Meldstem

On-hold music

On-hold music with your own messages

Callers on hold hear music with your own messages over it. Not one sentence repeating endlessly, but a rotation of short sentences where reassurance and information alternate. Type your text, pick music and listen to the free preview.

Hear how it sounds first

Fifteen examples from different trades, each with a different mood underneath. Useful to hear what is possible and to get ideas for your own text. You hear the rotation start twice, exactly as a caller gets it. Everything is in telephone quality, so it sounds duller on a computer speaker than on your own line.

Your message

On-hold audio works best when reassurance and information alternate. Only “one moment please” becomes irritating, and only information feels like an advert. Fill in what fits; one sentence is fine too, it then repeats.

Give your company name and say you will be with them shortly. Everyone hears this first.

0 / 3000 characters

Something the caller can do themselves: book online, track an order, or where to find their details.

0 / 3000 characters

Short and friendly. This keeps the wait from feeling like an advert.

0 / 3000 characters

For example a second route, an opening time, or something to have ready.

0 / 3000 characters

Tip: three dots (...) add a pause, one word in CAPITALS gets extra emphasis. More writing tips

Choose a voice
Voice language

The voice speaks the language your text is written in. If you pick Spanish, write your text in Spanish too; we do not translate automatically.

Female or male
Voice
Tone
Choose the music

Listen to each track with the play button. All music comes with a rights statement (see the bottom of this page).

Or use your own music

Already have music you hold the rights to? Upload it here and we convert it to the format your phone system can play. MP3 or WAV, up to 20 MB.

Calm

For care, breakdown services and anywhere people rarely call in a good mood.

Warm

Acoustic and friendly. Suits a practice, childcare or hospitality.

Upbeat

Light and lively. Suits a salon, web shop or garage.

Understated

Understated, asks for no attention. Suits law, property or accountancy.

Music volume
Total length
Pause between sentences

How much music plays before the next sentence. Fifteen seconds is a calm, common choice.

The free sample is one minute of your on-hold audio with a soft meldstem.com watermark. The paid version is the full length, without watermark, in the right format for your phone system.

Download immediately after payment. You receive the file in telephony formats (WAV) with a README and the music rights statement.

Why a rotation and not one sentence?

Callers who hear only silence or a beep hang up sooner. But the same sentence coming back every twenty seconds becomes just as irritating. So you alternate: a welcome, then something the caller can act on, then a short word of patience. The wait sounds like attention instead of an advert, and you answer questions before anyone reaches you.

Which music suits your business?

Choose the mood, not the genre. People rarely call a doctor, dentist or breakdown service in a cheerful mood: something calm and warm works best there. For a salon, web shop or restaurant it can be lighter and livelier. For a law firm, estate agent or accountant, understated is safest: music that does not ask for attention. Not sure? Listen to the preview with your own text over it.

What about music licensing fees?

Anyone putting well-known music on a phone line owes license fees to the performing rights organizations, such as ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. It is easily forgotten, and it applies to your phone system's hold music too.

We make our music ourselves, on our own computer, using freely available software. So there is no composer, performer or record label affiliated anywhere who could make a claim. Every delivery includes a statement describing how the music was made, so you can show it if asked. We are not lawyers; this is to the best of our knowledge and not legal advice.

How it works

  1. 1. Fill in your sentences, or start from an example.
  2. 2. Pick a voice and the music that suits your business.
  3. 3. Set volume, length and the pause between sentences, and listen to the free preview.
  4. 4. Check out and download the right file for your phone system straight away.