McDonalds and Akoo have announced the launch of m-Venue, which “allows patrons to choose a wide variety of audio and video content from Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Sony Pictures, among others, via text messaging (SMS), the mobile Internet, or a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop”. The release says that selections are “performed on demand” which sounds like they’re streamed, and it’s free for a limited time.
The really interesting part is this note: “Since launching m-Venue, we’ve increased our restaurant’s sales by nearly 17 percent compared to the same period last year,” said John O’Keefe, owner/operator of McDonald’s at Woodfield Mall.”
McDonalds will also offer “day-parted ambient audio/video programming; a music ID and discovery feature, whereby users can identify the artist and name of any song playing in participating locations by sending a text message; and ultimately, a digital store where patrons can purchase and download digital content over-the-air to their mobile devices”.