That may depend on your gender and what type of music is playing, according to University of Cincinnati professor of marketing James Kellaris. Study participants were asked to imagine calling a customer assistance line and being placed on hold. Here's a summary of what the study discovered about callers on-hold. Hold time seems longer than it is. The actual wait in the study was 6 minutes, but the average estimate was 7 minutes and 6 seconds.
Light jazz makes the hold-time seem shorter.
Time spent on hold seemed slightly shorter when light jazz was played, but the effect of music format differed for men and women. Women reacted more positively to the music than did men. Classical music produced gender differences. Among the males, the wait seemed shortest when classical music was played. Among the females, the wait seemed longest when classical music was played.