Packing Them In Backpacking bars across Australia and New Zealand have been ‘packing them in’ for years using Nightlife Music Video in a variety of ways.

The Joint @ Flinders Station Hotel in Melbourne is a backpacking institution. Unpretentious, friendly and very, very busy. The bar has been using a Nightlife jukebox for over 5 years. The juke is literally never off and always seems to have someone in front of it choosing a song.

Alison Beards, the manager, first started with a 50-stacker jukebox. “It was cutting edge technology for its time”, she says. “However the new hard drive jukeboxes are amazing. They mix music like a DJ, give us total control over what is playing, and we get to keep all the takings!"

While she’s obviously a fan of the technology, Alison is quick to point out that it is the back up service that sets Nightlife apart. “The systems are pretty trouble-free but if I ever have a problem, the tech support people are available to us 24 hours a day. They are always patient, friendly and, most importantly, they fix the problem.”

Marty James has been managing the Down Under Bar @ Palace Backpackers in Brisbane for 6 years and says, “Palace Central is just one of our many backpacker venues stretching all the way to Cairns.

“The Down Under Bar parties 7 nights a week and has high demands on its equipment (and its crowd). We have enjoyed using Nightlife systems for the whole 6 years and the DUB team has continually recommended they be installed into all of our party bars. Last count there were about 4 or 5 of them running!

“The HDMS™ is the ducks nuts mate. Where were these in the 80's when I thought a jog dial on a VCR was amazing? To have everything wrapped up in such a neat user-friendly package is just awesome. We trade 120 hours per week and the HDMS™ takes care of it all... playlists tailored to suit trade patterns; the latest and the oldest video clips; consistent high quality output. Being backpackers, our customers are obviously well travelled and have been exposed to many forms of media … but time and time again they point at the HDMS™ and ask, ‘what's that mate?’ Most walk away very impressed. The rest just drink beer and party! The Down Under Bar has enjoyed exceptional success over the last 6 years… something tells me Nightlife has as well.

July New Releases Australian Idol hits our TV screens very soon, thanks to Network Ten, and will be based on the hugely successful American Idol in the US and Pop Idol in the UK. This month we have released the first single from Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the very first American Idol competition.
Miss Independent, which Kelly co-wrote with Christina Aguilera, is actually her 3rd single in the States and features on her forthcoming album Thankful. Check out this funky little number on CR88.

	The original, and arguably the best, pop idol Madonna returns this month, making the most of the costume department in her latest video for Hollywood. Taking a cynical stab at life in Hollywood, (botox injections and all) she portrays various movie sirens from the 1920’s to the 1970’s. She apparently borrowed over $20 million worth of antique jewellery (including items once owned by screen legend Mae West) to add genuine movie glamour to the video. This is classic Madonna dancefloor gold and we have released it on CR88.
In a time when original dance music is scarce, Aurora have reworked Tasmin Archer’s ‘92 classic Sleeping Satellite into a carefully crafted dancefloor smasher. It features the vocal talents of Irish beauty Naimee Coleman and is sure to follow their previous hit, Duran Duran’s Ordinary World, and become another club hit. Check it out from CR88.
After several years on remix duties, New York producer/ remixer Jason Nevins returns to the production seat this month with a new single titled I’m In Heaven. Featuring the vocal talents of sexy former Tymes 4 member Holly James, the song samples Michael Jackson’s Human Nature and is an instantly recognisable and infectious dancefloor sizzler. It’s on CR88.
	Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle crashes onto our cinema screens this month, and Pink has teamed up with William Orbit for the first single from the soundtrack, Feel Good Time. The song was co-written by William Orbit and Beck and, as you would expect, the video is packed full of action from the flick. We released it 2 weeks ago on CRX88.
	Also on CRX88 was the latest track from founding member of Destiny’s Child, the gorgeous Beyonce. Teaming up with boyfriend Jay Z. once again, Crazy In Love is a hot track driven by a catchy horn sample (thanks to Kool And The Gang) and an irresistible beat that’s guaranteed to get that booty shaking.
	One of my fave bands... Powderfinger are back! The new single, On My Mind is a sweetly sleazy track which sees the Brisbane boys returning to their rock roots. It gives a taste of what’s to come from the forthcoming album Vulture Street, which is the follow up to the 8 times platinum selling Odyssey Number Five from 2000. Nightlife is proud to announce that we are also releasing this video into North America via our HDMS™. You can watch it from CR88 and RD88.

	Author - Ben Preece
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	DJ Piero - Metro Nightclub. Melbourne, Vic. Metro Nightclub in Melbourne is renown for its legendary DJs, and 28-year-old Piero Giovannini is no exception. Piero is passionate about his music, and has been pumping up the dance floor at Metro for 5 years now and loves using Nightlife Music Video.

With Michael Jackson being his favourite artist, it’s no surprise that Billie Jean is THE song of all time for Piero. Although, Make Love by Room 5 is currently doing the trick.

He lists Richard Branson’s daughter as the person he would most love to meet… with a view to marriage, of course! Meanwhile, this VERY single DJ can be found boating, surfing, skiing and playing golf in his spare time - that’s when he’s not hitting the streets in his BMW Z3. Piero ultimately dreams of upgrading to the Z8! Hmm!

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Technically Speaking - ADVERTISING on BILLBOARDS
The Billboards advertising program built-in to your HDMS™ is a powerful and flexible advertising tool that allows you to create your own advertisements and display them on your TVs in between each video clip. If preferred, you can dedicate video output 2 of your HDMS™ to Billboards only, so that an individual projector, plasma screen or bank of TVs can show Billboards permanently.

Text messages can be created easily and quickly using the Billboards program. For more sophisticated images you can create Windows bitmaps and jpegs on your own desktop publisher or utilise corporate advertising.

Bitmaps and jpegs can be imported onto the Billboards advertising program either via a floppy disk or CD-ROM.

Windows bitmaps and jpegs must be created to the following specs:
File Size: 640 x 480 pixels
File Name: xxxxxxxx.bmp/jpg
(no more than 8 characters.bmp/jpg)

The length of time the Billboards advertisement appears at the end or beginning of each video clip can be set using the Billboard Display Time option in the Utilities menu.

If you want back to back video clips only, set the Billboard Display Time option in the Utilities menu to 0 (zero) - do not set every individual Billboards display time to 0 (zero).

To help you gain maximum benefit from the Billboards advertising program, we invite you to call the Support Team toll free on 1800 773 468 for more information or training.

News From NZ
As the snows of the Antarctic finally reach our shores, we settle into the winter trading zone and DJs everywhere are furiously pumping the dancefloors to keep their patrons warm!

Our North Island customers will be pleased to hear that Matthew Bell will soon be back managing your sites. I know he is looking forward to catching up and enlightening you with the latest USA trends.

On the Technical Support front, all calls to 0508 644 485 are now been handled in the first instance by NZ. In the unlikely event all our lines are busy, an answering system will alert us straight away. Please leave a message and you will be called back immediately by Nightlife personnel. If possible, leave some details of the type of problem you are experiencing.

On a housekeeping note, please ensure that no other electrical device has inadvertently been hooked into the Nightlife supply. The monitor, keyboard and HDMS™ should all be running off the same power source.

Cheers and regards
Ross, Cathy, Tony & Matthew

Nightlife New Zealand
Ph: Whangarei 09 437 3633