The Microsoft Sound

The Microsoft Sound is the startup sound for the Windows 95 operating system. It was composed by the English musician Brian Eno and commissioned as a seconds-long piece of music intended to evoke emotion. In 2025, the Microsoft Sound was selected for preservation in the US National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. That year, Eno donated his fee to non-profit organisations and coalitions supporting Palestine or peace after accusing Microsoft of complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza war.

Composition

"The Microsoft Sound"
Startup sound for Windows 95, composed by Brian Eno
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In 1994, the Microsoft designers Mark Malamud and Erik Gavriluk approached Eno to compose music for the operating system Windows 95. According to Eno: "The thing from the agency said, 'We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah-blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional,' this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said 'and it must be three-and-a-quarter seconds long'. I thought this was so funny and an amazing thought to actually try to make a little piece of music. It's like making a tiny little jewel."

At the time, Eno was struggling to create music and appreciated the challenge of a specific problem. He "got completely into this world of tiny, tiny little pieces of music" and created 84 compositions. He used a Macintosh to create the sound as he did not like PCs. The final composition was six seconds long. GQ described it as "a blossom of piano, bells, and hums that evokes the sun peeking from behind a storm cloud". Afterwards, Eno was creatively unblocked and found that full-length compositions seemed "like oceans of time". He was paid $35,000 for the composition.

Legacy

Brian Eno - Barbican Centre - Sunday 23 October 2022
Eno at the Barbican Centre, London, in 2022

Pitchfork suggested the Microsoft Sound was one of the most frequently heard pieces of music in North America. In April 2025, it was selected for preservation in the US National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

Israel protest

In May 2025, Eno wrote an open letter to Microsoft accusing it of complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza war for providing Israel with AI and cloud services. He wrote: "Millions — possibly even billions — of people have since heard that short start-up chime — which represented a gateway to a promising technological future ... I never would have believed that the same company could one day be implicated in the machinery of oppression and war ... My new start-up chime is this: stand in solidarity with the brave Microsoft workers who have done something truly disruptive and refused to stay silent."

In an interview with GQ, Eno said: "That’s the most shattering thing about it—the disappointment of the utopianism I remember so well from the '80s and '90s. These awful, dodgy companies seem to be only motivated by money." He donated his fee, which he adjusted to $80,000 for inflation and rounded up to $100,000, to three non-profit organisations and coalitions supporting Palestine or peace, including the Stop the War Coalition and medical services.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Rohrlich, Justin (25 May 2010). "Who created the Windows start-up sound?". Minyanville. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Selvin, Joel (2 June 1996). "Q and A with Brian Eno". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  3. ↑ Adam Bunker, Technology Journalist (23 November 2011). "Brian Eno spills Windows start-up sound secrets". Electricpig. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Currin, Grayson Haver (2025-07-31). "Brian Eno wants to know if you're listening". GQ. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  5. ↑ Sheppard, David (2008). On Some Faraway Beach: the Life and Times of Brian Eno. Orion Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7528-7570-5.
  6. ↑ Pytlik, Mark. "Brian Eno: Music for Films / Apollo / Thursday Afternoon / More Music for Films". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  7. ↑ Edser, Andy (11 April 2025). "The Windows 95 start-up sound and the Minecraft soundtrack have been added to the US Library of Congress list of nationally significant recordings". PC Gamer. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  8. ↑ Zongker, Brett (2025-04-09). "Take a 'Fast Car' to the 2025 National Recording Registry". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  9. ↑ Monroe, Jazz (21 May 2025). "Brian Eno criticizes Microsoft for support of Israeli military". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 May 2025.