As the variety of features available on a jukebox continues to increase, InterGame gets the opinions of those involved in the sector on how the product can continue to evolve

Chris Black of Sound Leisure
"The jukebox is increasingly to be found at the heart of the pub environment - and while the closure of many pubs around Europe, particularly in the UK, has had a detrimental effect on the sector - it is continuing to attract regulars in UK pub communities that are still in existence.

Customers enjoy the features and the regularly updated music - every time they visit, there is something new to enjoy - jukeboxes are moved around less than any other coin-op machine and can be used for a variety of value added purposes such as advertising, bingo and quizzes.

The cash generated by a jukebox is not just what goes in the coin slot. For instance, if a group of customers goes to a city bar with background music they are likely to have a drink and move on. But if they have been involved in selecting the music they are more likely to stay and have a few drinks while they listen to their choices. These choices can be controlled by the site at the time of installation so all parties gain from the machine.

Sound Leisure is constantly updating its programs and often we are responding to requests from operators. Within the last six months we introduced a free program for our Sound Surfer machines, some of which are now over eight years old. We have updated both the MIM and the MIM AV boxes and have the quiz program being launched this month.

Our jukeboxes cost slightly more than some of our competitors’, however we have a philosophy of buying quality components, building quality machines and backing them up better than others out there. Also, because all the machines are PC-based now, we can add many new features. However, we must be careful not to dilute the core offering of the jukebox too much.

Our new Venue Hub development that will be launched later in the year will add a plethora of new facilities to the machine that have never been seen before and we are constantly developing machines that offer more profiled tracks delivered to site before customers can even buy them in the shops or online. At the end of the day this is where the majority of revenue comes from and this is what we have to concentrate on getting correct."

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Dietmar Straubinger of TAB Austria
"For TAB Austria the secret behind our Max Fire jukebox success is to keep it unique and bang up-to-date. Offering national and international charts automatically as well as the US Hot 100, the UK Top 75, the German Top 100 and Austrian Top 40, which are a quick and easy way to find the songs that have been most requested by patrons - the Max Charts are the patrons’ own charts - national and international.

With the Top Hits function, operators can view the most popular and most played songs on their Max Fire, which is a unique opportunity for customer retention. The power search function also allows people to search for specific titles quickly and easily - users enter the first letters of the artist’s name and the Max Fire will display all of the titles under that name to allow them to easily pick the right one.

What’s more, operators can access our online music shop, where they can choose their favourites from a wide range of songs and music videos for all sorts of genres. Operators can buy individual songs and videos or can buy them in complete packages and send them to your terminals and the device automatically downloads the selected titles.

As well as this, through our online terminal management system - managing the Max Fire jukebox is very easy - the practical administration tool guarantees a detailed overview of all your terminals and allows you to look at the accounts and invoices."

Vivian Dooley of Almotech
"We have found that the closure of pubs and bars in the UK and Ireland has seen a increase in surplus used jukebox equipment. However, this has begun to ease over the past few months and there has been a definite increase in the number of online conversion enquiries we have received, which is an area we specialise in.

The fact that you can receive the Top 40 Chart as it happens is invaluable and operators are beginning to realise this. From the bar’s point of view they have the content the customers want readily available and there is no extra cost involved as there would be with a DJ or live act - the license fees they have to pay are just the same as if they were to choose a CD.

Another big feature of our jukeboxes is the user interface - this is now much easier to use and searching for your favourite artist or song has become even easier and it is much more responsive than others available in the market. We have also taken into consideration that location owners might feel the need to update their venues from time to time and the jukebox sited in turn sometimes needs a bit of a facelift.

We can help operators to keep their jukeboxes fresh without having to spend a lot of money - for just under £200 a location owner can change the colour of the lighting within the jukebox as well as, the fascia. If an operator has more than 10 of our jukeboxes we can customise them however they like completely free, which is a great benefit to chain pubs and breweries.

As far as the future of the jukebox sector goes I don’t think we will see huge amounts of growth in 2010 but the slippage we’ve experienced will cease and begin to level off. The real growth will begin in 2011 and operators need to look at the longevity of the product they are buying - cheaper products might be a quick investment but in the long run are no good - a better built product will eventually pay for itself.

As manufacturers we need to continue providing suitable content for all the different locations out there - it isn’t a case of one size fits all - we need to keep customising the music and appealing to our customers."

First published May 2010