This Jukebox plug-in instantly turns your TV into a streaming hi-fi

Like a mashup of NowTV and Apple Music, The Electric Jukebox Company’s game-changer is set to make premium monthly music streaming a thing of the past by opening up internet audio delight to the TV-toting masses.

Simply bung its stick into the nearest HDMI port, connect it to the wireless and enjoy curated content from the likes of Robbie Williams and Sheryl Crow. Yep, they love this dinky dongle and, probably, it’s controller too.

Whether you’re a person of words or actions, you’ll probably be fine with the Jukebox: its remote is both gesture-based and voice-enabled, making TV tune control a cinch.

Rob Lewis, Electric Jukebox Company’s CEO, reckons it’ll revolutionise the way everyone enjoys their favourite funky music, in a way that the monthly subscription streaming services of today have failed to do.

“The vast majority of consumers really want something that works instantly, out of the box, without a monthly subscription or credit card. That’s what we’ve created. Mass market streaming has finally become a reality,” says Lewis.

It’s an approach that certainly worked for NowTV, which gets connected-tech into TVs for a flat fee of a tenner – and Lewis reckons his company’s kit will do the same for the home hi-fi: “Electric Jukebox gives you an Internet of Things for music for the whole family to share. Rather than huddling around a laptop or smartphone to play music, we’ve created a device that’s simple – plug in and play, literally.”

Simplicity, it seems, really is the goal. Presenting users with a home screen of just three icons (My Music, Discover and Search), the ‘Box is aiming at intuition over complexity – and it’s the same situation with its pricing packages.

As standard, an order of the Jukebox (for a price to the tune of £180) comes bundled with a year-long music pass worth £60, meaning anyone with a spare port and WiFi can get online and dancing in a jiffy.

Despite the price tag attached to the tiny tune-pusher, Lewis and the EJC hope that its focus on straightforward streaming and an absence of passwords and monthly billing will make its hardware the go-to for anyone after live living room audio.

The difficulty, of course, will be tempting the 40 million music maestros who, according to a YouGov poll, have invested time and effort in streaming services. Sure, there are another 160 million potential listeners out there who aren’t sourcing their sounds over the web, but whether turning their TV into a tune portal is the answer, only time will tell.