A combination of the World Cup and the warm weather was always going to spell bad news for jukebox cashboxes. Traditionally pub jukebox takings do go down somewhat in the summer months, compared to the rest of the year. But one Birmingham pub landlord did everything he possibly could to overcome this.

Graham Harper from the Crown Inn, Birmingham worked extremely hard to avoid his digital jukebox cashbox depleting over the period, so we thought we would share a few of his tips in order to help other landlords do the same.

Using the onscreen advertising, Graham entered all World Cup games, dates and times using the “Sporting Events” feature on the touchscreen jukebox. Graham says, “This was great because the jukebox would advertise the fixtures. Many were interacting with jukebox using the “What’s On” feature to see which games were on next and would also play some music at the same time.”

Before the matches kicked off, Graham encouraged his customers to use the jukebox. Putting a few pounds in himself to get the ball rolling, Graham selected songs from “COME ON ENGLAND”  category  – a new music category on the jukebox specially created for the busy world cup period featuring classic songs such as  “Three Lions” by Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds and New Orders “World In Motion”.

With the excitement building, these songs helped create an amazing atmosphere and drew attention to the jukebox, with punters following Graham and selecting their own favourite football songs. Graham says:

“This really helped lift the atmosphere before the game. It got everyone in a good mood and it helped contribute to our takings behind the bar.”

As the jukebox has four separate music zones Graham was also able to keep his non football supporters happy by playing the jukebox music on a separate zone in his lounge. Graham said:

“Not everyone loves the football so we didn’t switch the jukebox off, we kept it on as usual for customers who wanted to listen to music in our lounge area.”

Keeping the customers in after the game was another challenge, especially after England’s poor results. Graham made sure the music in the bar would come straight back on after the game. Graham says:

“It’s a fact that music keeps people in the pub longer. By making sure we had some good music playing on the jukebox I knew it would keep them here rather than them moving on. Although Pharrell Williams “Happy” was probably not quite appropriate at that time,” he joked.

And Graham wasn’t going to let the summer time weather effect his cashbox takings either. By installing an outdoor speaker in the beer garden, customers would put their money in the jukebox and enjoy their favourite music when outside.

Graham advises:

“The outdoor speaker has been essential to help maintaining the cashbox. Often when it’s hot we can have an empty pub but heaving beer garden. What better than sitting in the sun, with a pint and listening to some great music.”

Find out more about our jukeboxes for pubs here.