Students can now enjoy music from various top-40 hits such as Nicki Minaj, LMFAO and Bruno Mars while they eat at different campus dining locations.

The 12th Avenue Bread Company recently installed Akoo Social Music Television in the eat-in area next to Kennedy Commons.

The two-TV music systems operate a text-to-play program where students can text the number, of a music video on the left TV scrolling screen they want to hear. A text message will then be sent telling the student when their video will play on the other TV.

If there are no text requests, default music will play.

The systems were added at no cost to the university, said Zia Ahmed, senior director for Ohio State dining services. All TV’s were provided by the Akoo company.

Although new to the 12th Avenue location, there was also one music system installed in North Commons in fall 2010.

Ahmed said the dining services plan to install the systems on a small scale in order to track the results.

“It’s fairly early in the stages and we don’t know the type of attraction yet,” Ahmed said.

The dining services plan to get data from the Akoo company and look into other market research before deciding to expand these music systems in other dining halls.

“We want to make sure we provide what the students actually value,” Ahmed said.

The music systems are part of the Akoo University Network, according to Akoo’s website, which have an audience of 420,000 students in universities across the U.S. They work with record labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI.

Rachael Coleman, a second-year in exploration and Kennedy Commons employee, said she has tried the music system program while at work and the songs she requested played within minutes of her text request.

“I think it’s definitely a good idea and makes it more interesting while you’re eating, especially if you’re eating alone,” Coleman said.

Amanda Cifuentes, a first-year in speech and hearing science, said the systems add to the eating experiences at campus dining.

“(The Akoo systems) definitely create a fun atmosphere,” Cifuentes said.

The systems gear toward top-40 selections, which change what music videos are available weekly.