There are countless ways to stream music these days, but for old timers who are not on board with the current changing music industry, there will soon be a more mainstream device better suited for them when it hits shelves this holiday season.
Called the Electric Jukebox, this small device plugs into your TV and can stream music from a library of more than 30 million songs via Wi-Fi, turning your television and home entertainment system into a jukebox.
Combing a streaming platform and hardware into one, Electric Jukebox comes in two parts: a device that resembles a Chromecast stick that connects to the consumer's television via HDMI-CEC and a wireless remote that resembles a Nintendo Wii controller that is equipped with motion control and a microphone for voice control capabilities.
The Electric Jukebox does not feature a 3.5 mmm headphone jack on the remote to allow the user to listen privately. Instead, it's catered more toward the entire family, especially since almost half the homes in the U.S. have a sound bar speaker for their TVs.
It's also a way to allow people to move to streaming services without having to download apps, and it is easy to use since you just have to plug it in to play music.
"I'm not after the Spotify customer. I'm after everyone else," Electric Jukebox co-creator Rob Lewis said.
Once plugged in, users can play music from the extensive library, and the built-in streaming is offered for free for the first year. When the free trial has ended, the user must pay an annual subscription of $60 to continue to stream music that includes radio channels and playlists that are curated by top artists like Sheryl Crow. At $60, the TV streaming device would cost roughly half the price of music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, which cost $9.99 per month.
"Many hope to join streaming music, but haven't done it," Lewis said. "We hope this is a way that we can bring them back into [the] music industry and have them listening to music again. We are offering something in a box that you can plug in and in two minutes be playing music."
The UK-based company will launch the Electric Jukebox in time for the holiday season. Consumers can preorder the gadget for $199 in the U.S. until Oct. 21. It will then retail for $229.
Via: CNET
