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VH1 And AMI Entertainment Bring ‘VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown,’ ‘VH1 Classic,’ And ‘VH1 Soul’ Music Playlists To Jukeboxes

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (September 10, 2008) — AMI Entertainment, a leading provider of music to digital downloading jukeboxes, and VH1 have announced a cross-promotional agreement in which music from the cable TV network’s “VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown” series, VH1 Classic and VH1 Soul Channels will be used for new playlists appearing on over 10,000 AMI-powered jukeboxes in bars and nightclubs nationwide.

Under terms of the agreement, music from the ultra-popular “VH1Top 20 Video Countdown” series and VH1 Classic and VH1 Soul channels will be available as branded VH1 playlists running exclusively on the AMI network for six months.

The VH1 playlist feature makes its official debut today, the opening day of the Amusement and Music Operators Association’s International Expo in Las Vegas. The VH1 playlists are expected to appear network wide by September 29.

The main “VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown” playlist menu will be updated weekly, following the latest VH1 countdown, and will be chosen from a song pool featuring the show’s most recent picks. AMI jukeboxes will also offer adjunct VH1 playlists that assemble songs currently in rotation on VH1 Classic and VH1 Soul; these will be updated every eight weeks. A VH1 graphic, inviting users to view recommendations, will appear on the AMI home screen; when touched, buttons for the three playlist options will come into view. AMI jukebox screens will run VH1 screensaver attract loops to keep the lists in front of patrons.

“VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown” premieres every Saturday morning. The series began in 1994 as “Top 10 Countdown” as part of the “VH1: Music First” rebranding initiative. The program was expanded to include 20 music videos in 1999. In the beginning, the show counted down the top-played music videos on the network. A combination of record sales, radio airplay, video spins, message board posts and conventional mail originally decided the order. But since 2006, online voting has directly influenced what would be designated as the week’s most popular content.

“VH1’s ‘Top 20 Video Countdown’ has been a weekly institution on VH1 and a great music discovery resource for more than a decade,” said AMI vice president of sales and marketing John Margold. “This longrunning series, plus music playlists from VH1 Classic and VH1 Soul are a perfect fit for AMI jukeboxes, and the VH1 brand is sure to attract a lot of attention.”