NSM Music is already determined to return to Manchester next year for ARE 2026, after last month’s inaugural outing gave the company the chance to meet new customers from across the UK, as well as a rare opportunity to engage meaningfully with industry colleagues. Sales Manager Alex KIrby reported back to Coinslot how the new show made its mark.
NSM Music has announced it is already planning to return to ARE next year after “a great show” last month, which saw customers keen as ever to invest in the company’s digital jukebox portfolio, as well as the brand new Phantom entertainment solution.
With the Atom and Curve still attracting a huge amount of interest among attendees at the Manchester event alongside the “star of the show” Phantom system, sales manager Alex Kirby told Coinslot that the exposition undoubtedly has a strong future.
“The show has real potential,” said Kirby. “It’s certainly a fantastic venue, just a shame that the footfall was down. I don’t think a lot of people knew it was on. But it was a great show, and if we didn’t get a chance to speak to that many customers, we did get a chance to speak to other people amongst the industry, pub groups, that sort of thing.”
“We don’t get to do that much of that side of it, it’s always concentrating on the customers,but this time we got a chance to do a bit of both, which was nice. The customers we did see were quality customers, and we got to show them the Phantom.”
Though the standout Atom jukebox also continued to generate “a lot of interest,” Kirby noted that “people are screaming out for Phantom. Some were coming to the show just to see what it was all about and get more information on it.”
The slimline unit, controlled by the Co-Pilot app, connects to an amplifier and external screens to run background music, virtual jukebox, Quiz, advertising, and more, with Kirby revealing that it will officially launch to the market in time for ACOS 2024.
Commenting further on the show calendar, Kirby especially thanked Karen Cooke for organising “such a great venue” for ARE, and praised the show for its high quality of attendees, and accessibility for exhibitors, adding “it would be better if there were three or four shows throughout the year in different areas of the country, just like ARE, rather than the great big one, which is so expensive.”
“But otherwise, there was no negativity towards the show, or the industry. We came away feeling very upbeat so that says it all.”
