Idea: A five dollar “skip” button on jukeboxes
I’ve heard “Margaritaville” about 500 times too many on jukeboxes in bars. It might be worth five bucks to me to be able to skip that song the next time someone plays it. Someone should make a jukebox that features a big “SKIP” button and charge five bucks to use it. I think five dollars is just the right amount. It’s high enough that someone won’t keep skipping songs just to be a jerk, but low enough that I can afford to skip that one song that I really just can’t stand to hear one more time.
What’s that song for you? Brown Eyed Girl? Sweet Home Alabama? Paradise by the Dashboard Lights? Hotel California? You know there’s a song out there that would get you to use this feature. It further monetizes the jukebox for the bartender, and makes the bar a much better place in which to hang out. At least for me, anyway.
Comments
Nice idea. To keep things fair, perhaps the person who selected the skipped song should get a refund.
Posted by: wka | June 19, 2006 9:54 AM
Or the person who requested the skipped song has 30 seconds to add a dollar to keep the song going, start a bidding war.
Posted by: Johnny C. | June 19, 2006 11:37 AM
$5? Pulling the power cord is free!
Posted by: Keith Alioto | June 19, 2006 1:06 PM
A related question: do they still actually put jukeboxes in bars? I was in a place the other week called “Jukebox Charlie’s”. We looked all over that place, and there wasn’t a jukebox to be found anywhere. So we hummed ‘Sweet Caroline’ to ourselves, and enjoyed a lovely meal.
Posted by: Mike | June 20, 2006 11:37 AM
Sweet Caroline. Gross. Especially when frat boys add the “So good! So good! So good!” part.
Woah, I wrote that before reading Mike’s comment above.
Posted by: Dan | June 20, 2006 3:46 PM
I love the idea of a jukebox “skip” option, as well as Johnny C.’s concept of a bidding war, as it would make the jukebox a much more interactive experience. I’d love to see restaurants implement table-specific mini-jukeboxes whose tracks complemented one another. In other words, the music from each table would blend harmoniously, and the more tables playing music, the richer the overall soundtrack. It would be similar to the invention called the “Buddha Machine,” in which various ambient loops have an uncanny way of complementing existing environmental sounds, but ambient music wouldn’t necessarily be required.
Posted by: Craig | June 20, 2006 11:18 PM
To Dan-
If only we’d both referenced The Police’s ‘Synchronicity’ instead of that silly Neil Diamond song.
Many miles away…
Posted by: Mike | June 21, 2006 12:01 PM
I worked at a diner when I was in highschool with a wall mounted jukebox. A dollar bought you 3 plays, two bought you 10. Behind the counter we had a remote skip button. Thank God. It was the summer “That Thing You Do” hit the charts.
Posted by: boobsradley | June 23, 2006 2:28 PM
I believe they already have something like that on some jukeboxes. Or maybe you can pay more to bump your way to the front. Good to know that the same ethos of a Hollywood doorman can apply to jukebox technology.
Posted by: Josh Forbes | June 23, 2006 7:54 PM
“So I put five bucks into the jukebox and the next thing I knew I woke up in the emergency room.”
Posted by: ronbo | July 5, 2006 6:42 PM
In my local, it costs an extra “credit” (or one buck) to “Play My Song First.” It hasn’t led to a fistfight yet as far as I know, but the odds are pretty godd there will be…
Posted by: Johnny | July 19, 2006 4:53 PM