Groundbreaking US Air Guitar Sponsorship Lands TouchTunes on the Air and in Print During 14-City U.S. Tour - Operators Praise Unprecedented Event-Marketing Campaign for Introducing New Audiences to Digital Jukeboxes

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Operators are praising TouchTunes’ groundbreaking sponsorship of the nationwide 2007 US Air Guitar competitions this summer as a creative and welcome initiative to introduce new audiences to the delights of digital jukeboxes.

The tie-in marketing campaign, unprecedented in the jukebox industry, has also landed TouchTunes significant mainstream media coverage in major markets.

TouchTunes also will be highly visible as sponsor of the US Air Guitar finals August 16 in New York City at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, where the national air guitar champion will be crowned.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said operator Mike Zappa of Lorain Music & Vending in northern Ohio, whose company installed the TouchTunes jukebox for the Cleveland air guitar competition. Zappa said the coin-op industry too often “markets to the wrong people. We market to ourselves. We need to get to the end users. I hope there are more opportunities to do things like this.”

Bill Lethert, of Mendota Valley Amusement in metropolitan Minneapolis-St. Paul, said, “Any time you can expose our industry through new avenues, it can only be a positive.”

In Lethert’s opinion, “TouchTunes is becoming a big part of American pop culture,” comparable to the status achieved by classic vinyl jukebox brands of the 1950s and 60s. “I don’t think any other company has the people or the ability to do something like this, which really helps our industry,” he said.
In Washington, D.C., a TouchTunes Allegro jukebox figured prominently in a full-color news photo that appeared with an air guitar story in the print and online editions of the Washington Post.

San Francisco’s NBC affiliate KNTV-TV broadcast a live morning news report from local concert venue The Independent.  Air guitar contestants demonstrated their techniques in front of a stage banner with TouchTunes’ logo and in front of an illuminated Allegro jukebox. On several occasions, Evan Steiner, TouchTunes’ West Coast regional sales manager, could be seen in the background activating the jukebox.

Kevin Gelatka of Mike’s Amusements, who set up the TouchTunes jukebox at Chicago’s Metro concert hall, said, “TouchTunes picked a good event to put their name on. These air-guitar fans are the kind of music-educated people you want to have involved with your jukebox.”

Gelatka said he was surprised at how much he enjoyed the air guitar show. “I wasn’t even expecting to stay the entire time. I thought it was great. This event is only going to get bigger.”

That appears to be the trend. According to US Air Guitar, the organization in charge of the program, overall attendance at this year’s events was up 100 percent, compared to 2006. The competition has grown from two events in 2003 to 15 this year.  Shows in Washington, D.C., New York, and San Francisco were officially sold out, “and almost all the events were at capacity,” US Air Guitar says.

“Through our sponsorship of air guitar events, TouchTunes digital jukeboxes have made guest appearances at some of the nation’s premier live-music venues,” said Ron Greenberg, TouchTunes Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President for Digital Media.

“This has afforded us valuable face-to-face opportunities to introduce our brand and our technology to thousands of intensely music-loving young adults, many of whom were not familiar with digital jukeboxes and the phenomenal amount of music available on them,” Greenberg said.
TouchTunes is US Air Guitar’s first significant sponsor from the music industry and the first “official jukebox of US Air Guitar.”

At each event, stage announcements draw attention to the TouchTunes jukebox installed in a high-traffic location in the concert hall. Audience members are given demonstrations of the jukebox and free plays of their favorite songs during pre-show, intermission, and post-show periods.
Zappa of Lorain Music said, “There was a lot of interest in the jukebox, once we got visitors up to speed on how to use it.”

Al Williams, of Shaffer Services, who assisted TouchTunes at the Columbus, Ohio, air guitar competition, echoed that observation:  “Everybody seemed to really enjoy the event, and a lot of them seemed interested in the jukebox. This might make them prefer a bar with a TouchTunes.”
Operators and distributors who assisted TouchTunes at regional air guitar competitions included:

• Jason Rubin, A.J. Video (Washington, D.C. regional event)
• Joe Bossolina, McGee Amusements (New York)
• Mike Zappa, Lorain Music & Vending (Cleveland)
• Al Williams, Shaffer Services,  (Columbus, Ohio)
• Kevin Gelatka, Mike’s Amusements (Chicago)
• Bill Lethert, Mendota Valley Amusement (Minneapolis)
• John Coble, Discount Arcade Distributing (Dallas)
• Mike Hello, Capitol Amusements (Austin, Tex)
• Mark Boasberg, New Orleans Novelty (New Orleans)

TouchTunes provides the “ultimate experience” for its operators, location owners, and end-users.  By delivering the best-in-class service, sales, support — and an unsurpassed music library delivered through the industry’s most innovative technology and marketing capability — TouchTunes offers a true 360-degree Digital Customer TouchPoint ™ relationship.  TouchTunes continues to pioneer industry-firsts such as MyTouchTunes.com, a web site where users can create their own personal playlists for the new generation of broadband jukeboxes.

 TouchTunes’ online network of more than 27,000 digital jukeboxes in bars, restaurants, and other establishments throughout North America is the industry’s largest, more than 2.5 times the size of the nearest competitor’s. To date, its interactive digital jukebox network has played more than 1.6 billion songs. TouchTunes introduced the world’s first digital-downloading, pay-per-play commercial jukebox in 1998.

A privately held U.S. corporation, TouchTunes Music Corporation’s principal offices are in Lake Zurich, Ill.; Montreal, Canada; and New York City. The company is backed by VantagePoint Venture Partners, one of the largest venture capital firms in the world with offices in Silicon Valley, New York, and Montreal.  VantagePoint has a substantial portfolio of consumer-oriented digital-media companies that complement TouchTunes’ growing leadership in out-of-home, interactive entertainment.

For TouchTunes product, sales, and marketing information, call Michelle Santangelo at (888) 338-5853 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Web site: www.touchtunes.com.

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