iJukebox puts Guest-Driven Music Options in your Hand-held’s App
Eatery Pulse, March/April, Vol. 2, page 4
Chip Selley, founder and CEO of iJukebox, was hit with inspiration one day, and it was during a Grateful Dead song. “What if I had a remote control to change the music playing in the jukebox?” he wondered. Well, from conception to implementation, after a year-long road Selley transformed his idea into an iPhone app that allws a bar, diner or lounge’s guests to request and queue the music being played at these venues
“People are passionate about music,” says Heather Sears, vice president of marketing for iJukebox, and because of that the product is gaining traction.
On a recent trip to a local lounge I discovered iJukebox myself and requested my songs. The app was fairly esy to use and only had a few small kinks (song choice was more limited than I would’ve liked but I’m told it will take some time for the collection of songs to be more comprehensive.) The company is also working on new releases of the app that will allow more synchronized real-time updates.
Here’s how it works: The venue signs up for the service and controls music play from the iJukebox dashboard. Guests then donload the iPhone app (users can sign in with social media accounts) and select their venue. A list of music that the establishment has pre-approved will appear, and guests then simply make their selections.
There is also a social media element to iJukebox: Customers can share selection and their real-time music experience with friends: iJukebox has the ability to push posts of what users are actually listening to in a public venue in the moment.
While making music choices are free now, the future business model has users paying a small fee per song not unlike dropping quarters into the jukeboxes of days of old. “Restaurants and venues know how to make money, ” says Selley. “To increase revenues, what they need is to get more customers and have them stay longer. iJukebox extends customer engagement and leverages their social network to acquire more customers.” This, he adds, makes iJukebox a top choice for restaurants and bar owners.
Another iJukebox benefit to venues is reducing DJ time spent on handling requests and allowing jukebox-like appeal to customers in upscale lounges where a physical jukebox would not dream of entering. Restauranteurs need not forget the inconvenience of dealing with local artists or labels knocking on their door for a piece of the music actions.
A slew of technology-based social loyalty and game products are being developed to help restauranteurs extend the engagement and create a unique experience. iJukebox is headed in the right direction with its concept and hopes to grow the business into a national product. R.Z.
