If you’ve always wanted a way to take tunes to the grave, have we got a solution for you!
Apparently people are so entrenched into their digital lives that it’s totally not weird to create apps, services, and products that are designed to retain your social media routine post-death, and that includes streaming music. Pause Ljud & Bild, a Swedish company that sells audio equipment, has a product called the CataCombo Sound System that promises to arm you with your Spotify playlist of choice in the afterlife.
It’s basically a coffin rigged with a two-way speaker system inside as well as a 2.5 GHz Intel core processor. It also comes with an upgradeable 4G-connected music server that has a 7-inch LCD monitor. Nope, it’s not for the occupant of the coffin (that’s way too weird) – the display goes on the headstone so visitors can see what song is currently playing underneath the ground. The system sources a playlist from Spotify and can be managed online through the CataPlay app. If you want to keep your ‘I’m Dead’ playlist fresh and up-to-date with the latest hits, you can set it up as a collaborative playlist so that your friends and loved ones can keep adding tracks even after you’re gone.
Mind still boggled? Watch this advertisement to fully grasp exactly what you’re getting from the CataCombo Sound System, available for the not-so-affordable price of $30,000:
“We want to [communicate] to people that we are the best you can have when it comes to [tailor-made] sound systems and solutions. And we wanted to do something that no one else (has) ever done,” says Peter Eriksson, Partner at Pause. “We [believe] there is a market for it; (so far) we have got three orders from customers around the globe. Our biggest success with [the CataCombo Sound System] is that it become famous all over the world, and it really put Pause and what we do on an international map.”
The first person to ever own a CataCombo coffin is, of course, Pause CEO Fredrik Hjelmquist, who is offering an in-person demonstration of his future resting place at the company headquarters in Stockholm. Additionally, he has also provided his own playlist (entitled “Pause 4-ever”) so that users may add suggestions. It currently has over 900 tracks.
Just in case you’re seriously considering purchasing this, ah, one-of-a-kind investment, here are a couple of songs we think should be included in your ‘Grooves For My Grave’ playlist (some were based on Reddit suggestions):
