The ascendency of digital music led to a new dilemma for jukebox operators: the hijacking of jukes by consumer iPods. In so-called iPod Nights, consumers plug in personal Mp3 players for sharing personal music with friends and other patrons, disrupting the cashbox.
The practice, which reached a crescendo in 2005, has been condoned and even marketed by certain owners, catching the eyes and ears of national media outlets. That same year, the AMOA pressed the Recording Industry Association of America to defend its member copyrights against infringement only to be informed that policing such events would not be worth their effort when facing larger illegal file-sharing issues.
Have iPod Nights in your area continued at the same pace? What factors influence their happening the most? What threat might they pose down the road? What percentage of revenues do you estimate they knock off, and what possible solutions could exist to curtail them?
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6 comments:
I would also add to the mix 'Guitar Hero' nites. We are seeing a large number of on staged events using the XB360 game.
Time for Ops to start selling iPods, Guitar Hero hardware & software as well as connection to the TouchTunes/eCast sound system based on time.
Also, offering the stuff as prizes in Jumbo Stackers and Lighthouses.
I would go one step further and say that the Op (operators) are the wrong people to capitalize from this interest. When a arcade version of Guitar Hero was tested no one wanted to actually buy it (knowing they would run these events for free... illegally)
The Op is what seems to be a problem for our industry to move forward... time for a change in the Op's or a totally new retail presentation for amusement (the hospitality sector possibly?)
[This is Editor from the Stinger Report, have to be anonymous as Blogger verification broken!]
Are we operators looking at this wrong? If it gets patrons into our locations and they play the games, maybe buy cigarettes and make the bar owner healthier aren't we better off in the long run? The patrons will come back another night and play the juke box.
I have participated in Guitar Hero events at a local establishment. It is great fun. What we are missing here is that there are people putting on an event. In this case it was a beer company (Miller). If there was just a guitar hero game in the bar I don't know how many people would play it. The event/ contest was the reason people played. The promoter went in and got people off their seats to play. DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?
Operators need to promote their equipment. They need to go into THEIR locations and get the people off the seats to play THEIR games.
Quit whining about what is going wrong and do something about it.
Regarding Namco's recent moves. Their already skimpy margins are about to get even skimper. Anybody ever think why customers "love" their new VP?
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