Stingray Advertising is an American broadcasting company that provides in-store

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

, video content and audio advertising for use in

supermarkets A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

, drugstores, and other retail stores. It is owned by the Canadian media company

Stingray Group Stingray Group Inc. (formerly Stingray Digital and Stingray Digital Group) is a Canadian music, media and technology company based in Montreal, Quebec, with offices in Toronto, Ontario, as well as in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, ...

and based in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

. The company was founded in 1983 as Pop Radio and was renamed to InStore Broadcasting Network (IBN) before rebranding to InStore Audio Network (ISAN) Through multiple ownership changes over the years, ISAN was acquired by Stingray in 2022 and adopted its current name later that year.

History

Founded in 1983 as POP Radio, ISAN was acquired by

Heritage Media Heritage Media Corporation (NYSE: HTG) was a media company which owned television and radio stations across the United States, as well as in-store and direct marketing companies. It was based in Dallas from 1987 to 1997. History Heritage Media ...

in 1990. The company was merged into Heritage subsidiary ActRadio, before Heritage was acquired by

News America Marketing News America Marketing, often referred to as just News America, was a marketing business previously owned by News Corp. It publishes ''SmartSource Magazine'', a weekly consumer-branded newspaper insert offering advertising and coupon promotions, d ...

, a division of

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

, in 1997. Then known as the InStore Broadcasting Network, the company was spun off from News America Marketing in 2003, sold to Gary Seem and Jeff Shapiro. Its headquarters relocated from

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

in 2014. ISAN was acquired by Montreal-based

in January 2022. The ISAN brand was phased out later that year, with the service rebranded as Stingray Advertising.

System

InStore Audio Network's music programming is housed locally on a music

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides requested information for other programs or devices, called clients. Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending custome ...

at each location, containing the music library, audio messages and ISAN's proprietary scheduling and delivery software. This software enables each server to receive new audio ads and music playlists as often as necessary, transferred over the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. The playlists dictate what will be played during the following week in that particular store so that every retail store can be customized with its own music and/or audio messages.

Clients

In 2012, ISAN said it provided advertiser-supported music programming to over 33,000 supermarkets, pharmacies, and other stores in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Its typically works with retailers who are national or regional in nature. Included are stores owned by

Ahold Koninklijke Ahold N.V. was a Dutch multinational retail company based in Zaandam, Netherlands. Founded in 1887 by Albert Heijn Sr., the company initially began as a single grocery store in Oostzaan and became the largest grocery chain in the ...

(including Giant Food Stores,

Stop & Shop The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as Stop & Shop, is an American regional chain of supermarkets located in the northeastern United States. From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include a 365-store chain ...

Tops Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), ...

and Martin's),

Albertsons Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho. With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...

(including

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

and others),

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinc ...

, Supervalu,

Meijer Meijer Inc. (, ) is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwestern United States. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering ...

, and

Southeastern Grocers Southeastern Grocers (formerly BI-LO (United States), Bi-Lo Holdings) is an American supermarket Portfolio (finance), portfolio headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The portfolio was created by Lone Star Funds in September 2013 as the new pare ...

Competitors

InStore Audio Network directly competes with the following companies: *

Mood Media Mood Media Corporation is an international in-store provider of music, digital signage, hold music, on-hold messaging, scent, integrated audio/video, and interactive mobile marketing products. It was founded in 2004, and is based in Austin, Te ...

, the parent company of

Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments owned by Mood Media. The name ''Muzak'', a blend of music and the popular camera brand name Kodak, has been in use since 1934 and has been ...

DMX Music DMX, Inc., formerly Audio Environments, Inc., and later AEI Music Network, Inc., is a "multi-sensory" branding agency based in Austin, Texas. DMX also provides music for cable and satellite television networks worldwide, including DSTV in Afr ...

, and

PlayNetwork PlayNetwork, Inc. is a provider of in-store music and entertainment for retail, restaurant, and hospitality environments. PlayNetwork merged with TouchTunes in May 2017, but in September 2021, TouchTunes sold PlayNetwork to Mood Media. History T ...

* MTI Digital

References

External links

Stingray AdvertisingInStore Broadcasting Network
(at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

) {{Stingray Digital Stingray Group Mass media industry Music companies of the United States Industrial music services Companies based in Salt Lake City