Karaoke Forums

I used to come to this site daily and participate as much as possible. It started out as a seeking information on a way to enjoy karaoke at home with my son, since there isn't very many family friendly venues in our area.

I learned a lot about gear, sound, how/where to acquire music, how to shift my cdg's to digital, etc... and was considering even doing some hosting as a fill in or just for one off events from time to time. I have acquired a little over 10,000 tracks (Mostly SC & CB) and have either an actual manu's cdg or a download receipt for every single track.

Once the pay for audits became an issue (about the time I really started acquiring discs) it became apparent that being a fill in/one off host wasn’t going to be worth the trouble, so I cut my losses and moved on.

Over the last two days I spent a few hours in the Karaoke Legalities Piracy and more section and was reminded me of why I quit coming and why I decided to not pursue hosting. I guess some things never change.

For me, my enjoyment of hosting comes from our once a year family reunion. No drama, no bs and no worries.

Anyway I wanted to post a thank you to those who have helped me with issues, shared your knowledge and experiences with me. I've learned a lot from you. Our once a year family reunion has a top notch show because of you!

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My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

Hey Dude! Glad to see you're doing well! Not much has changed here.

Sounds a lot like me. Even though my bar dropped karaoke, and me, it was pretty much a mutual choice. I had a party last Saturday night and several of my friends I made from the show were over. They had a few drinks then started an "infomercial" with regard to getting me into another bar. I didn't have the heart to tell them I wasn't interested.

...If you don't care about doing shows at Commercial Venues, you should try Private Events (Weddings, Block Parties, Birthdays, etc.). I've done both commercial and private. However, because of so many closings of venues recently, I've only been doing Private Events. Good Luck!

I still get offers for private shows but it's from friends or acquaintances of friends. At that point it will end up being many of my friends so I just do it for fun. I would probably do some weddings if they came up but I am not "out there" and I do not advertise. So if they don't find me otherwise, it isn't happening. The OP might could follow that lead (aside from doing private basement karaoke for free) but there just isn't a lot of gigs that find you when you aren't "out there".

I'm doing two "shows" at a lake cottage this weekend! Now that will be a blast!

...I hear ya! However, if you use Google, you can set up a free website. Plus, there's always Craig's List and several others. I've been fairly content with using them plus FB and word of mouth. Was gonna do a local Commercial Venue but noticed they still had another KJ so I didn't want to step on any toes with the Full Pitch but did talk with the owner for a few minutes and gave him a business card.

Yes, the OP could certainly get with you on ways to drum up non-venue type business. My wife is quite pleased that I am not out there, I don't need the money and it's kinda cool being able to run things however I want to as it's just for fun. It's a hobby that used to pay and now it's a hobby that doesn't. I suppose I could be diluting the value of basement karaoke jobs but I guess that's the way it goes!!

I work in the marketing department in higher education and am actually the webmaster. I could easily promote myself and services for very little investment, but that in of itself would put me back to needing to to get an audit and trying to keep up with the ever changing rules ....no thanks!

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My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

I think the chance of getting asked to do an audit or getting sued while only doing private shows is next to zero.

...Was just trying to throw out some suggestions. My Bad!.... Must be something in the water today. Everyone seems bitter...

And I truly appreciate it the suggestions and encouragment!



Not if (as some think) suits are brought based on information found on facebook, websites, or other sources on the net.

Things like Human error, little to no real investigations, claims of privileged work product, and attorneys who think the fact of observation is irrelevant, etc... don't really put my chances of not being named in a lawsuit high enough up for ME to move forward with hosting even part time or as a fill in.

I've bought and paid for all my music, but have issue with the audit agreement and mainly the costs associated with them. If I had very little SC then I'd just drop that portion of my library and move on, but too much of my library is SC material. I actually like the product SC has put out in the past and prefer it over most with the exception of country and to that I tip my hat to CB. Dropping SC would probably be about a 1/3 of my collection and in an area full of pirates with 50,000 plus trax it would be a little hard to compete as a new host in the area with no following or experience with what would be percieved by most venue owners as an inferior library (whether it is or not).

I've read where one particular manu is down to a handful of employees, yet they still have questions being asked about certification for certain individuals that are being misinformed because apparently that employee hadn't been brought up to speed. How hard is it to inform a handful of employees?

I appreciate the thought, but the stress, aggravation associated with not ever knowing what the right answer is, is enough to keep me on the sidelines.

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My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.