LONDON, United Kingdom and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - October 14, 2015) -
- New British company is backed by music industry heavyweights
- Electric Jukebox transforms your TV into a jukebox with millions of albums
- Curators include music icons Robbie Williams and Sheryl Crow
- Plug in Electric Jukebox and listen together in under 2 minutes
- YouGov confirms music streaming has so far failed to become mass market
Electric Jukebox, a music revolution from The Electric Jukebox Company, is announced today in the UK and USA. It offers a unique plug and play music streaming experience for the home with no monthly subscription or registration requirement.
Simply plug Electric Jukebox into your television, connect to WiFi and instantly play millions of albums, curated music channels and celebrity mixtapes in CD quality. For the first time streaming is as easy as playing a CD or switching on the radio.
The product features all the benefits of a premium music streaming subscription service in a box but without the need for a smartphone or a PC, user accounts, passwords, app downloads or monthly credit card subscriptions, making it incredibly simple to set up and use. Electric Jukebox represents the first Internet of Things music appliance for the home, making on-demand music streaming accessible to everyone.
Electric Jukebox comprises a dedicated stick which plugs into the HDMI port of your TV and instantly turns your TV into a jukebox with millions of songs to enjoy using WiFi. It also features a beautifully designed gesture based controller with built-in microphone featuring voice control, making it easy to find and play music on your television. Designed to sit on the coffee table and be used by all the family, it's the easiest and most enjoyable way to listen to music at home.
Independent YouGov research* published today shows music streaming has failed to gain mass market adoption. The most popular ways to listen to music at home are still radio (52%) and CDs and Hifi (42%). Streaming hardware solutions like Sonos are used by only 6% of consumers and more than 92% of consumers have yet to subscribe to any form of music streaming service.
EJ Curators include Sheryl Crow, Robbie Williams, Stephen Fry and Alesha Dixon
To ensure maximum appeal, Electric Jukebox features exclusive mixtapes from some of music's best loved artists and celebrated curators including British music icon Robbie Williams, his wife Ayda Williams, nine time Grammy award winner Sheryl Crow, English actor, writer and comedian Stephen Fry and Britain's Got Talent judge singer songwriter Alesha Dixon.
Sheryl Crow said; "I love Electric Jukebox because it brings people together. Listening to music and sharing those experiences together is what life's all about. With headphones and iPhones we've somehow lost all that. Electric Jukebox plugs into your TV and turns it into a jukebox with all the music you want, played out loud in your home for you to listen together. Simple, fun and no fuss."
Robbie Williams said; "I'm proud to be sharing all my favourite mixtapes on Electric Jukebox for you to enjoy. I hope everyone loves our playlists as much as Ayda and I do. Everyone deserves music in their lives and this makes streaming music so easy everyone can do it. You don't need a manual to work it - just pick it up, plug it in and start playing."
Alesha Dixon, singer and presenter commented: "It doesn't get much better than having friends and family over and blasting out our favourite tunes. Electric Jukebox lets us choose what we all want to listen to together, by simply picking what we want to listen from the comfort of a sofa."
YouGov reports the four things consumers want to see in order to migrate to streaming are: improved ease of use, a lack of a monthly subscription, improved affordability and easier set up. There is a clear global opportunity to offer consumers a simple and engaging music streaming device.
Rob Lewis, CEO of Electric Jukebox Company, commented:
"We want to bring music back into people's living rooms. Rather than huddling around a laptop or smartphone to play music, or being forced to rely on old CDs and radio, we've created a music device that is simple and easy to use and which works straight out of the box. Whilst some may be comfortable with Spotify and Apple Music and spending hours configuring these services on specialist streaming devices, the vast majority of consumers really want something that works instantly, out of the box, without a monthly subscription or credit card. That's what we've created. Mass market streaming has finally become a reality."
"There used to be 200 million people buying CDs every month and many more buying CDs occasionally. After ten years of streaming only 40 million have converted to streaming subscription services because of complexity, set-up difficulty and because of the fear of recurring credit card based subscriptions. The Electric Jukebox is the product for the other 160 million music lovers out there who want to join the revolution but have been waiting for something fun, stylish and easy to use. Electric Jukebox gives you an Internet of Things for music - the modern hifi - for the whole family to share - the streaming equivalent of a radio or a fridge freezer - plug in and play, literally. You can set it up in less than two minutes".
The YouGov research also reveals over half of those polled (59%) agree that user IDs and passwords for online services are annoying. When asked about their listening habits, 70% of people also highlighted that listening to music in the home was very important to them.
How it works
Electric Jukebox comes in two parts; a stick that you plug into the HDMI port of your TV, and a beautifully designed motion sensitive controller with built-in microphone for voice search, the Electric Jukebox Controller.
Once set up, the Electric Jukebox welcomes users with a homescreen featuring just three icons; My Music, Discover and Search, each represented by a neon themed icon in the shape of a heart, music note and magnifying glass. Designed to be as intuitive as possible, and much more so than application based downloads, it is easy for the whole family to explore and play music together from the comfort of the sofa.
Electric Jukebox is available to pre-order from www.electricjukebox.com from today UK RRP £179 US MSRP $229 (including a free 1 Year Premium Music Pass). Pre-orders made before midnight Wednesday 21 October will benefit from our seven day introductory offer of just £149 in the UK and $199 in the US. Electric Jukebox will also be available on the high-street, retailers and in consumers' hands in time for Christmas. All pricing includes a free 1 Year Music Pass worth £60 / $60.
The launch event for Electric Jukebox at BAFTA in London was attended by Electric Jukebox Curator Alesha Dixon as well as UK Secretary of State, Culture, Media & Sport, Rt. Hon. John Whittingdale MP who gave a keynote address on The future of technology and media in the UK. Curators Sheryl Crow, Robbie Williams, Ayda Field and Stephen Fry also gave addresses to the audience by video.
The Electric Jukebox Board and Advisory Board includes:
Sir Malcolm Williamson, Chairman, previously President & CEO, VISA International, previously Group CEO, Standard Chartered
Paul McGuinness, previously Manager of U2
Rob Dickins, previously CEO, Warner Music, Founder of The Brits
David Munns OBE, Chairman of Nordoff Robins, previously President & CEO, EMI Americas
Alain Levy, previously Global President & CEO, EMI Music
Scooter Weintraub, Manager of Sheryl Crow
James White, previously Finance Director, Island Records
Amanda Conroy, previously SVP Corporate Communications, EMI, Universal Music Group
Mark Gretton, Founder and previously COO of TomTom
Susanne Given, previously COO of Super Group, previously UK MD TK Maxx
Jez Bell, Chief Licensing Officer, PPL
Michael Mainelli, Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group
Peter Cornell, previously Global Managing Partner, Clifford Chance
Stephen Hornsby, Partner, Goodman Derrick
Ken Daly, CEO, JML
Mark Atkinson, Director TP Tax, previously, Partner, Deloitte
Find out more about Electric Jukebox here: www.electricjukebox.com
Notes to editors
* Conducted by YouGov for Electric Jukebox (UK and US 2,000 people sample) October 2015
**2015 Mid-Year RIAA Shipment and Revenue Statistics:
About Electric Jukebox Company
Founded by CEO Rob Lewis, previously Founder CEO of Omnifone and a Library House Entrepeneur of The Year, Rob leads a team based in London. The Electric Jukebox Company believes everyone has the right to enjoy music in their homes and lives. We create beautifully simple music appliances for the home - making music streaming fun and easy so everyone can listen together.
About Electric Jukebox
Electric Jukebox is available to pre-order from www.electricjukebox.com from today UK RRP £179 US MSRP $229 (which includes a free 12 month Premium Music Pass). Pre-orders made before midnight on Wednesday 21 October will benefit from our seven day introductory offer of just £149 in the UK and $199 in the US. Electric Jukebox will also be available on the high-street and in consumers' hands in time for Christmas.
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Source: Marketwired - All
Link: Electric Jukebox Brings Music Streaming to the Mass Market