candyrock is our media programming division and they are at the centre of everything we do. To us, content is king and in the world of music and media programming, we are very highly regarded. Our programming team create and schedule memorable retail signatures that drive sales. We have a diverse customer base each requiring a specific trading atmosphere, one that connects with customers and one that articulates the personality of the retailer.
From background music programmes to on-screen graphics that inform, educate and stimulate your customers at the point of purchase, candyrock will take your brief and bring it to life. Our close links with the world’s leading music labels ensure that we are amongst the first to receive pre-release and specialist music tracks and our custom video graphics team uses the latest state of the art software.
2007 saw candyrock celebrate its 25th anniversary and from local, unexpected beginnings a national business was born. In a Birmingham club called Scandals, two DJ’s - Paul Beech and Nick Freeman were approached by an Area Manager of a National Pub Company and asked if they could provide a cassette compilation for one of his best performing pubs. The compilation duly completed, their reputation was founded and soon Paul and Nick were inundated with similar requests.
They decided to rent an office/production area above the Rock Candy Mountain bar in Birmingham to cope with demand and in 1982 candyrock recording was open for business. Rapid growth in the pub sector soon followed with Allied Domecq, Whitbread and Greenalls all using bespoke music programmes. Attention then switched to the shops and stores sector.
Burtons Menswear were secured as a major client in 1985 and in 1986 with Compact Disc becoming ever popular, PPL granted a dubbing licence but only as a closed format. candyrock moved quickly and designed a circuit board which they fit into robust commercial grade CD players allowing playback of their encrypted CD's. Using a colour coded format, users of candyrock music programmes could see at a glance which correct disc to load into the CD player, thus ensuring that the music was appropriate for each part of the retailer's trading day. These discs were extremely successful and expansion into the restaurant and hotel sectors reaped dividends.
In 1993 a strategic alliance was formed with Total Sound Solutions the renowned Sheffield based installation company, and a one-stop shop for music and equipment was offered to the market. Always being aware of future technologies, the concept of StoreForward, the forerunner to today's hard disk systems was investigated and with Pizza Hut, Tie Rack, Vodafone and Mothercare secured as new customers, the launch of the MusicPro hard disk system quickly followed.
This system which was free from a predetermined music playback selection now delivered 'all day programming' with tracks being tagged by artist name, tempo and date range etc, meaning that the music always sounded fresher because it never repeated itself. A name change to promedia ams followed shortly after and work then began on promedia mms, a complete on-site entertainment control system, pulling together the three sensory disciplines of sound, light and vision.
Today promedia mms is the product of choice for JD Wetherspoon, Yates's and Que Pasa with systems also being utilised by Mercedes Benz, Greene King, Grosvenor Casinos and Fatty Arbuckles as well as numerous independent bar sites. The promedia family has grown to include a multi-zone audio playback system, which has found much use in the sprawling luxury hotels of Dubai as well as the 'Ski Dome in the Desert'. So 25 years later with over 7500 customers and a team of 50 staff, candyrock continue to prove that music and media programming is an important part of a retailer's offer and is an excellent way of creating a memorable retail experience for their customers.