Fifty years ago, the music used at a funeral home service and at memorial services was limited to the available talents of an organist or pianist or a vocalist. More elaborate funeral services might use larger musical groups such as string quartets or even small woodwind or brass ensembles. Rarely did funeral directors think about whether they were following the strict regulations of copyright infringement law, because typically the music was being played by actual human beings instead of on a recording. And more often than not, the funeral music selected was religious or spiritual in nature rather than secular.

The introduction of new technology and the boom of the recording industry has brought forth hundreds of thousands of pieces of recorded funeral music, both secular and spiritual. Modern funeral industry professionals at the request of families are often asked to choose more progressive and complex music that previously that fits the many different types available and fully captures the personality and life of the deceased. The music chosen for modern day celebrations of life express not only the decedent