YOUR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS
Ever wonder how Nightlife seems to be in venues wherever you are right around the country? Providing entertainment solutions to over 1200 clients around Australia is a task the Sales team at Nightlife revels in. With years of experience in the hospitality field and not to mention an abundance of knowledge about our products, Nightlife’s Business Development Managers are fully equipped to handle the task.
Dividing the country into eight territories allows our four Business Development Managers to concentrate on the qualities each state exemplifies. So without further adieu, allow me to introduce to you our BDMs:
Name: Michael Hickey Territories: VIC, SA and WA
Background: Michael has 20 years in the industry and has run a number of pubs in the past.
How do you balance leads and clients? Maintaining good relationships with clients is just as important as garnering new business. Nightlife is a business built on word of mouth. We do not advertise to the general public and rely on new business coming from referrals, former clients and staff that have moved from hotel to hotel. What this means is that looking after our existing customers is an important part of our business.
Mobile: 0418 789 123 Email: michael@nightlife.com.au
Name: Damien Pocock Territories: NT, NSW and VIC
Background: Damien has worked in the pubs and clubs industry for over 5 years and is also an accomplished DJ.
How does the HDMS™ add value to venues in your territory? The HDMS™ is a very important tool in complementing and enhancing the party atmosphere that already exists in VIC and NSW. It also provides a modern and effective communication/promotional tool for venues to send their customers messages.
Mobile: 0431 778 745 Email: damien@nightlife.com.au
Name: Phil Brown Territories: NSW, ACT, TAS
Background: Phil has extensive experience in Sales and Marketing and has also run a small record label. He occasionally annoys people with his guitar playing.
How does the HDMS™ add value to venues in
your territory? The HDMS™ over time has become the hub for many aspects of our venue’s entertainment. From jukeboxes that add a revenue stream through to our state of the art DJ Pro system. Being able to develop our own software and hardware solutions enables us to enhance our system with features requested directly from our customers.
Mobile: 0404 556 727 Email: phil@nightlife.com.au
Name: Gerald McMillan Territory: QLD
Background: Gerald has come up through the ranks at Nightlife where he first started in our Client Services Department in 2006.
What do you like most about working in your territory? I’m a Queenslander through and through! I love being part of the industry that entertains people and I love to see small businesses succeeding. Brisbane is growing but so are other regional parts of the state. Everywhere you go in QLD you see people embracing advances in technology and the music industry is the same and I enjoy bringing that to people through our clients.
Mobile: 0438 556 410 Email: gerald@nightlife.com.au
Our BDM’s are here to help you and your venue achieve your entertainment goals. Call them any time on mobile or on 1800 679 748, they will be happy to hear from you.
AT YOUR SERVICE!
Create your own Countdown Billboard
Have you ever wanted to countdown to a special event with your own customised background image or import a JPG (photo/picture) and overlay a caption across the picture? The new COUNTDOWN2 HTML is the answer!
The COUNTDOWN2 HTML billboard includes a configurable background image, different coloured fonts and a message only feature. You will need to import the new billboard from it from a recent music update disc. Follow the instructions below to install the billboard:
Importing COUNTDOWN2 HTML from a recent music update disc
1) Make sure you have a recent Nightlife update disc in the DVD-ROM drive of the HDMS™
2) Access the Billboards program by pressing [Ctrl B] or using the Utilities menu, scroll down and press [Enter] on Billboards
3) Press [Spacebar] to enter the Billboards Menu
4) Press [I] to import, an import box will pop up with options to import from:
a) Floppy Disk b) Hard Drive c) DVD Drive or d) USB Drive (if enabled)
5) Choose DVD Drive and press [Enter] all JPG and HTML files on the disc
will be shown
6) Press [C] to move to the beginning of the file names starting with C, use the down arrow key to move to COUNTDOWN2.HTML and press [Enter]
7) The billboard will now be imported and be automatically given an initial display time of 5 seconds
Editing the COUNTDOWN2 HTML
1) Go into the Billboards Menu and find the billboard called COUNTDOWN2 HTML then press [E] to edit the messages and to add a background image
2) To add your own background image (JPG), you will need to have first imported your selected picture (as above steps 2 - 4) and then use [F7] when editing to import your custom image onto the COUNTDOWN2 HTML
3) To deactivate the countdown on the COUNTDOWN2 HTML use the [F8] key - this gives you a caption across the bottom of the picture instead
4) [F5] allows you to change the colour of the message and [F2] will Save your billboard & Quit the billboards program
Give it a go! Billboards is a powerful tool for advertising and the extra functionality of being able to add text to a photo will make it easier for you to make eye catching billboards.
If you need any assistance with the billboards feature please call us on 1800 773 468 - we will be more than happy to help you.
MUSIC MUSE FOR YOUR VENUE
AXEL WHITEHEAD – ‘I Don’t Do Surprises’ (Roadshow)
If you check out Axel’s debut video and think his face is a bit familiar then you’d be right. You might remember him from either the first series of Australian Idol, as the ex-host of Channel Ten’s Video Hits or for the unthinkable act he pulled out on stage at the ARIA Awards in 2006. His debut single is already making waves around the country and could be passed off as Robbie Williams singing Coldplay. ‘I Don’t Do Surprises’ is a no-brainer – a sure-fire radio winner that will see the singer get back atop the entertainment heap.
Find the single ‘I Don’t Do Surprises’ in Nightlife lists: BAR_TUNES, MOR, JUKEBOX, WHATS_HOT
GYROSCOPE – ‘1981’ (Warner)
The so far awesomeness of Gyroscope’s career is set to take a skyward turn now with the impending release of their third album. With first single ‘Snakeskin’ already making awesome rock waves all over radio, now comes the next offering. ‘1981’ has a neat 80’s-esque hook from the get-go but quickly drags the sound kicking and screaming into 2008 with not only the hard rock undertones the boys can now call their own but also some synth-stabs that are new to their mix. Ultimately accessible, ‘1981’ offers new listeners an ear-pleasing modern twist but still manages to deliver the
rock-glory fans are used to. This song is HOT leaving this band with only one way to go…
Find the single ‘1981’ in Nightlife lists: ALT_SOUNDS, MODERNROCK, WHATS_HOT
FLO RIDA FEATURING T-PAIN - ‘Low’ (Warner)
Google “Flo Rida” and you’ll end up with more hits referring to the US state this newcomer rips his name from rather than the man himself. His debut single is ‘Low’ and it’s hooky, club-RnB at its very finest, with an insanely infectious refrain and a club beat that will completely smash it on the dancefloor. Featuring the ubiquitous, auto-tuned pipes of T-Pain, many will deem this a guilty pleasure – we’re all allowed one occasionally aren’t we?
Find the single ‘Low’ in Nightlife lists: CLUB_RnB, WHATS_HOT
GOLDFRAPP – ‘A&E’ (EMI)
After the electro glam-soaked and rather pervy buzz of Goldfrapp the last time around, the British duo slow it down a couple of notches to deliver something we haven’t quite heard from them before. This song is simply stunning, blending a heavenly vocal from Alison with a gentle piano riff and eventually a soft electro-thud. If you’re a fan of old, you need to get into this new sound - it’s not what you might expect but you’ll accept the fact that it is
bloody brilliant!
Find the single ‘A&E’ in Nightlife lists: ALT_SOUNDS, WHATS_HOT, BAR_TUNES
BOYS LIKE GIRLS – ‘The Great Escape’ (Sony BMG)
If you haven’t heard of this Boston-based quartet yet, then it’ll only be a matter of time before you do, such is the extent of their popularity right now. ‘The Great Escape’ is their second single but the first to achieve success. It has created an online frenzy with the lads’ MySpace getting hundreds of thousands of hits daily and its pop-punk tones grabbing the ears of new fans worldwide.
Find the single ‘The Great Escape’ in Nightlife lists: ALT_SOUNDS, WHATS_HOT, BAR_TUNES
ARTISTS SPOTLIGHT
THE RAPTURE
We are living in an exciting time for music – the last decade has seen music-makers throw out what they know and what they grew up with in search of some new sounds. Bands are searching for originality and fusing genres together often to result in a beautiful mess. Hip hop producers are making electro-house while club DJs are playing 70’s rock songs and guitarists are rediscovering James Brown.
New York quartet, The Rapture spearheaded a change in the early 2000’s by fusing the disorderly chaos of punk with the precision of funk and frantic disco beats. Nightlife’s music programmer Ben Preece caught up with vocalist/bassist Mattie Safer who really isn’t that enthused with the term “dance-punk”.
Safer: I don’t honestly know how great of an affinity we have with that dance-punk sound. I’m not saying we weren’t involved in that. I guess I’m just saying I don’t really care for a lot of that music. I don’t know, maybe we inspired some of it or maybe there were people that were into the same thing but... whatever!
BP: You’re most famous for your song ‘House Of Jealous Lovers’ which is now a modern party classic but was flogged to pieces back in 2002. Were you ever concerned about being passed off as a one hit wonder or a passing trend?
Safer: Yeah, a lot wrote us off as no more than that record, passing trend or whatever. We weren’t out to prove anything really, we just wanted to make a great record. As long as I think it’s good then that’s all I really need. There’s no real pressure to write that ‘Jealous Lovers’ again or anything. There’s no formula for that sort of thing, you know? You just try to write the best sh*t that you can all the time – be on top of your game. A lot of it is often out of your hands and is affected by circumstances beyond your control.
BP: Having no album since last year’s Pieces Of The People We Love, will the band be playing anything new when they hit our shores?
Safer: There will be a couple of new things to spice it up a little bit. Ah, I’ll go ahead and say it – there’ll be two brand new, world-debut songs being performed during our set at Good Vibrations. Sometimes you just gotta go ahead and set goals for yourself, don’t you?
The Rapture play the Good Vibrations Festival around the country starting Februrary 9th in Melbourne.
‘House Of Jealous Lovers’, ‘Whoo Alright Yeah Uh Huh’ and many others are now playing on your HDMS™.
Music News - New Lists!
1) WHATS_HOT LIST
A brand spanking new list to cover what’s hip, hot and happening in music right now. It’s primarily for DJs, so they have a place in the HDMS to find ‘whats hot’ in music. It will cover new music and the current chart music, and cover what’s going on in the touring world and in the music news.
2) OCCASIONS LIST
This is essentially a list that gives place to those songs for special occasions that would not be played regularly - i.e. ‘Auld Lang Syne’, ‘Happy Birthday’, etc. Obviously, these tracks aren’t suitable for scheduling normally and their play is usually limited to those special occasions. So now you can find them easily by searching through this list.
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