Fortnite has added one of the most recognizable pieces of corporate hold music to the Item Shop. The new Icon Series emote uses “Opus No. 1,” the synth-heavy track by Tim Carleton that became widely known after being used as Cisco’s standard hold music. The emote went live with Fortnite’s September 20 shop rotation after appearing in decrypted game files shortly beforehand.
Fortnite leakers HYPEX and FireMonkey identified the cosmetic as an Icon Series emote tied to Carleton’s track, with FireMonkey reporting that the encrypted asset had been decrypted ahead of the shop update. The release is notable because it turns a piece of telecommunications history into a Fortnite cosmetic rather than using a more conventional pop song, dance trend or creator collaboration. Epic has increasingly used the Icon Series as a broad home for recognizable music and personalities, including releases tied to artists, streamers and internet culture.
“Opus No. 1” predates Fortnite by decades. Cisco has described it as the standard hold music included with its IP phones and noted that the track developed a cult following after years of callers hearing it while waiting on the line. Cisco has also publicly referred to the song as one of the company’s unexpectedly recognizable cultural touchpoints, even using its popularity as the basis for a hold-music contest in 2020.
The track was composed by Tim Carleton and Darrick Deel, with Carleton performing the recording. This American Life later explored the song’s unusual popularity in an episode about people becoming fascinated with the music they heard while on hold, helping push “Opus No. 1” further beyond its original corporate setting. The song has since circulated widely online and is commonly recognized as “the Cisco hold music” even among listeners who do not know its title.
Fortnite’s use of the track continues a wider pattern of Epic turning familiar internet and pop-culture sounds into purchasable emotes. The game regularly rotates new Icon Series music into its shop alongside creator and celebrity cosmetics, while leaks often reveal those additions shortly before they become available. Recent examples include reports about Madison Beer potentially joining Fortnite’s Icon Series and streamed shop assets that exposed new Icon Series content alongside Sabrina Carpenter and other returning cosmetics.
That makes “Opus No. 1” an unusual fit in theme but not in structure. Epic has increasingly treated Fortnite’s emote catalog as a place where recognizable audio can be repackaged as interactive cosmetics, regardless of whether the source began as a charting song, meme, creator trend or something more obscure. In this case, the source material happens to be a track millions of people encountered through office phone systems rather than music radio or streaming playlists.
The timing also comes during a busy stretch for Fortnite’s Item Shop, with multiple collaborations and returning cosmetics rotating through the store. Other recent additions have included PAC-MAN cosmetics decrypted ahead of their shop release and a series of crossover bundles spanning games, musicians and creators. “Opus No. 1” stands apart from those releases because its recognition comes almost entirely from its history as functional background audio.
For players unfamiliar with the reference, it is simply another music-based emote. For anyone who has spent time waiting on a Cisco phone system, however, the track is likely to be instantly recognizable. Fortnite has effectively turned one of the technology industry’s most famous hold-music tracks into an in-game dance cosmetic.
