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TouchTunes Music Corporation TOUCHTUNES’ GEN 3 SYSTEM GENERATES OPERATOR BUZZ IN ADVANCE OF APRIL LAUNCH

Early Users Report Revenue Increases of Up to 50 percent

The eye-popping initial screen of a TouchTunes Gen 3-based digital jukebox is the gateway to enhanced song search and selection capabilities, industry-first online personal playlists, and other advanced features designed to excite and engage patrons.

LAKE ZURICH, Ill., — On the eve of TouchTunes’ launch of its Gen 3 digital jukebox technology for broadband, operators who have been using pre-release versions of the new technology are reporting double-digit revenue increases of up to 50 percent at the same locations.

TouchTunes has announced that the Gen 3 operating system will go into full production in April, when it becomes standard on every new TouchTunes jukebox. The company says it will provide free Gen 3 upgrades for every jukebox purchased in 2006 and 2007.

Operators of Gen 3 jukeboxes attribute the revenue leaps to faster and easier song searching via new graphics and a greater variety of music search options. In addition, they point to the ability of patrons to download songs in real time via the Internet from TouchTunes’ central music servers.

Denver operator Matt Pascal of J. E. & S. Video says, “Gen 3 is great. We’re seeing 15 to 30 percent revenue increases.” He cites “the ease of navigation” and says, “Customers love the new search options. It’s an easier and more exciting way to get to the music.”

At The Elm bar and grill in Denver, Colo., employees like bartender Blair Baldwin and doorman John Dietzl are fans of the TouchTunes Gen 3 jukebox, operated by Matt Pascal’s J. E. & S. Video. Says Baldwin, “I play it all the time. I have a playlist on it.”

Jason Rubin of A.J. Video, Baltimore, Md., says collections are up “an average of 30 percent across every type of location” He has been using pre-release versions of Gen 3 since April 2006. “Gen 3 has been very good,” he says. “We’re converting the route as fast as we can.”

Operator Phil McBride of T & G Music, Titusville, Fla., reports revenue increases of 20 to 25 percent.  And a greater percentage of his revenue comes from premium-priced plays enabled by the new broadband-powered “Super Search” function. This allows users to download and play new songs the instant they’re added to TouchTunes’ master music library.

Another factor cited by operators is MyTouchTunes, the personal playlist feature that’s exclusive to TouchTunes and Gen 3 and represents a historic first in the industry: the ability of patrons to create and save electronic playlists for jukebox use. Patrons can enter their playlists on the jukebox touch screen or at www.MyTouchTunes.com using any Internet computer.  Playlists are stored online and can be downloaded and used on any TouchTunes broadband jukebox equipped with the Gen 3 system.

Rubin of A.J. Video says MyTouchTunes playlists have become particularly popular at one of his one his earliest Gen 3 locations, where customers have had time to become familiar with the feature. “This one bar uses playlists a lot. Their revenue has gone up 50 percent.”

At The Elm, a neighborhood pub in Denver with a Gen 3 jukebox operated by Pascal’s J.E. & S. Video, manager Eric Young says, “We’re very, very happy with the jukebox. It’s very popular with our customers.”

He adds, “My wife has a playlist.”
So do The Elm’s employees. Bartender Blair Baldwin says, “I play it all the time.”

            Pointing to online playlists and other “powerful new features,” Dale Lazar of H. Lazar & Son, Pittsburgh, Pa., says Gen 3 “has the ability to engage the customer on multiple levels. And every opportunity to engage the customer ultimately drives and extends revenues.

From left: Operators Jason Rubin, A. J. Video Amusements, Baltimore, Md, and Phil McBride, T&G Music, Titusville, Fla., are among the early-version Gen 3 operators reporting double-digit revenue increases.

            “TouchTunes is a remarkable company,” Lazar says. “Our route is exclusively TouchTunes. They have led the market, and with the introduction of Gen 3, I expect they’ll increase their lead over the competition.”

In addition to Gen 3’s new user interface and search options, broadband “Super Search,” and MyTouchTunes playlists, Gen 3 advancements include, among other features, a unique “morphing” function that lets operators change the musical personality of the hard drive in an instant for special events and then restore the original hard drive just as easily. Also, users can switch from an English to a Spanish language interface at the push of an on-screen button.

According to TouchTunes officials, the Gen 3 system represents a feature-filled technological breakthrough for the digital-jukebox industry that the company pioneered. TouchTunes continues to lead the industry through product innovation and customer support, providing the “ultimate” music experience for patrons and the “ultimate” in revenues for jukebox operators.

            TouchTunes Music Corporation introduced the world’s first digital downloading, coin-operated commercial jukebox in 1998. Today, TouchTunes’ online network of some 24,000 pay-per-play Internet jukeboxes in bars, restaurants, and other establishments throughout North America is the industry’s largest, representing a market share of more than 60 percent.

A privately held U.S. corporation, TouchTunes’ principal offices are in Montreal, Canada, and Lake Zurich, Ill., a Chicago suburb. 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 over $4 billion in capital under management, including a substantial portfolio of consumer-oriented digital-media companies that complement TouchTunes’ growing leadership in out-of-home, interactive entertainment.