Karaoke Forums

A few items that may be of interest to KJs on this board, announced today.

GEM Series Renewals
If you became a GEM series licensee in 2010, your first renewal is due by December 31. We have set up a renewals page on our website for the GEM series licensees whose renewals are due this year. We'll be sending out emails to all of the licensees we have current emails for, and we'll also begin making outbound calls this week. The renewal price is $75 per system, which is $25 off the contract rate, and it's valid for 3 years.

We're also offering a special 3-disc bonus package to GEM series licensees (whether they're due for renewal or not). These are additional GEM series discs that we acquired back in 2010 but never released. Each disc has 26 tracks, and the price is $99 for the set (ground shipping included). If you're not up for renewal but are interested in the bonus package, just contact Customer Care for assistance.

Chartbuster Policies
Since we acquired the CHARTBUSTER KARAOKE® trademarks back in November, many of you have asked what our policy would be regarding media-shifting and the use of this material. We've got a summary of the policy and the procedures available on the website. People who own bona fide original media (discs, SD cards, hard drives, etc.) and want to use (or continue to use) it in a media-shifted fashion will be asked to register their media on our website. We will also have a certification program for those who are interested. We expect to have the full program in place by the first of the year.

New Projects
Earlier this month, we hired a new Director of New Projects, Timo Hernandez. Timo runs his own entertainment services company in San Antonio. His new responsibilities for Phoenix will include development of two major new initiatives we're kicking off after the first of the year: Phoenix Prime and Sound Choice Direct Services. Phoenix Prime is a support program for professional KJs that will include group discounts on hosting equipment, discounts on new music from Sound Choice, and a numerous and growing list of other benefits, all designed to help professional karaoke operators run their businesses more efficiently and at reduced costs. Sound Choice Direct Services is our effort to increase our footprint in the entertainment services market by dealing directly with venues (particularly including major national accounts) and staffing karaoke and other venue entertainment gigs using our employees and trusted contractors (including qualified members of the Phoenix Prime program). Among our goals is to increase the rates paid for karaoke services by offering screened, professional, premium services to venues.

New Sound Choice Music
We are presently finalizing an agreement with a major publisher for new licensing, and we have made significant progress toward new licensing from other publishing groups. We expect to begin song selection based on new licensing during January, and ADVANCE program licensees will be consulted heavily about possible songs during that process. We have also opened a credit-purchase program for ADVANCE for those who are interested in getting access to new Sound Choice music and influencing what new songs we make.

You can find more information on our website: https://pep.rocks

The links for the Chartbuster information on your website doesn't work. It goes to a Web Page Not Found page.

Thanks for the heads-up. It's been fixed.

The renewal page does not allow for data entry. It asks how to identify the licensee but selecting any choice does nothing...

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Never the same show twice!

I hear that the GEM Series tracks are now being shared on multiple MIRC Channels and other sharing sites. Will this make it easier to file successful law suits against the pirates for a change? Is there a way to find out who let the cat out of the bag to let these thieves have access to these "IMPOSSIBLE" TO PIRATE TRACKS?

Someone else made that claim as well but never had any actual reference to where they are that the GEMS are on torrent sites. I don't knowif the Blue series GEMS are traceable by track to their licensee but it would be pretty stupid of said person to share those tracks. The entire 'Red' series (meaning their entire catalog pretty much) I know as I've seen loaded hard drives everywhere. Back in the day I knew actual store owners that would take the discs new as they came in, copy them then re-shrink wrap it and sell it as new. They also ran around 10-15 systems - wonder where all the extra music came from. I guess he thought since he is the store owner that it was alright. Luckily they are long out of business (almost 10 years now) but I would alomst guarantee that his hard drives are still floating around if not one of the original master copies.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Hey, question?

I noticed someone selling the GEM series on eBay for $1000.00
http://www.ebay.com/itm/sound-choice-karaoke-gem-series-over-4k-songs-/121171410949

Is it ok to buy the Gem from eBay and switch the licensing to my own company name?

I'm told this was a browser-specific problem and that it has been fixed. Please let me know if there are further problems. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[quote="karaokeniagarafalls"]Hey, question?

I noticed someone selling the GEM series on eBay for $1000.00
[url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/sound-choice-karaoke-gem-series-over-4k-songs-/121171410949[/url]

Is it ok to buy the Gem from eBay and switch the licensing to my own company name?[/quote]

I hope if this is the case that the Powers that be go after the seller AND the buyers too
and not just try to get the pirates to pay a new settlement. Send them all to jail.

Ended: Sep 09, 2013 , 1:29PM

Sorry I should have been specific to my question? Is it ok to buy a used set of GEM disks and transfer the license in my name? is what i meant to say.

Confirmed: Gem series 1-240 are available on MIRC channels. I simply did a google search |10001-1 (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets

and search results directed me to IRC Channels.

I think SoundChoice should start using some kind of DRM on their product.

There have been people who have taken the RED logo tracks that have been available for ages, and packaged them as 'GEM series"

however, these do NOT have the blue pro logo and more importantly are not all ripped at 320K, so are technically not an actual set that was ripped from the GEMS.

i don't know if there would be a way to confirm this, but i seriously doubt it would be an actual track from a GEM disc.

atlho i guess technically it is possible, as Bazza's first set did get stolen *i think*

If it was an original GEM track, it's still a pretty impressive accomplishment. Five years for something to actually get pirated is a pretty impressive accomplishment considering most stuff comes out the same day it is released for general sale.

-James

they have the Pro Series logo in Blue on them. Now everyone will have them in a matter of weeks, if not days. Good Grief! Everyone will be claiming that they bought them from someone on E-Bay.

Problem is with buying them from e-bay, is the original licensee - even though is allowed to sell - HAS to go through PEP to allow for the transfer of license. One cannot just buy a GEM on ebay and call it good.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

If a Gem has gone Rouge, and it looks like one has, will SC be able to track down whose it is?

DRM would be cracked faster than it would take to apply it.

Uh, no. Here's the Google search on those terms (screenshot attached). Could it be on IRC? Sure. But the search you claimed to do does not get you there.

In fact, when we see these offered on eBay--and that's rare--we will shut down the auction. It is illegal to sell these on eBay (or anywhere). They can only be transferred with our involvement and permission.

One of our local pirates is bragging about having them and is using them at his multi-rigged shows. I'm curious to see how long it will take for Sound Choice to go after him or will they just realize that it's just a waste of time to try? If he doesn't get nailed, it won't be long before he starts selling pre loaded hard drives with the Gem Series on E-Bay. The genie is out of the bottle, AGAIN!

So it is NOT confirmed via a search or first hand knowledge. Please retract my question, Jim, if you wish. It would only be relevant if the GEM first level of defense has been breached and that should be confirmed first hand.