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Digital Jukebox - BarcusLLC - Is it gone?
- Thread starter jdemaster
- Start date
We just bought Digital Juke Box and have discovered the website is gone and phone has been disconnected.
I honestly thought there was something suspicious going on as we had a difficult time getting hold of him even before we purchasedhe system. ...... . We're still not 100% set-up and needed help with converting files etc.
We sent Jim Barcus an e-mail today requesting a complete refund.
I should have listened to my gut instinct and gone with BSI (OP-X) or I-Media Touch. They may cost more but they are still in business.
For now we will keep running our Raduga automation. It's a great low-cost automation system and is great for block programming & running music with liners, ads, etc., but at this point we need a system with internet voice tracking capabilites something Raduga does not currently offer.
I know Digital Juke Box is a great automation system but don't want to invest any time learning the system now that he is out of business.
Any advice is appreciated. joe
I honestly thought there was something suspicious going on as we had a difficult time getting hold of him even before we purchasedhe system. ...... . We're still not 100% set-up and needed help with converting files etc.
We sent Jim Barcus an e-mail today requesting a complete refund.
I should have listened to my gut instinct and gone with BSI (OP-X) or I-Media Touch. They may cost more but they are still in business.
For now we will keep running our Raduga automation. It's a great low-cost automation system and is great for block programming & running music with liners, ads, etc., but at this point we need a system with internet voice tracking capabilites something Raduga does not currently offer.
I know Digital Juke Box is a great automation system but don't want to invest any time learning the system now that he is out of business.
Any advice is appreciated. joe
So it's not just us? ouch. Do you have the system installed? I can help you get it functioning so it's at least on the air until you come up with a different solution.
email me at [email protected]
email me at [email protected]
O
OttoM
Guest
Sure looks like it's gone - or down - along with the sites for Radio Spider & Radio Twit Soft.
Barcus says "the server crashed," but now, a day later, why is it still not it back up? My guess is that he owes money to the site host. But he won't say that, of course.
The problem we always had with Digital Jukebox was not the software so much as the fact that Barcus said things that turned out not to be true, made promises he never kept, and refused to repay money he was not entitled to keep.
Barcus apparently made money with AutoJock music scheduling software, but seemed to have a hard time doing the same with automation software. IMHO, he is a poor businessman who unfortunately can become desperate. In our experience and according to several others, he also fails to grasp the fact that if he makes an offer and a buyer accepts it and pays him, that he must also hold up his end of the bargain. All too often, that does not happen. He seems to believe that if a station saves money using (his) software, he is at liberty, by hook or by crook, to grab as much of the buyer's money for himself as he can.
We will not trust him again.
The problem we always had with Digital Jukebox was not the software so much as the fact that Barcus said things that turned out not to be true, made promises he never kept, and refused to repay money he was not entitled to keep.
Barcus apparently made money with AutoJock music scheduling software, but seemed to have a hard time doing the same with automation software. IMHO, he is a poor businessman who unfortunately can become desperate. In our experience and according to several others, he also fails to grasp the fact that if he makes an offer and a buyer accepts it and pays him, that he must also hold up his end of the bargain. All too often, that does not happen. He seems to believe that if a station saves money using (his) software, he is at liberty, by hook or by crook, to grab as much of the buyer's money for himself as he can.
We will not trust him again.
Caveat emptor. It's cheap, for a reason. With software like Simian and Enco's DAD, there's no reason to pay @20k for automation software. There's also reason to beware of $1000 software.
Good luck, Josh. A friend bought "lifetime support. When he finally reached Barcus, Jim said, "The lifetime is over."
I resolved our problem in a creative way ... I went with a different system. While it may be a financial hardship to some to jump ship and migrate to another system (especially if your only computers are mission critical and you have no spare hardware to perform the migration with) consider this - isn't being held hostage with poor support just as dangerous for your bottom line?
There are plenty of alternatives that won't break the bank. I went with StationPlaylist, a great sub-$1k system with great support, while I was operating my webstream. I've heard super things about Nextgen which is a little more expensive but has some solid support as well. I'm sure we could start an entirely new thread with packages with different merits that have much better support options.
It's your bottom line and your air product worth protecting. Perhaps it's time to relate your old system to the digital junkbox.
There are plenty of alternatives that won't break the bank. I went with StationPlaylist, a great sub-$1k system with great support, while I was operating my webstream. I've heard super things about Nextgen which is a little more expensive but has some solid support as well. I'm sure we could start an entirely new thread with packages with different merits that have much better support options.
It's your bottom line and your air product worth protecting. Perhaps it's time to relate your old system to the digital junkbox.
If you have the money to spend go with RCS NexGen. You wont go wrong and it just works and works .. very stable.
If your looking for something on a budget Stationplaylist or others folks have recomend would be your best bet. (though I've never used SP I know people who do on the net and have no issues with it)
If your looking for something on a budget Stationplaylist or others folks have recomend would be your best bet. (though I've never used SP I know people who do on the net and have no issues with it)
xmusicmatt said:
At the time Prophet Systems had it I really wanted to go with Nexgen / Player 101 but didn't have the money to do it. I saw it demonstrated and I was sold with the exception the budget at the time couldn't afford it. I happened onto StationPlaylist in my frustration to get from under the Digital Junkbox that had let me down in a number of ways. The complete Pro scheduler and playback system for under $500 was a no-brainer that I have no regrets with. I still use it in smaller installations as well as student-operated Part 15 stations that I've helped people with.
Just to save you from searching the rest of the threads relating to this, here's the link to the Radio World StationPlaylist review I authored. Also, here's a Radio World article on the Nexgen 101 system written before RCS too over the product.
We erased from our hard drive and are using the automation system we bought when we started, Raduga. It's great, never goes down and extremely easy to use.
Our reason for choosing another automation was that Raduga does not offer Internet Voice Tracking -IVT - and Jim Barcus acknowledged that DIgital Juke Box does offer this feature.
It's an important feature that would make everyone's life easier at LIFT FM.
I considered RCS Master Control but the quote was for over 20k .. We're considering BSI's OP-X but in the meantime praying that Raduga will offer IVT.
We're patiently waiting for a refund from Jim Barcus but if we don't hear from him very soon will contact a lawyer though I was hoping not to do this -it would be far better to resolve this problem amicably.
Our reason for choosing another automation was that Raduga does not offer Internet Voice Tracking -IVT - and Jim Barcus acknowledged that DIgital Juke Box does offer this feature.
It's an important feature that would make everyone's life easier at LIFT FM.
I considered RCS Master Control but the quote was for over 20k .. We're considering BSI's OP-X but in the meantime praying that Raduga will offer IVT.
We're patiently waiting for a refund from Jim Barcus but if we don't hear from him very soon will contact a lawyer though I was hoping not to do this -it would be far better to resolve this problem amicably.
All the automation systems that have been recommended are good. I personally like BSI's Simian. However, I'm not sure if internet voice tracking is possible, never needed it.
O
OttoM
Guest
josh said:
When you say IVT, I assume you mean a system where you can VT through a web browser. You're not going to find that in a system that's under a grand, period.
However, if you need remote voice tracking capabilities, you could use a system like Simian and give your remote trackers the free BSI InfoEdit program. They record the tracks, set the tones and e-mail the files to you. You insert them in Simian and it plays them back properly (assuming the tones are set correctly). I've set that up for a couple of stations and it works flawlessly.
I was on the site yesterday and today. It is working. No indication that Barcus is gone.
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