Jukeboxes are the last vestige of non-on-demand music. You have a list of songs you can potentially play and that’s it—if you don’t like Willie or Waylon or Brown-Eyed Girl you’re usually stuck.
WSJ writer Jason Fry spent a few moments not oppressing the worker and went to visit a few bars where he found jukeboxes by TouchTunes and ECast, two major digital jukebox suppliers. He was able to find just about any song in the known universe and his tests were pretty esoteric:
My test cases were obscure but not impossible: albums by the Replacements and “Before They Make Me Run,” Keith Richards’ wobbly turn at the mike from the Rolling Stones’ “Some Girls.” The Web jukeboxes passed both tests, which was comforting, particularly while enduring “If You Leave Me Now” by Chicago.
That’s all well and good, I suppose, but I still love to see an old vinyl jukebox in a nice bar with lots of good beers on tap, however. Nothing like “Crazy” played on a scratchy 45.
Jukeboxes’ New Era [WSJ]
