Goodbye Jukebox, Say Hello iPod

Feb. 24, 2006 — -- Remember that one-time staple in American society, the jukebox? Have you noticed you almost never see one anymore? Do you even care?

"No, I don't miss them at all," says Jamie Lewis, a petite, spunky bartender at New York City's Mercury Bar, who dictates the music her customers hear with her pink iPod Mini. "I love being in control. I'm their host, and I know what drinks they want, what lighting they want and what music they want to hear."

The preference of customers and employees for iPods instead of the once ever-present jukebox is a trend rocking the nation from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles. And that trend might lead to the death of the jukebox.

Today when you walk into Generation X bars like Mercury Bar and the House of Brews on New York's west side, the people aren't spending their money on the jukeboxes; they're thumbing their high-tech click-wheels, and picking the music from their very own iPods.

Citizen DJ

"They want to come in here and use music as an expression to enjoy the atmosphere, mingle and contribute to the scene," says Lewis, who claims to have more than 10,000 songs in her digital music library.

For these digital DJs, iPod night has become one of the favorite nights of the week at local hangouts, more enjoyed then karaoke night or ladies night.

It gives iPod users a chance to share their music with others, learn about new music, hear favorite oldies and enjoy an overall atmosphere you don't get anywhere else.

On these nights the playlist can range from the theme song to the "The A-Team" to a house remix of Kanye West's "Gold Digger."

"With so many people having iPods today and there being thousands of songs on each iPod, it's a total advantage over a jukebox that has 100 CDs," says David Freeberg, manger of Mercury Bar.

Freeberg, whom you won't see playing with a pink iPod Mini, can't grasp the fact that people who bring their iPods to his bar have 10,000 songs in their digital library, when he can name only about 100.

Move Over Karaoke, It's 'iPod Night'

In the first quarter of the 2006 fiscal year, Apple reported selling 14 million iPods. That amounts to 100 iPods sold every minute.

Blend that in with home software that allows you to mix a cocktail of artists such as Frank Sinatra with Biggie Smalls, and accessories that allow iPod users to plug in almost anywhere, and it's no wonder people clamor at the chance to share their music. They're in charge, and you have to listen.

A typical iPod Night is like any karaoke night.

When you get to the bar, you enter your stage name on the sign-up sheet and then you sit and wait as you listen to other digital DJs perform.

Some bars give you 15 minutes to play your songs, and some allow you only three songs to show off your skills -- or, in some cases, lack thereof.

When it's time to shine, these part-time DJs swallow whole the opportunity to grab a freedom they don't have in their daily lives. In a sense, it's their 15 minutes of fame.

Freeberg, who just started iPod nights on Tuesdays, says it gives people a reason to come to his bar rather then others.

"We offer the customers the chance to change the mood easily and express themselves to the music they can request to have played off their iPods," he says.

But not every night is iPod Night.

There's Only Room for One iPod in Here

At the House of Brews, Rutgers Law School student and bartender John Lauro doesn't think iPod night would work.

He's the only one who DJs the music from his iPod, and he won't let anyone else plug in and play.

"I know what my people want to hear and I don't want them getting too comfortable here and thinking they get special privileges," he says. "They need to respect my position and trust me, I can anticipate their mood."

But he does admit some of his regulars do get to choose some tunes now and then.

With sales of iPods increasing every year and the social practice of being a digital DJ growing city by city, it's only a matter of time until the jukebox -- an American icon in bars, restaurants and diners for decades -- gets phased out completely, replaced like so many other favorites of yesterday, with the conveniences of tomorrow.