MTI Digital
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| Company type | Private |
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| Founded | Southfield, MI, (1988) |
| Headquarters | Miami Beach, FL, US |
Area served | United States, Canada |
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| Website | |
MTI Digital is a provider of in-store music, advertising, digital signage, and on-hold messaging and hold music for retail stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants in the United States and Canada.
Company history
[edit]MTI Digital was founded in 1988[1] as Music Technologies International by Lorraine Golden, who previously acted as general manager for Detroit radio stations WNIC and WQRS, and owner of WDTX.[2][3] The company was founded as an alternative to the easy-listening elevator music that was common in retail stores of the 1980s,[4] instead providing an experience similar to that of FM radio with popular music interspersed with commercial advertising.[5]
MTI initially provided background music by satellite to retailers such as Kmart,[6] tailoring the music and advertising to each specific retailer and its vendors.[7] In 2000, the company partnered with fellow background music provider Muzak to focus on in-store advertising sales to retailers such as Toys "R" Us and Rite Aid. This partnership saw MTI's focus shift from background music to point of sale advertising targeted at a retailers’ customers for much of the next decade.[5]
MTI ended its partnership with Muzak and pivoted back to in-store background music by 2009.[8] The company rebranded as MTI Digital in the 2010s and provides music and messaging via digital receivers rather than satellite,[9] as well as digital signage, menu boards, and sound system design.[10]
MTI Digital is a WBENC-certified Woman-owned business.[10]
System
[edit]MTI Digital's music and messages are programmed using a media player located at each location connected by the internet to MTI's servers.[9] Audio advertisements and music playlists are regularly updated on each player, ensuring that the content is up-to-date, and allowing MTI to customize the music and messaging program for each retailer and location.[11]
Clients
[edit]MTI provides music, audio messages, and digital signage primarily to national and regional convenience and retail stores as well as QSRs in the United States and Canada, including Rite Aid,[8] Jared Jewelers,[12] Wawa,[13] Sonic Drive-in,[12] Kum & Go,[10] Allsups,[14] and EZCorp.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about Background Music for Businesses". MTI.
- ^ "Lorraine Golden, 49". Crain's Detroit Business. June 7, 2016.
- ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1990/BB-1990-05-26.pdf Page 14, "Newsline" insert.
- ^ "Ottawa Citizen - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ a b "In-store radio ads use soft sell to cajole customers". Crain's Detroit Business. March 29, 2006.
- ^ "This Guy Loved Working at Kmart So Much That He Put 56 Hours of Its Muzak Online". www.vice.com.
- ^ "The Sound of Retail". Wealth Management. January 1, 1999.
- ^ a b "MTI launches Rite Aid Radio". Drug Store News.
- ^ a b "MTI Digital: Equipment for Your Business' Background Music Service". MTI.
- ^ a b c "Kum & Go Wants to Become Hum & Go". CSP Daily News.
- ^ "34th Street Magazine". www.34st.com.
- ^ a b "About MTI Digital: The Best Background Music for Your Business". MTI.
- ^ Dent, Mark (October 16, 2015). "How Wawa picks that music: 'Songs you'd expect, like you expect a good hoagie'". Billy Penn at WHYY.
- ^ "Yesway Selects MTI Digital to Provide In-Store Music and Messaging For Its Stores". PRWeb.
- ^ "One-of-a-Kind In-Store Media Events Occur Hourly at Keith's Superstores". PRWeb.