News
Rock-Ola Selects AMI Entertainment For Its Digital Jukeboxes
New Alliance Pairs 2 Music Brands Renowned Worldwide
GRAND RAPIDS, MI (September 10, 2008) — Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corp. (Torrance, CA) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with digital music provider AMI Entertainment Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI). Rock-Ola has chosen AMI’s software and music services to add enhanced features and benefits to its jukebox offerings. The announcement was made today by Rock-Ola at the Amusement and Music Operators Association’s International Expo here at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where Rock-Ola showcased its touch screen jukeboxes in the AMI booth.
For the past five years, Rock-Ola has produced commercial jukeboxes with a different content provider. Rock- Ola has made a strategic decision to change the software and content provider for its commercial jukeboxes. Effective October 1st, AMI-powered jukeboxes will be leaving the Rock-Ola factory in Torrance, CA.
“In making our decision to change,” said Rock-Ola president John Schultz, “we considered the needs of our operators and the best technology alliance for our company’s products. AMI is the best choice for both parties. It provides more music management options for operators and still realizes content is crucial to a jukebox network.”
Ross Blomgren, Vice President of Engineering is enthusiastic about the new relationship. “We are excited to be able to design and develop our own product to work with the AMI network. From lessons learned in the past, we have created the most dependable and reliable equipment to date. I’ve enjoyed working with the professional engineering department at AMI and look forward to even greater things for the future.”
The Rock-Ola president described a few AMI features that will benefit operators running Rock-Ola jukeboxes:
- AMI’s music library currently boasts 500,000+ songs, which include the popular “b-sides” in addition to the hits.
- Weekly music updates administered through AMI’s server permit operator subscribers to decide which new music to add to their local selections.
- Software updates are free, automatic and require no hardware upgrades.
- Most important, AMI offers the best the support in the industry backed by a 24/7 technical team.
“The ability to provide good service to operators in the field is a fundamental necessity for any successful jukebox product,” Schultz emphasized. “Rock-Ola has a solid customer service record that dates back 80 years. So we’re confident that the AMI software and Rock-Ola jukebox hardware will be a reliable combination in the digital era.”
Schultz confirmed that Rock-Ola will continue to provide full support for its digital jukeboxes sold prior to the AMI agreement.
Rock-Ola’s AMI-powered commercial jukebox line includes three innovative models, all equipped with Peavey audio systems. The Slimline SL-3 offers a sleek, contemporary styling. The Rock-Star and Wall-Rock-PV offer attractive, narrow profiles in the wall-mounting category.
“Rock-Ola jukeboxes powered by AMI pair two of the most well known names in the history of the jukebox,” said AMI senior vice president of sales and marketing John Margold. “Industry legend David Cullen Rockola began building jukeboxes that still bear his name in 1935 in Chicago. Our AMI designation commemorates Automatic Musical Instruments, which began as a maker of player pianos in 1909 and today designs state-of-the-art digital jukebox applications. An alliance with an independent jukebox manufacturer of Rock-Ola’s stature adds tremendous strength to AMI digital music.”
Glenn Streeter, CEO of Rock-Ola and founder of Antique Apparatus reflected, “It’s ironic. Twenty five years ago when AA was first building nostalgic cabinets, I purchased mechanisms from Rowe. Now, in the digital music era, we are partnered with AMI/Rowe coming full circle.”