Leave it to the caffeine-infused minds of Seattle to come up with the answer to our dial-in woes. According to Governing Magazine, Seattle residents will no longer be subjected to Glen Hollis‘ rejects when they make a call to city hall.

A new program called OnHold replaces synthesized easy listening with a selection of local musicians. The playlist of 11 bands from different genres is updated every few months. What’s better is how the new program prompts people to visit a website, where podcasts featuring the bands are available for download (as are, of course, links to buy their wares off of Amazon or CDBaby). And, proceeds from said sales go towards funding local arts education! Seattle, what will you think of next? As if the Space Needle and Nirvana weren’t enough.

So far no other cities have picked up on this truly great idea, so we say, come on down to D.C., OnHold! Wouldn’t you like a little Shortstack with your inquiry? A little Hello Tokyo before you hear “hello?”

Update: Oops. It seems there is a company out there that goes by the name “Muzak,” and they didn’t appreciate our innocently using it in the title. They write:

…the use of our company name in the title is incorrect and constitutes brand infringement of a trademarked brand. We would appreciate a published correction and clarification, and next time someone puts you on hold to annoying music, don’t jump to conclusions. That’s not Muzak’s game, and your publication should know better.

Huffy much?