Vending Machines Dispense CDs for $13.99 in the Slot
Buying the latest compact disc is as easy as ordering a soft taco in Castaic these days.
If you think this sounds crazy, you should see how it looks.
Customers who frequent the Del Taco at the truck stop off Lake Hughes Road already have gotten a glimpse of the latest in music marketing: a huge vending machine that has flashing lights and speakers and is packed with four dozen competitively priced compact discs.
“People who can’t get to record stores can get to us,” said Adam Lilling, a marketing supervisor for Universal City-based Vending Intelligence Corp.
To date, the company, which is co-owned by Miles Copeland, founder of I.R.S. Records and the manager of pop giant Sting, has set up more than 60 machines throughout Southern California, with at least 40 more scheduled to be in operation by the end of May.
In the San Fernando Valley, the vending machines have strategically been placed at local grocery stores and on college campuses, including Cal State Northridge and Valley College in Van Nuys.
Pete Folger, president and co-owner of Vending Intelligence, said his company is trying to capture the Generation X and baby-boomer market, noting that as consumers age, their interest in music wanes.
“If you’re 18 years old, a trip to the record store may be a social event--you go in and browse,” Folger said. “But if you’re between 25 and 35, you may not have time for this anymore. Life’s priorities change . . . if you’re going to buy music it has got to be easier.”
Enter CD vending machines.
Customers can hear a 30-second sample of any CD displayed on the front of the machine by simply pressing a button. Cash, ATM or credit cards may be used for a purchase.
Selections, which range from Bonnie Raitt and Janet Jackson to Nirvana and Pearl Jam, vary depending on the location. Prices are competitive.
“Nothing in our machine is above $13.99,” Lilling said.
That means truckers rolling through Castaic on Thursday could buy the “Philadelphia” soundtrack from the vending machine inside Del Taco for about $4 less than it costs to purchase the same CD at the record store inside the Valencia Town Center shopping mall.
Arnie Shinder, who owns the Del Taco in Castaic, said he is happy with the machine in his restaurant despite its failure to meet great expectations in sales. Retailers such as Shinder are paid a site fee by the vending company, which varies depending on sales.
So far, Shinder said his restaurant is the only Del Taco in Los Angeles County to install one of the machines.
“I look at it as a convenience to the customers,” Shinder said. “It’s one more reason to come to Del Taco. Everybody at least looks at it.”
Exactly how successful the marketing venture has been is difficult to gauge. Folger declined to disclose sales figures or profits.
He was, however, quick to cite the company’s success in attracting retailers such as Pavilions, Hughes and Alpha Beta, and said plans are under way to install the machines, which cost $15,000 each, throughout a major drugstore chain.
The machines have also been shipped to France, England, Israel, Japan and Mexico, where they are being tested for future consumer use, Folger said.
Yet expansion both at home and abroad faces some significant obstacles.
“Our No. 1 problem is that they just don’t know what it (the machine) is,” Folger said. “People have never seen them before.”
Indeed, back at Del Taco, a customer skeptically glanced at the music machine as he stood in line to order.
“I can’t figure out what it is,” he said. “Maybe it’s a jukebox.”
Students who milled around the machine outside the bookstore at Cal State Northridge acknowledged that the prices are low, but they complained that it lacked selection.
“I would listen to the CDs in the machine, but they’re not the ones I would go out and buy,” said Mayola Delgado, 23, a broadcast major. “It needs more variety.”
Another student, Juan Carlos Quinteros, 19, said he would be reluctant to purchase a CD from a machine,
“If it came out damaged, then what would you do?” Quinteros asked. “It would just be too much of a pain.”
