EZ Communications, Inc. was a corporation with its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. In the 1970s, the small company was one of the pioneers of the easy listening on the FM broadcasting radio spectrum with 2 stations in Manassas and Richmond. Within 25 years, the company grew to 20 stations across the United States.
FM broadcasting in the USA began in the 1930s. Although many broadcast radio stations had already been established in the AM frequency range, the use of FM radio offered higher sound quality. However until the 1970s, FM broadcast frequencies were primarily seen as investments in the future, with most of the self-supporting commercial stations simulcasting with AM stations. Few automobiles in the U.S. were equipped to receive FM signals until the early 1970s.
Beautiful music was a mostly-instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s. "Mood music", "easy listening", "elevator music" and (inaccurately) "Muzak" are other common terms for the format and the style of music that it featured.
In the Fairfax, Virginia, Art Kellar was an owner of WEEL an AM radio station, licensed to Fairfax which was one of the Washington, DC area's major top 40 stations in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Kellar acquired control of an FM station nearby, and went on the air with WEZR, licensed to Manassas, Virginia. He used the new beautiful music format featuring primarily instrumental versions of popular music, only interrupted by station breaks and commercial advertisements only every 12–15 minutes, The company's Arbitron ratings indicated it has popular with the public.