TouchTunes Enabled Crowdsourced Music at the frog SXSW Interactive Opening Party

NEW YORK, March 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TouchTunes Interactive Networks, the industry leader for interactive music and entertainment in 57,000 venues nationwide, enabled crowdsourced music at the 2013 frog SXSW Interactive Opening Party. Held at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas, the annual celebration has built a reputation for being one of the best events of the festival because of the interactive experiences onsite encouraging guests to consider how technology impacts every day life. Over 6,000 guests in attendance were invited to "be the DJ" and vote on the next song to play by selecting music on the TouchTunes mobile app or by visiting one of the twenty TouchTunes smart jukeboxes at the event.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130314/NY76877)

At the end of the night, there were over 10,200 total votes. PSY's Gangnam Style was the most voted song by TouchTunes mobile app users, while The Blues Brothers' Hey Bartender was the most voted song on the jukeboxes. The most voted artist overall was Austin favorite Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble.

TouchTunes is known for creating shared, social experiences in-venue and putting consumers in control of the music on a pay-for-play basis. The TouchTunes installation at SXSW was an experiment in crowdsourced DJ'ing on a mass scale where the most voted songs ultimately made it to the top of the queue. 

The frog and TouchTunes collaboration at SXSW was part of an on-going relationship in developing interactive products for venues. In 2010, TouchTunes tapped frog to help reinvent the jukebox with new interaction and product design. The result was the TouchTunes Virtuo, a digital music system that successfully captures the experience of vintage jukeboxes, yet has a modern interface for consumers' evolving digital expectations. Built as a multi-application entertainment platform, the Virtuo transitions from a music player to a digital photobooth and karaoke machine, giving consumers even more ways to connect socially.

The TouchTunes mobile app interplays with TouchTunes jukeboxes and has been downloaded over 1.3 million times for iOS and Android. "The app enables users to find TouchTunes locations nearby and control the music from their phones," said TouchTunes CMO Pat Shores.

For the complete list of songs played at the event and additional party highlights, please visit www.touchtunes.com/sxsw.

About TouchTunes Interactive Networks

TouchTunes brings the world's most innovative technologies to social venues and has become the largest interactive entertainment platform in North America. We provide entertainment and marketing solutions to over 57,000 bars and restaurants nationwide. Since TouchTunes introduced the first digital downloading, pay-for-play jukebox in 1998, the network has become the largest of its kind with almost a billion songs played in 2012. The TouchTunes mobile app allows users to find locations nearby and control the music experience directly from their phones. Since launch, it has been downloaded over 1.3 million times. Recently, the company re-imagined the jukebox as a multi-application platform that now services the iconic experiences of karaoke and photobooth. As an advertising channel, TouchTunes provides digital advertising and sponsorship opportunities across the multi-platform network. TouchTunes is a privately held US corporation headquartered in New York City with offices in Chicago and Montreal. To learn more, please visit www.touchtunes.com.

About frog

frog is a global design and innovation firm, working with the world's leading organizations to design, engineer, and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences. With an interdisciplinary team of more than 1,000 designers, strategists, and technologists, frog delivers connected experiences for a broad spectrum of industries, including: consumer electronics, telecommunications, healthcare, energy, automotive, media, entertainment, education, finance, retail, and fashion. Our corporate clients include Disney, GE, HP, Microsoft, Intel, Sharp, Siemens, Target, and many other Fortune 500 brands. We also service the public sector, from governmental organizations to global NGOs like UNICEF. Founded in 1969, frog is headquartered in San Francisco, with locations in Amsterdam, Austin, Boston, Johannesburg, Kiev, Milan, Munich, New York, Seattle, Shanghai, and Vinnytsya. frog is a company of the Aricent Group, a global innovation and technology services firm. The Aricent Group is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Sequoia Capital, The Family Office, and CPP Investment Board. frog is a Global Growth Company member of the World Economic Forum. For more information, please visit www.frogdesign.com. 

SOURCE TouchTunes Interactive Networks