), “Jukebox Gold,” “Little Italy.” You’ve got your collections for clothing stores, for phone lines, whatever you want. It’s so incredibly corporate and soul-sucking and pretty ridiculous. But totally hilarious.

Google also suggested I search “Muzak playlists” and turns out, there’s whole websites devoted to finding you that playlist you just couldn’t get enough of from American Eagle. What happened to the good old days when elevators just played “Hey Jude” on repeat?

Ok, so we’ve covered Music for AEM majors 101, what about music for the more alternative majors? Comparative literature, classics, fine arts, etc. I like musicals for ya’ll — they’re an art form in and of themselves. Admittedly, the soundtracks are sometimes hard to listen to, because you end up with a lot of half-singing, half-talking (my mother enjoys these), but when they get to the good music, it’s really oh-so-good. Personally, I love the soundtrack for The Lion King, the musical. Phantom of the Opera, Chicago and Fiddler on the Roof are also good, and seem to be popular among us young’uns. Admit it, you love “If I were a rich man, duh dah duh dah duh…” (and I do not mean the Gwen Stefani version people).

My brother and sister are pretty much obsessed with the soundtracks from both Dreamgirls and Rent, so I guess those merit some listening as well. More traditionally, especially if you’re into country, you could check out Oklahoma, Annie or Guys and Dolls. If you’re a classy kind of girl (by which I mean, into classical music), perhaps Les Mis or My Fair Lady. Gotta catch ’em all, ya’ll.

And finally, we come to the part of the column where I admit something horribly embarrassing. My of-the-moment movie soundtrack of choice? Twilight. There I said it. Judge me if you must (though please keep in mind that I have never actually seen the Twilight movies, or read the books). But first of all, Robert Pattinson’s being gorgeous on the album cover, so how can you pass that up? And second of all, the bands on the album rock! Death Cab, Thom Yorke, Lykke Li, The Killers, Muse, Ok Go. Seriously! Big budget teen chick flicks pay off sometimes I guess. I suggest you pirate it somewhere (no I do not … ) so you don’t have to support the Twilight franchise though. I’ll see you at the vet school in August for some serious Robert Pattinson stalking, eh?