Karaoke Forums

Hello Everyone.  I am new here but big into karaoke for a while, and interested in  opening up my own karaoke lounge and suites in my city.  I was curious to find out information from those that know about the digital systems with servers and room players.  
-What is the best brand?
-What are the brands to avoid?
-Anyone with any experience I should contact?

Thanks for your input.

Servers are not legal in that capacity.  You would need an entire set of discs for each system.  Not just one set running several rooms.

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That cannot be the case in all areas.  I am not talking about discs at all but mp3s.  I have seen these in NYC for sure.

you need to do more research... Lonman told you the truth.

Ask ANY karaoke manufacturer if a server system would be legal!

As for the mp3s, they're only legal if you bought them in that format, and then again, only in use on ONE system per download. If you downloaded it at an authorized karaoke manufacturer download site (very few of them truly exist), then that ONE download is only for ONE audience at a time. If you downloaded and paid for it five times, then that song can be used on five different systems.

The majority of the .mp3 songs CAME from discs... that's the majority of how karaoke songs are made available to the public.

yeah because we know the karaoke manufacturers tell the truth all the time...

RB- are you looking to put in a system targeting an asian audience? there is a BIG difference between the karaoke manufacturers who are followed blindly on here and the asian karaoke market.  I only ask because You mentioned karaoke rooms/suites and this is usually only popular or considered "normal" for the asian audience... the western market has never really caught on to private karaoke rooms/booths... there are a number of asian server setups available for multiple room use(but aren't the cheapest) or you can build your own server fairly easy... private message me and I will send you links for hardware that can do what you want... despite what previous posters have stated, there are server systems available for karaoke that ARE legal... what makes them illegal, or questionable, are the content you put on them... there are alot of asian, cantonese, and other foreign manufacturers who DO license their content for private room use....
 as far as what is legal or not, the manufacturers can't even  decide on a course of action that is acceptable by all... ask soundchoice and they will tell you one thing... ask chartbusters or CAVS manufacturers and they will give you a different answer that goes against what soundchoice says and it goes on and on... soundchoice has flip flopped so many times on this issue that BC should get an award for "Best Spin of the Millenium"...  
RB- bottom line is it really depends on what you are wanting to put on your media server- if you want to put on the major western manufacturers then expect alot of whining and moaning on this forum but there are plenty of other manufacturers with large libraries available... it really depends on what you want to offer your client demographics...  


tig

I believe that as long as the server didn't allow two systems to play the same binary at the same time, it could be construed as legal. It would not be difficult to set up a license server for that.

If you had a large system with lots of people, you might buy two or three copies of huge karaoke hits like "Before He Cheats", and allow multiple uses of that.

Tiger i couldn't have said it better myself..so very true.... But be careful tiger.. you might get on the Sound Choice goon hit list. They come during the night and club you half to death, then smash all your CD'Gs and kidnap your mother and hold her for ransom, or at least this is what i've been told!

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Look at this.

http://www.cavsusa.com/product/H_player ... server.htm

I wonder if the above CAVS setup can be done from a remote location or wirelessly?

ive never done it at a show but I have accessed music from the main comp using wireless to the laptop. There is no noticeable delay. This opens up all kinds of possibilities including the bars supplying the music and the kj/dj accessing the music from a main frame. Im not even going to talk about wifi yet.

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Sorry I haven't returned to this thread, my computer wouldn't let me back on this site for some reason for a few weeks, and now it works again... go figure.

Anyway, to answer some questions... I am looking to mainly target an American audience and play typical chart topping music as well as classics and the like here in the states.    I know I have been to places like this in New York and in L.A. so it must be legal in some manner.  What exactly are the legality issues regarding playing these songs?  

Any further input would be great.  Thanks.

Lets talk about wifi If I have somebody at home that plays a cd that we have purchased legally and we use a legal steaming media, microsoft or 3rd party and stream to the bar what law is broken? Now if I access tracks and download from a mainframe at my home or an office in house what law is broken? If I download a song from cavs during a show for the next rotation which law that has been clearly written and and approved by congress (it is federal) have I violated? Bubble memory ????

I dont want to start another contraversy but by the time this inept congress figures this out we will have 40 million songs on a chip that is about as big as a half dollar. Or the customers will supply their own music via wifi from home. You better start thinking about the future.. What if a customer plays a legal cd at home and the KJ has the ability to stream it live?  There are people now that access their cable tv at work and can change the channel...

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I don't believe that you would be breaking any laws as long as...

1. It's a wired system so it couldn't be called "Broadcasting"
2. The MP3s were intended for commercial use.
3. The server did not allow the same song to be played in more than one room at the same time.
4. If the song was cached on the client hard drive it would have to be deleted after play so that it fell under the heading of an ephermal recording.

I think that's pretty much it.  A single digital source producing a single audio output and you're good to go.

Do you need software????

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