Grrr to the
modern, New-Age jukebox.
Grrr.
What kind of cash do
these odd machines take - "Star Trek" currency?
Where are the worn-out
block buttons that so many patrons - standing there,
looking down at the machine, swaying a bit, holding a
half-empty beer - pressed to hear sappy love songs?
Where are the swinging little album covers
Grrr, I say.
These new jukeboxes
sport touch screens and - thanks to the digital age -
allow access to just about every song ever written by
anyone on Planet Earth. Except, for some odd reason, a
group called The Beatles.
Jukeboxes used to be
unique to the bars in which they were housed. They
featured a finite collection of carefully chosen
songs. Hit a country bar and you would find country
tunes. Hit a beach bar and the jukebox had Beach Boys
songs.
Hit a dive bar and
you'd never know what you'd find.
Today?
Check out the jukebox
in the Waterfront, the oldest bar in San Diego and
proud of it. Bartenders sometimes wear T-shirts
touting the distinction.
But the jukebox is not
the oldest jukebox in San Diego. It's one of the new
ones, made by a company called TouchTunes.
"You can download
songs. It does a lot," said Sarah Price, a Waterfront
manager.
Price doesn't know why
the historic, aged, weathered Waterfront doesn't go
with an old-school jukebox.
"Maybe we're getting
caught up in the times," she said.
Great.
With this one, there
are no buttons. You tap your finger on the screen to
pick an artist, who's pictured. Then a list of songs
comes up. You can also search for an artist who isn't
listed.
Not that I knew the
vast majority of those pictured.
Wolfmother?
Cinder Road?
Oh, it's got
standards, such as songs by Johnny Cash. But man, the
Man in Black was just one of thousands of options.
Take ABBA. Please.
Ha!
Not only was ABBA
available, every song made by ABBA - like 110 of them
- could be had.
More bars are going
this route all the time. TouchTunes has sold 35,000 of
the jukeboxes since starting in business a decade ago,
said Dan McAllister, senior vice president of sales.
Other companies also make and sell them.
The reason for the
growth?
Young people today
have grown up with Napster, iTunes and other
music-downloading sites, and they are used to having a
wide inventory from which to choose.
They go to a bar, they
bring those habits with them.
The jukeboxes don't
necessarily rob a bar of character or charm,
McAllister said. The machines can be programmed to
highlight certain songs or music genres popular with
that particular bar.
Grrr, these things.
Grrr, I say.
Right now, TouchTunes
has an inventory of more than 200,000 songs, but no
Beatles songs are included because The Beatles weren't
a very good band, McAllister said.
No, he didn't really
say that. The Beatles, as with some artists, don't
allow their music to be downloaded.
Some bars are holding
back from going this route. They still use jukeboxes
that play CDs, so they get to choose what goes in
them.
Take the Liars' Club,
long known for its eclectic jukebox. When the bar
moved from San Diego's Mission Beach area across the
county to Alpine, a small rural community up in the
mountains, it took its 100-CD jukebox with it.
It still offers
surprises. Just recently, a CD with the best songs
from The Animals was added. Pretty cool.
"The jukebox sets
atmosphere. It tells what your place is about," said
Louis Mello, one of the owners.
Besides, Mello said,
giving people the chance to play whatever they want
can be hazardous. You never know what may come pumping
out.
"I don't want to be at
work and hear Britney Spears."
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