Cosmic Video Amusements and Sound Leisure have joined forces to create a strategic alliance which will see both companies distributing each other's products. The united front is based on the joint belief that a natural synergy exists between the Merit Megatouch range of products, distributed by Cosmic, and Sound Leisure's own range of digital products.
The alliance also means that both companies will be able to host at each other's showrooms, giving both companies a new area base. This will allow Cosmic to provide much better service to its Yorkshire customers from Sound Leisure's Leeds headquarters and, in turn, offers the south of England easy access to the jukebox manufacture's range via Cosmic's Barking offices.

Chris Black, joint-managing director at Sound Leisure, explained: "the deal means that we can offer our customers the two best products on the market today. Both companies are leaders in the field with their respective products already, but you can't remain at the top by standing still".

Cosmic CEO Terry Farr endorsed this agreement: "to me the most important word is evolution and whereas previously video products were disposable, both our companies offer products that have an evolutionary dimension. For example there are Merit machines that have been on the market for years and are still taking good money thanks to software updates. So it make sense to be aligning ourselves with someone who also has digital products".

He added: "It's important to stress we've only just started along this road of adventure.
What makes it even more exciting is that this is just the start of the journey and we've made a step in the right direction".

The announcement of the strategic alliance has also been timed to coincide with both companies unveiling new products to the market. Cosmic has just released its lastest Megatouch system. The company has developed a sleek new Bartop unit and stand, the Force Elite and the Foce Station respectively. The Elite has proved very popular so far with Bartop units now representing 20 per cent of Cosmic's market, whereas previously the level was closer to five per cent. Farr says that the stylish design of the set-up has allowed the company to install the Megatouch product in locations that would not usually consider having one.

Sound Leisure's new Music Online is the most cost effective digital jukebox on the market. The compact wall mounted unit, which is only 117mm deep, has been designed to make good jukebox operating easy with the inclusion of the Intelligent Music Management System (IMMS). The IMMS analyses the type of music that is the most popular in its location and downloads the most appropriate songs for that site off a CD-ROM, cutting out the need for operator involvement. The jukebox also uses Sound Leisure's simple touchscreen interface that allows users to find the desired track easily.

Farr believes there is a natural empathy between the two products and hopes to develop cross products promotions to harness brand loyalty. He is extremely enthusiastic about this premise and believes that in the future it could be possible to have a smartcard for players that can be inserted into the separate products which could then adapt to that person's profile. For example, a Sound Leisure jukebox could inform a person about their progress in a Megatournament, while a Merit machine could inform a person if the jukebox has got a new track by their favourite artist.

Farr sees the possibilities for this to be limitless, especially as he is already using cross promotion on the Merit products in many different ways. In fact, he is actively inviting retailers to test what is on offer. He said: "We want to invite the most forward thinking retailers to challenge us. With the amoun of technology that we have available, I want someone to give is a challenge".