Out with the old, in with the new at Magdalene College Cambridge

Located in the centre of Cambridge, by the River Cam, St Mary Magdalene College, founded in 1428, is the educational home of some 300 undergraduates. A mix of the old and the new Magdelene college is distinctive with its old brick buildings, whilst newer parts of the college feature undergraduate rooms, their university bar and conference facilities.

Offering students a place to relax, the Magdalene bar is a mix of the old and the new where they can have fun, play darts, board games or simply to enjoy a cheeky pint. Previously the music system at the bar was done on a first come first serve basis, allowing the students to play music via their phones however this would involve them having to wait their turn and then leave their phone plugged in behind the bar during use.

Our team was bought in, tasked with delivering a music system which gave patrons the opportunity to easily select and play the music they wanted whilst leaving overall control with the bar staff. Taking into consideration all the Magdalene bar wanted we advised and installed an Official Charts Jukebox.

With over 30,000 tracks including every UK top 40 chart release since 1952, the Official Charts Jukebox is updated twice a week with the latest album titles and chart releases, giving the college bar the freshest music choices. The Official Charts interface allows customers to find the music they like simply by searching the artist, song title or genre; it also offers a ‘Date Search’ feature letting users enter any date since 1952 and discover the top 40 from that week.

Retaining a level of control over the music offering and sound levels was important in this particular installation. We installed new Wharfdale speakers and wired 2 separate zones within the club to allow music at different volume levels in the bar area and the back room. This is controlled by a unit installed out of reach of customers, behind the bar, along with a ‘reject’ button for any unwanted tracks. This particular jukebox we also installed with an explicit filter turned on, and any unwanted tracks or genres can be removed from the jukebox library via the manager’s menu, allowing the venue full control over their music system.