Classic Mode

Play Meter

Issue: 1976 June - Vol 2 Num 6

from the editor
A statement made by Joe Robbins, executive vice president of
Empire Distributing Co., in our April issue pointed out the need for
a breakthrough in the phonograph market, 'something that will put
more money in the cash box.' I wholly agree with Mr. Robbins and
would like to take the matter one step further and suggest that the
breakthrough will be a coin-operated phonograph that can provide
a heavv 'disco' sound and. at the same time. offer not taped music
but full size [33 1 13 rpm] album programming to the customer.
This 'phonograph of the future' would be capable of offering both
45's and long-playing albums.
Why albums? Because literally millions of albums are sold every
single day. Without a doubt, the 18 years and over portion of the
jukebox market is album oriented and seeks music that simply isn't
available on 45's. The result is a disenchanted market. Proof is in
the continuing increase in the number of disco locations where a
location-owned, manually operated sound system pumps out LP
sounds all night.
To many of you the idea of a coin-operated phonograph that can
play normal size LP's might seem a bit remote. Not so; the
technology exists now. Seeburg has already produced a home
stereo that contains a record playing mechanism accomodating 50
full-size albums. But that means only that an album playing
mechanism exists. And in spite of its sophisticated digital selection
system, the Seeburg home unit had a selection limitation. The
player could select only a side of an album, not a particular song or
cut on a particular side. My theoretical jukebox would definitely
have to overcome this problem and offer the customer any
particular cut or series of cuts on any of the 100 album sides
available to him. In addition, the title display would have to display
accurately and attractively all these possible selections. Is that
possible today? Read on.
I was out recently visiting with a local operator friend who
happens to be a connoisseur of sound. While I was at his house
experiencing his novel system worth thousands of dollars, he
showed me a brochure he'd received in the mail from Audio
Dynamics Corp., New MiHord, Conn., who has now, on the
market, a turntable that enables the player to pre-select particular
cuts [or a series of cuts] on any album side without touching the
tone arm. [See this month's cover.]
The principle is quite simple. The tone arm emits a tiny beam of
light that is f()cused downward. When the light passes over the
smooth surface at the beginning of an album or in between cuts, the
light is reflected back up to a sensing device on the tone arm. If, for
example, the third song on a side is selected, when the light is
reflected back up to the tone arm the third time, the arm releases
downward and begins playing there. At the end of the cut,
provided the following cut is not selected, the light is reflected once
again and the tone arm is triggered upward off the playing surface.
We now have a mechanism and a selection system for our new
jukebox. But, what about a program display? Assuming we use
the Seeburg mechanism, the title holder would have to display 50
different albums along with the songs on both sides of those
albums. Although this could be done by using enlarged title strips,
a more advanced and attractive mehtod of display could be
employed.
Calendar
I would recommend using a small TV monitor to
do the job. The monitor could be operator
programable to allow for additions and deletions
from the program tape each week. A player could
imply scan the artist or album titles. When he sees
something he's interested in, he pushes a button
and more detailed information is displayed, the
monitor showing the title and cut number of each
song on both sides of the selected album. Pricing
information could also be displayed according to
the time length of a particular song. The operator
could conceivably charge more for longer cuts, less
for shorter. This program display system may
eem sophisticated, but with the things I've seen
this industry do with a TV screen, I tend to think it
can be done quite easily.
Take all that I've mentioned, add in a credit
system, hook up a decent amplifier, plug in a few
good peakers, wrap it all up in one nice, neat,
attractive package and you have the phonograph of
the future, one that can play anyone song out of a
batch of 45's and LP's, one that offers the customer
the ultimate in sound and selection.
How far in the future this hypothetical jukebox
is, is anyone's guess. All I know is that the
technology exists here and now and that it can be
made by anyone of the phonograph manufacturers
including some of the larger games manufacturers.
I see solid state technology as lending itself to vast
degrees of diversification at the manufacturing
level of this industry. With so many video games
companies about to enter the pinball market, who's
to ay that they won't set their sights on the
phonograph market as well?
We ' may never see this hypothetical jukebox of
mine but then again perhaps the phonograph
maufacturers have already been working on the
idea. Who's to say? They won't, that's for sure. So
all that's left for us to do is wait and see. For one
thing is certain. Album music is selling like wildfire
and the phonograph industry needs to cash in on
that demand. If they're buying it over the counter
and listening to it on their favorite FM radio
taions, you can be sure they'll pay to listen to it
come from a jukebox--if there was one ...
We are happy to welcome Richard S. Dietrich to
the staff of PLAY METER. Rick has newspaper
experience and a M.A. in English from Tulane.
Welcome aboard.
Sincerely,
June 5-6
Music Op~tator (jf Minnesotaj
annual meeting. The Radisson
outh, Minneapolis, Minn.
June 11 ·13
DUnois Coin Machine Opera-
tors Association, annual con-
vention. French Lick Sher'a-
ton, French Lick, Indiana.
JuJy23·25
Montana Coin Machine Opera-
toi'S A sociation, annual con-
vention. West Yellowstone ,
Monta.n a.
August 19·22
Michigan T(jbacco & Candy
Distributors & Vendors Ass'n.
Boyne Mountain Lodge, Boyne
Mountain, Michigan.
August 21-29
orth Carolina Coin Operators
As odation, annual conven-
tion. harlotte, North Caro-
lina. ite ndt yet elected.
ept.9-12
Florida Amusement-Merchan-
di ing A sociation, annual con-
ve ntion. Sheraton Towers
Hotel, Orlando, Fla.
pt mber 16-18
Mu 'ic Operlltor of Virginia,
annual convention. Hyatt
House, Richmond . Virginia.
Oct. 14-16
West Virginia Mu it & Ven-
ding Association, annual con-
vention. heraton Inn , Clark -
burg, We tVa,
/ . ~ C ~ ~~ __ ~_I
~
~
4~,
-
Ralph C. Lally II,
Publisher & Editor
_
November 12-14
Music Operators of America~
Ex.., 16. The Conrad Hilto •
Hotel, Chicago, Illinois.
~o~ember 18 . . 21
IAAP A (parks, Show) , Tbe
Rivergate f New Orleans, La,
7

Download Page 6: PDF File | Image

Download Page 7 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.