Rowe AMI Licenses BMI Music for Digital Jukeboxes

Posted in News on June 28, 2004

Rowe AMI, a company which has pioneered jukebox innovations since 1927, has reached an agreement with BMI to license the public performance of approximately 4.5 millions songs in digital jukeboxes.

Rowe AMI's Doug Johnson and BMI's John Shaker examine an internet digital jukebox from Rowe AMI. Photo by Gary Gershoff

The BMI agreement follows the recent creation of a new business unit of Rowe, named AMI Entertainment, which is committed to digital entertainment. The moves are part of a global initiative to initiate a new look for the company, new machines, and a fresh experience for its customers.

"Licensing the musical works of BMI's 300,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers gives us access to most of the world's favorite songs," said Doug Johnson, President and CEO of Rowe. "This is an essential element in our strategy to provide the best entertainment value to our customers and maintain our dominant position in the jukebox industry."

The heart of AMI Entertainment's business is a line of the world's most advanced digital jukeboxes, which can operate in stand-alone or Internet-connected formats. Rowe designs its own client/server software system to administer jukebox content.

"BMI is pleased to reach an agreement with Rowe AMI, a company with eight decades of experience in manufacturing jukeboxes," said John Shaker, BMI Senior Vice President, Licensing. "Digital jukeboxes provide consumers with a much larger selection of music, and consumers play more music on digital jukeboxes. This agreement between BMI and Rowe AMI benefits business owners, copyright owners and consumers alike."

Tom Annastas, Vice President of General Licensing at BMI, said licensing the BMI repertoire to Rowe AMI will ensure accurate compensation for songwriters when their music is played on digital jukeboxes. "The technology of digital boxes brings a higher level of copyright compliance to the jukebox industry and reduces the administrative burden for Rowe AMI, operators, venue owners, and BMI," he said.

About Rowe
Rowe International is the number one manufacturer of commercial and home CD jukeboxes. The Company also manufactures the "Netstar" (floor format) and "Starlink" (wall-mounting) Internet-enabled digital jukebox lines. The Company's Internet-enabled devices, which can operate using a variety of Internet connectivity methods or as stand-alone units, are the world's leading pay-for-play broadband entertainment systems.

SOURCENews TAGS International Licensing Rights Management Artists Doug Johnson