Articles by Toby Hoyte
Jukebox hits of 2013
Every year, we compile three charts of most played tracks, artists and classic tracks. These charts create an interesting picture of the music people pay to listen to while out in pubs and clubs. As expected, chart hits are dominant on this year’s Most Played Tracks Chart, which is broadly in line with the top-selling…
Happy new year!
As we link arms to sing Auld Lang Syne – many of us will be thinking of ways to improve our lives in 2014. According to research, the top 5 New Year’s Resolutions are: 1. To lose weight 2. To quit smoking 3. To do more exercise 4. To get a new job 5. To…
Give your pub a music makeover
UK pubs have until the end of this month to enter the “Music Makeover 2013” competition organised by the PRS for music, representing 100,000 songwriters and composers. This year, the prize money has doubled to £10,000 for one lucky pub to kit out their establishment with equipment from music retailer GAK. There are also 10…
I like the sound of this beer!
Could music affect the taste of beer? Pete Brown, Beer Writer of the Year in 2009 and 2012 believes this might be the case. Brown put his theory to the test at a recent event at Brewers’ Hall, hosted by ITA – an exclusive event booking and catering service based in the Capital. “Pete is…
Lou Reed – gone but not forgotten
“I’m not a human jukebox, I’m a musician,” the late Lou Reed is quoted as saying after he was criticized for not playing any crowd pleasing older tracks at a gig in Toronto. “Me, I think a real fan would be happy to hear whatever music you wanted to play, if they really cared about…
Be A World Cup Winner with Soundnet
So, apparently England’s victory over Poland that qualified them for the football World Cup finals in Brazil next summer could score £50m for the UK pub trade, according to the British Beer & Pub Association. The industry could certainly do with the boost and with Brazil Standard Time only four hours after British Summer Time…
Thing that go bump (and grind) in the night
With Halloween fast approaching we thought this was a good opportunity to share a scary story about a landlady in Addlestone who was subject to a witch-hunt due to her frightening clientele. Jenny Evans took over a pub called the Holly Tree in the town two years ago – which had a fearsome reputation for…
You’re not playing that in my pub…
Music can bring people together but it can also drive people apart. Nowhere is this truer than in the pub, where passions, sometimes fuelled by alcohol, can run high. Playing an Oasis track on a jukebox in a Liverpool pub on match day could be seen as a challenge. Ask us here at Soundnet; we…
Music to drink beer to…
In the business of providing music for the UK’s pubs via a network of market-leading jukeboxes, there are some acts that resonate for more reasons than others. Take Chas & Dave for example. To some – slightly cheesy Cockney chappies who had plenty of “rabbit” and who were a mainstay of 80s primetime TV shows….
Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball hits the charts, but what do pubgoers think of the singer’s transformation?
Miley Cyrus’ transformation from America’s sweetheart to rebellious pop starlet has taken the music world by storm, and this week the Soundnet team had to stop and ask ourselves how pubgoers would react to the singer’s latest track. Known by many for her lead role in Walt Disney’s TV series Hannah Montana, country-pop singer Miley…