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How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
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Author:  Big Mike [ Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:34 pm ]
Post subject:  How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
This kinda piggybacks on another topic here about a cheaper way to do songbooks.  

For a while early on in my karaoke career, I was under the impression that a bigger songbook meant better karaoke so I listed all versions of songs by manufacturer etc.

Then I went to a couple karaoke shows with big books, and discovered that as a singer, it kinda sucks.  Maybe for your average guy who always sings "Ring of Fire" and "Can't Help Falling in Love" it's no biggie, but for people like me who like to sing new and different stuff, a big book is kinda overwhelming.  Do we REALLY need a 30,000 song library to get the job done?  

I've changed my book format using the same software as knightshow.  While he and I argue about the quality of the software provider, we both agree that the output format is fantastic.  However, as opposed to earlier in my career, I'm thinking of going the other way and REMOVING songs from the books that have NEVER been sung, and there are plenty of those to be sure.  

Now that I've seen the light on custom burns, I can't see myself going back to picking and choosing discs because there is one good song on it and 8 lousy ones that will never play.  

Other ideas that I've toyed with include creating a "Party Time" karaoke book with zero ammunition for ballad hell, and a laminated one or two page "quick menu" with perhaps the 2-300 most popular songs so people can find what they are looking for quickly and easily.  

Any comments?
Author:  Lonman [ Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
Nope bigger doesn't mean better.  When I started hosting in '92, the only choice of discs were Pioneer & DK.  Each had songs the other set didn't, but it was one or the other.  Anyone that ran karaoke "pretty much" had the same selection - until that is cdg's came on the market with companies like Sound Choice & Music Maestro being the main ones (besides DK obviously).  Then it WAS a race to see who could get the biggest book with the most songs.  When I started my company in '94, I had 3,000 (approx) songs - woo hoo!!  I quit buying discs after the first year JUST to have more & started focusing on requests from the singers.  I am up to over 9,000 songs now & don't really have any complaints - I still get requests from singers if I don't have a song, & i'll try to get it.  I won't ever take out songs from the books as I may & have gained new customers because I have that 1 song that NO ONE (as they state) else has.  
I also quit listing duplicated songs about '96 as there is no point.  The majority always asked what the difference was & to give them the best version I thought anyway - so I deleted all the versions I felt were inferior or not done as well.  I hear kj's stating that they like to give their customers the choice, well so do I as I do have a page in the book that I may have other versions of the song & if they want to use another version they can just ask me.
Personally I believe you can run a successful show with less than 1,000 "WELL CHOSEN" songs, but I won't try it  :no:
Author:  pkircher [ Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
When I first started doing gigd I had nothing more than both sound choice foundations and all the bricks.  I think it was about 1600 songs and while I did get people asking me to get some other songs, I found that most people were pretty happy with the selection.  I've since grown to about 10,000 songs most of which I bought off of ebay cheap of had custom made for me.  Now I do have people complain that there are too many songs in the book so it takes them too long to read.  My solution, two different books with covers that clearly state, master list and condensed version.  The condensed version basically has all the songs that nobody ever sings cut out, the result a book half the size with only about 5000-6000 songs in it.  I bring 5 of each to my gigs and now I have no complaints.
Author:  lyquiddye [ Wed Jun 29, 2005 12:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
Yeah but when you have 30,000 different songs in in your book do you start gettiing rid of cd's? I think not. I have figured out I have way to many cd+g's but why stop now?
Author:  jamkaraoke [ Wed Jun 29, 2005 4:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
I believe it is QUALITY not QUANTITY that seperates the so so KJ's from the Very Succesful ones.  I know KJS who buy new discs all the time and very proud of their HUGE selection..But to be honest the books are a mess - LARGE , HEAVY and since they are quick to add the new discs there are pages added to the back of the book frequently making it difficult to find songs. I think it really depends on your CLIENTLE if they are always asking for the current  HITS then you must get them but do so SMARTLY..custom discs are great, searching around for some deals on cdgs. ..But to answer the question no - BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER.

and I think its a great idea to TRIM the fat from your books every once in a while but I would keep a MASTER of ALL your songs just in case someone does ask for a song that has never been requested in the last 10 years  lol
Author:  TopherM [ Wed Jun 29, 2005 5:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
The highest paid KJ I ever met made $450 a show and had a book of about 500 songs. He only worked venues that had a professional stage and was the spitting image of Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi. He basically only left in the songs that were TRUE crowdpleasers and matched with his image. No ballads, very little country, a little R&B, no rap, mostly down and dirty, fast and loud rock and roll.

He had 5 shows a week booked and travelled to five differant venues in North and South Carolina every day. His show that I went to at Wild Wings in downtown Greenville, SC on Wednesdays (dunno if he is still there or not) brought in about 1000 peeps (then he drove 5 hours to Myrtle Beach, SC for a show the next night!!). I would only get to sing once, but for hardcore karaokers (I mean attention whores) like me, the pro stage, pro lighting, and pro equip. and singing to 1000 people made it worth it.

I would never dare try to go that route, but this guy had it down cold.
Author:  karaokemeister [ Thu Jun 30, 2005 8:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
When I started I had the Foundations, SGB 1-66, and about 2 dozen discs I bought locally for myself before I started hosting.  I ordered some VCD's off eBay and have since added a number of other discs.

When I did a show when I started I almost never had a request.  There were a few, mostly for country, but 99%+ of the songs were there that people wanted.  I've been buying a lot of discs since then and I tend to target specific manufacturers that I know the quality of.  I tend to buy a single disc from an 'unknown' (to me) manufacturer to determine quality.  I make notes of quality from other shows I go to and avoid problem discs (like the SAV line which I see not swiping, etc).

Can I do a show on 3000 tracks?  Sure, I can do it on 3000 tracks and I might have a single request for a song I don't have one or twice during the night from a VERY mixed crowd.  I know because I did it with VERY little country music in those 3000 tracks (and almost every request was for country!).

I'm about to trim down my selection by removing all my duplicates and totally crappy discs I won't sing to unless my life depended on it (think disc 23 SGB).  I figure it will cut my book by about 1/3 or more.  I'll be making some other changes to my books to show like this

Artist Name
     song 1 disc #
     song 2 disc #
     song 3 disc #

next Artist Name
    song 1 disc #
    song 2 disc #

Doing this in two columns will cut by books by another 1/2 or more.  A 300 page book will drop to about 125 pages that way and perhaps less.  I have the entire database on my laptop that I use for bumper music to look up something quick if I have to.  When I go 100% computer based then I'll probably offer all the versions of the songs because I plan to use Karaoke Go Round (but that might change between now and the end of the year) unless MP3 Tunes starts supporting CDG files.  I've been pretty creative with the hardware and think I can do a boot from CD laptop that doesn't do anything but access my web site locally.  I'll post instructions on the laptop search page and offer a couple books passing around.  If they have wireless devices they can access the page themselves from their pda or laptop.  Since I do mostly shows in hotel bars I have people that sometimes use their laptop during the shows.
Author:  Charmin_Gibson [ Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
Gosh- that title got me racing in here- for NoThInG.

You're nothing but a tease.  :crying2:
Author:  milo [ Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
dammit  me too blue....geez i broke a nail typin' so fast...

let's go start our own thread then.... :brows:  
Author:  Charmin_Gibson [ Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is too much--OR--Is bigger always better?
Lol- okay, you get it started you can bet I'll show up.

'Specially if it's a thread about boyz.....  Good idea.

(may have to show up tomorrow tho- gotta go to town soon) So don't have TOO much fun without me. (or I'll cry & stomp my feet you know)
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