Player, Music Streaming Service and Smartphone App Combine to Let Patrons Be the DJ
BrightSign, LLC®, a leader in driving digital signage innovation, announced today that Roqbot is bundling its award-winning business music streaming service with BrightSign solid-state digital media players. Through their collaboration, Roqbot audio streams and synchronized video streams are delivered to subscribing businesses via the BrightSign internet-connected player. BrightSign will demonstrate how the solution drives revenue and engages customers while reinforcing the venue’s promotional efforts during DSE at the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 7-8 in Booth #1440.
The fully licensed business music solution goes beyond the capabilities of a virtual jukebox by enabling bars, restaurants, cafes, gyms, retail chains and other public venues to engage their visitors and enhance their experience with the music of their choice. Customers use Roqbot’s free smartphone application to browse available music, make requests and vote on songs in the queue. BrightSign, in turn, streams, buffers and plays back the music, as well as drives the signage to display corresponding album art, music queue, and promotional messaging as determined by the venue’s management.
“Digital Signage and apps like Roqbot’s innovative music streaming service offer sophisticated new ways to engage 
customers while building brand awareness,” said Jeff Hastings, BrightSign CEO. “The mobile integration Roqbot provides with its smartphone app lets customers interact with the music played onsite for a truly unique digital signage experience.” Hastings added that the Roqbot virtual music jukebox has already proven its ability to generate increased business. “Since deploying Roqbot early last year, San Francisco‘s Bar Basic has seen increased traffic, longer dwell time and a 26 percent boost in sales. Many of Bar Basic’s customers have said that they come to the bar because of Roqbot,” he noted.
Roqbot and BrightSign collaborated to build a special script for BrightSign players to enable A/V streaming and to buffer the customized music library and display the applicable cover art. Equipped with advanced programming functionality, the controller not only plays Roqbot’s streaming music; it loops through video/image playlists consisting of the playlist of music in the queue, promotional images/videos provided by the business subscriber and information on where to download Roqbot’s smartphone application for patrons wanting to sign up and participate.
“We selected the BrightSign player for our Preferred Virtual Music Jukebox Bundle because of its robust hardware, high performance and scalability for any sized business,” explained Garrett Dodge, Roqbot Co-Founder and CEO. “They’re very affordably priced plug-and-play devices that are easy to install and use. Typically, bar and restaurant owners will use TVs that are currently installed at their sites. Then, they simply connect the BrightSign player to the TV and their sound system. Having one convenient package like this makes it effortless to install. Most venues are up and running in about 10 minutes.”
In addition to costing less than a PC-based system, solid-state BrightSign players only require a fraction of the power that PC-based players use; and with no moving parts to fail, they’re substantially more reliable.
As part of its music streaming service bundle, Roqbot provides subscribers with continuous background music and synchronized cover art from the customized music library they created using Roqbot’s six-million song master catalog. Upon entering the venue, visitors use Roqbot’s free iPhone or Android app to check in to the jukebox, browse the venue’s available music and request their favorite songs or vote on songs currently in queue. The turnkey solution not only provides visitors with a fun, engaging experience, it enhances the marketing efforts of subscribing businesses. Businesses use BrightAuthor and the BrightSign player to display powerful point-of-purchase (POP) advertising that increases brand visibility/awareness and drives sales.
The BrightSign/Roqbot solution is a revenue driver for big brands as well as small businesses as evidenced by a pilot program rolling out in about 20 bars in the Austin, Texas area this month. Miller Lite® is sponsoring the on-screen advertising displayed by the BrightSign player in full HD resolution. Visit http://roqbot.com/atx for a list of the participating bars and their locations. In addition, Roqbot will be running the BrightSign-driven A/V streaming solution at bars and events during the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference (SXSW), which begins March 9 in Austin, TX.
Availability, Pricing
Roqbot offers businesses a choice of three music streaming services bundled with a BrightSign player for a monthly fee that covers all music licensing fees. The services can be purchased directly from the Roqbot website. Enterprise and custom plans are also available. Roqbot’s Android or iPhone app is free and can be downloaded at the Android Market or the Apple App Store. All other smartphones can access Roqbot at m.roqbot.com on their mobile browser.
BrightSign’s full line of digital players and kiosk controllers ranges from looping, interactive and network-enabled media players to players with built-in Wi-Fi and players with integrated displays. BrightSign players range in price from US$284.99 for the HD110 stand-alone looping digital sign player to US$699.99 for the HD1010w advanced network-enabled digital sign and kiosk controller with interactivity and built-in Wi-Fi. One of three BrightSign network-enabled, high-definition, solid-state players is included in the Roqbot jukebox bundle – the HD210 or the HD210w or HD1010w with built-in Wi-Fi.
BrightAuthor, an open platform PC software application that simplifies creating, publishing and managing BrightSign presentations, is included free of charge to all BrightSign users. The application is designed to run on a standard Windows PC with Windows XP or Vista or Windows 7, plus Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 or later.
About Roqbot
Headquartered in Berkeley, CA, Roqbot Inc. is the developer of the innovative Roqbot social music service, a fully licensed virtual jukebox that provides a powerful engagement tool for any type of business. Roqbot also offers a free smartphone app that enables venue visitors to check in to the jukebox and make requests. Unlike traditional business music services, Roqbot lets customers discover music and engage with the brand. Roqbot was selected as the best music tech company in the 2011 South by Southwest Accelerator program. For media inquiries regarding Roqbot’s service, please contact info [at] roqbot.com.
About BrightSign
BrightSign, LLC, based in Los Gatos, California, develops products, software and networking solutions for digital signage. BrightSign solid-state digital sign controllers set new standards for both stand-alone and networked digital signage applications with their superior video quality, reliability, affordability, ease of use and interactivity. Online information about BrightSign units is available at www.brightsign.biz. For US sales inquiries, please contact sales [at] brightsign.biz or call +1-408-852-9263. For European sales inquiries, please email Pierre Gillet: pgillet [at] brightsign.biz or call +44-1223-911842. Follow BrightSign at
http://twitter.com/brightsign and http://www.facebook.com/pages/BrightSign-LLC/121852744557182.
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BrightSign and the BrightSign logo are registered trademarks of BrightSign, LLC in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Specifications subject to change without notice.
Source: BrightSign
