Meldstem

On-hold music

Phone hold music with your own messages

Hear how music and spoken messages work together. Then create your own hold music: choose a voice and music, add your words and listen to a free preview.

One payment of €49, including VAT

For your hold music with spoken messages. Pay when you want to download the full version.

Hold music examples: listen 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.

What you receive after payment

Your full hold music without a watermark, as a WAV file in your selected phone format. The download also includes a README and a rights statement for the included Meldstem music.

Check which audio format your phone system supports first. You or your administrator upload the file and configure when it plays.

Check audio formats by phone system
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

Choose the spoken language. Your own text stays unchanged.

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.nl 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. The price includes VAT.

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 an annual fee to the Dutch rights organisations. It is easily forgotten and it applies to your phone system's hold music too.

We make our music ourselves, on our own computer, with 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.

Read about hold music licensing in the Netherlands

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.