News & UK Play Chart

Last week, millions across the country tuned in to the Brit Awards 2012, the infamous awards show which honours the best and brightest in the UK music industry. As ever, the ceremony wasn’t without its memorable moments.

The big winner of the night (and deservingly so) was Adele. The 23-year-old singer, who is a regular fixture in the Soundnet digital jukebox chart, scooped up two awards for Best Female Solo Artist and Mastercard British Album of the Year for 21. The artist also demonstrated why she's regular background music in restaurants and pubs across the country with a soul-shaking rendition of her hit 'Rolling in the Deep'.

Other winners of the night included Ed Sheeran (Best Male Solo Artist), One Direction (Best British Single) and Coldplay (Best British Group). The show also saw Britpop champions Blur walk away with the auspicious 'Outstanding Contribution to Music' award.

Still, the awards show wasn't without its controversy as Adele saw her acceptance speech for album of the year cut short after a scheduling error. Host James Corden was forced to usher the singer off the stage in order to make way for Blur's live performance. Speaking after the event, Cordon said:

"I don't understand what happened but I'm upset about it. Blur get to play for 11 minutes and she gets to say thank you once."

Still, regardless of whether your favourite band picked up a Brit award, you can be sure that you'll be hearing a lot from the nominated acts over the next few weeks. Each artist enjoys a sales bump from their exposure on the night and, over the coming days, you'll see the likes of Coldplay, Bruno Mars and Florence and the Machine creep back into our digital jukebox chart as a result of their performances on Wednesday. Customers want to relive their favourite artists' live performances and, if your background music system doesn't feature the latest songs, you'll probably be left empty-handed at the end of the night. 

We were all saddened to hear about the death of musical legend Whitney Houston last week. Houston, who passed away last weekend, was one of the greatest musical talents to come out of America; her path-finding career saw her become the most-awarded female artist of all time. Furthermore, she's been said to have been the inspiration for the careers of Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga.

Houston's discography includes a number of iconic tracks and since her death in Los Angeles on Sunday, sales of the singer's albums have rocketed on both sides of the Atlantic. Whitney – The Greatest Hits is currently paced at two in the US iTunes chart, while in the UK, Whitney Houston – The Ultimate Collection is currently second in the British equivalent. What's more, across the country her hits have been selected by Soundnet jukebox customers; her music has provided the digital jukebox music in pubs, restaurants and bars throughout the week.

Since Houston's death, we've seen Whitney Houston overtake The Beatles as the most-played artist in the past week, doubling the number of plays of the classic Liverpudian band. The three most popular songs from Houston's collection are 'I will always love you', 'I wanna dance with somebody' and 'One moment in time.'

Soundnet’s Toby Hoyte said:

“From a customer profile perspective, it is interesting that the sudden increase in Whitney Houston plays demonstrates that a good digital jukebox caters not only for the younger crowd but for also the older generation, as most of these plays will have come from older customers.

"Opweb is a breakthrough on all levels as it enables us to monitor customers’ preferences in real time and operators to remotely configure their jukeboxes accordingly. High tech systems combined with our specialised experience keep us at the forefront of the industry, instantly providing the music that customers want to hear."

In order to enable operators to cater for the increase in demand for Houston's song, we'll be sending all digital jukebox subscribers a free 20-track 'Tribute to Whitney' playlist to all Milestones in Music and VHub jukeboxes.

This year's EAG Expo was one of the most productive for the team at Soundnet. Over the course of the exhibition, we unveiled our newest innovations, showcasing the latest developments in digital jukeboxes and background music systems.

The two-day event gave us the opportunity to demonstrate the value of our software; innovations which allow customers the ability to offer their customers a comprehensive music package. This year at EAG, we unveiled our low-cost 20,000 track music package and Sound Leisure's partnership with Last.fm. These two exciting announcements demonstrate our continued commitment to driving jukebox technology forward.

Our presence at EAG also gave us the chance to meet and greet our customers. The bustling conference crowds during the event on Tuesday and Wednesday allowed us ample opportunity to talk to subscribers of our background music systems. As the economic outlook continues to remain uncertain, we believe that digital jukeboxes offer a value-for-money service all operators will appreciate and we were delighted to hear such positive feedback from our clients.

2012 will be an exciting year for digital jukeboxes as more and more sectors realise the benefits of a reliable music service. The need for café background music and hotel background music is becoming more realised and we're confident that the Soundnet range of products offer customers a cost-effective solution for their needs. Our in-store music systems provide operators with a consistent and reliable product and the future looks bright; our presence at EAG demonstrates our commitment to driving digital jukebox technology forward.

Here at Soundnet, we've always been committed to offering our customers affordable products and services. As one of the leading digital jukebox music suppliers in the UK, we're proud to provide pubs, restaurants and bars with an exciting selection of background music packages at low prices. Since 2009, we've built a solid reputation as one of the market leaders in audio and visual content and we're constantly looking at ways to offer our customers more.

From February, we’re extending our commitment to value even further as we launch a new entry-level package for customers. For £27.50 per month, we're offering Premium 20K a landmark service for customers with a Sound Leisure SoundWave or Starburst digital jukebox, providing coin operators with the best music at the lowest prices.

We understand that a jukebox is a big investment and the launch of this new deal is a sign of our determination to respond to customer needs. As a result, the new package features 20,000 audio tracks, contains all the most-played songs from over 15,000 jukeboxes. It also includes the most popular albums from the past five years and a collection of classic tracks from a variety of different decades. As ever, the packages offer peace of mind in regards to legal issues and offers consumers absolute piece of mind.

It's been an exciting time here at Soundnet. Regular readers will remember that we recently revealed a variety of exciting announcements at the EAG show in London, unveiling Premium 20k as well as embarking on a partnership with online music hub Last.fm.