Karaoke Forums

This has been touched on,  but hasn't really been addressed.

The fact is CERTAIN types of music ARE offensive to certain listening groups.
This is why DJ's will often stick to a format, Musicians will play songs appropriate for the given event they are playing... and as to KJ's ?   Well ?


Type of music CAN alienate !

If you don't believe me, get a job at a pious religious event such as an orthodox Bar-Mitzvah,  and let a kid come up and sing the song "I'm an @&&hole". or some of the Alternative "Hole" or "KORN" type stuff...(you get the idea)

Naturally this is only an extreme example. How about weddings with several generations present,  other events ?  Bars and parties with older and young alike ?

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

This is an area of expertise I have heavily been concentrating on for the last 6 months. With the bar situation and more and more staying home private parties are very lucrative. I have been buying cd's scrounging around hock shops etc to build up dj library which I got up to about 12k with a good overall selection. The private party prospects always hit you with this. We want mainly DJ but there will be singers there too what kind of music do you have? I just grin and say you choose the genre you determine the mood you want i have the music and can switch from DJ to Kj on a dime. It took some adapting from the old ways and experimenting We take dance requests, dj requests and karaoke and if there is one couple on the floor at any time that song is played to its end. Im having some of the best gigs ever For teen parties I actually have them make up a play list which I save for later gigs. But music or genre selection and control is more important now than it ever was...

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Live Fast, Run Hard and Enjoy Life, you're only here for a short time. Respect you're neighbor and Hope they respect you, if they don't, they're not worth your time. Keep a song in your heart and a smile on your face. Peace and Love to you all!

Its in the works that with things like id3 tags on the karaoke mp3's the new songs  will have ratings that detect songs with the f-word or others and take them out of the data base for the night or up to a certain time... Thats another reason why I want a e-selection system other than the books...

Good question.  First off, I'm not a KJ.  But, it would seem to me that for private affairs, especially weddings where there is a wide age range, you don't go to extremes.  Keep it relatively clean -- although if the groom insists on singing something rather provocative, then let him do it.  He is in your "management team" for the day.  LOL

In regular bars and restaurants as long as the owner hasn't set up any guidelines, then let the audience do what they want in terms of song choices.  In this case karaoke is music by the people and for the people!

I have never had a problem with this. I have done 100s of gigs, weddings, bars,
teenage parties, etc... (not meaning to brag)

Most people, I think, have some sort of common sense when it comes to what's appropriate. keeping in mind, I have never had a employer ask me to sensor any show. I do on occasion tell someone to wait until later to sing a particular song or I ask them to give thought to singing a song with the "F" word in it. Usually if I bring it to their attention it may not be appropriate they won't sing it. I have a huge selection to pick from, so there is no reason they can't find a different song to sing. If people think a song will get a negative response they won't sing it. They want people to like
their singing.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

We have another dimension to this; the language. I know of a club owner who do not want any chinese songs in his book. And he himself is chinese. His reason; the chinese who sing only or mostly chinese songs are trouble makers. There are some chinese regulars in his place but they are mostly able to sing Dayak songs or English songs.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Yes Adrian,  That's along the same line.. Music is a type of expression, and people are affected by several aspects of a songs composition...

In simplistic terms... There is lyric content (literal content), melodic content , other aspects of dynamics, and the less obvious things to some (but not to others) meaning inuendo..

While I'm a lifelong musician *I* can't find EVERY aspect of music harmonious to me. Not sure many can. Tolerance level also changes. A more contrasting example of this will likely be seen in different religious gatherings.  I was asked once to play piano at a pretty religious wedding which was a denomination (since I don't know a better term here) of Christianity. Although it was never implied, I knew the couple denounced "rock" when they joined their church. Although it went unspoken *I* am basically just a musician from the rock era.. Even ballad can be construed as rock to some... Because I felt that things might get touchy, and my repetoir (although easy-listening for the most part on piano). It's still by origin "rock" type music... I didn't want to take the chance so I assumed it best to defer the gig..

Now I realize Karaoke is different in this respect. Because unlike the "DJ" or "live artist", it's the audience that picks the genre yet does this completely let the entertainment  provider totally off the hook ?

I personally don't think so...

Reason being, tolerance is great to have when you are part of an audience, yet collectively SOME audiences in certain venues ARE NOT tolerant...

We can view that two ways...

1)  Hey that's tough, it's not my problem they are all a type of boss to me. I just
     provide what the individual requests of me.  I'm not here to teach etiquette.
     (which incidently is not a wrong philosophy at all but does it work in all cases?)

2)   This is a predominantly______crowd, it's in my best interest to read my
      audience, and know my job which as an entertainer in an aesthetic area MUST
       take elements of audience psychology into consideration ! People (Crowds) do
       tend to be prone to idiosynchratic behaviour, and *I* as the performer and a
       professional have a responsibility to have insight into this area.


Food for thought !  This is an interesting area.  There's a HUGE element of psychology in play with audiences..  The best entertainer is the one that's enjoyed
by his audience... 100% of the audience ?  Of course not...  

Point here being, as a once professional musician. Yet always a music lover even to this day I've learned that music can be a powerful tool that tweaks emotion.

Even as a musician myself the MOST open-minded I believe I can be is realizing that while I am turned off by certain styles.. I must also realize that somewhere, it's likely that in an audience, there're individuals turned off at times by "My style".

It's just a matter of degree and extent.  ALL performer's must take this into consideration.  Whether it's music they are providing, or acting as a clown and providing psychic readings in a chatroom  :shock:


..

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Steven

I Do a show Where I sing all Night. I usually sing somewhere around 40 to 45 songs during that show. It's an upscale lounge and even tho Im in a college town this place has the age range of usually 30 and up. This is how I handle the situation.

Ill start off with my first set doing 45 min of Sinatra, Diamond, Darin,Charles,and Dean Martin,
The second set I do   Some Beatles, Tommy James, and some other 60's

As the night goes on the music starts getting progressive in Years.
Ending up with some good Classic rock.

By my thrid set the older crowd usually is on there way home and the younger crowd is all on the dance floor.

I know you were probably asking a KJ's point of View but it's the same with a band or DJ or any entertainer as you had mentioned.

Being a KJ,DJ or any entertainer it is an art to keep the crowd "Alive"
you have to put out what they like and not necessasaraly (sp) what you like.
I do not like alot of the songs I sing but the crowd loves them.

The way I run My solo character act seems to work well for me and the establishment I sing at.
However it took a while to get to that point.
I started doing Costume characters but no one wanted to hear a whole half hour
Of David Bowie, Or John Lennon, and so on...so now I usually just start with my
Sinatra suit and Fedora. and end up in ripped jeans.

The age spread I sing for is 30 to about 75.
I also have a woman who sings while Im on Break and she does Some country songs (I do not sing Country) And that takes care of the country folk.
I think I have it pretty much down by now as we are a very successful act here in Gainesville.
For private parties the act is changed to suit the needs of the Money man.


Just My 3 Cents
Michael

In karaoke, the type of music in the book determined the type of customers patronizing the place.  It can be done both way; inclusion and, or, elimination. If you want above 50 crowd, include mostly oldies and standard. Sure you will get some young customers but the majority will be those who appreciate those kind of music sung in such place. They will become regular cos they find people of similar taste in that place.
In a crowded market this can be used as a selling point; specialization.








ps I hate Indian/Hindi music as much as I hate Rap/hiphop

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

I don't know, I'm sitting here thinking. Okay I have 20,000 songs. My song selection is vast. I have a huge selection of spanish, all the new and up and coming stuff, and of course the oldies.  My crowd is mostly 35 and up. I have some young groups, older folks and a small amount of spanish speaking patrons. Although I have a lot of Spanish songs they are rarely sung. Even though I have a lot of the newer music I don't have a huge young crowd.

I think the bar it self dictates a lot of what your crowd is, not the music. Just my little opinion here in Chicago.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Because the bar exist longer than you, yes. but if you are starting at a new place its the music that set the mood and thus the type of crowd.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Now I get it - that makes sense

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Bottomline however is..

Whether the existing bar is influenced in time by music genre, that might or might not be a GOOD thing for you as the "recent" entertainer. Why would a venue want to keep entertainment that's even inadvertently alienating paying customers ?

Assuming both you and the venue are new, and it's your genre of music that has something to do with crowd draw...

Format DOES matter.

In most cases in an existing lounge it isn't total rocket science to get a concept as to what the listener likes.. Thing is, Sunday might be a much more mellow crowd that traditionally shows up for "oldies or Motown" night  (as was the case in a local Karaoke bar)...NO tolerance for driving loud hyper (what the kids today call) Hard Rock.. What friday night crowd likes, won't do Sunday-Wednesday (assuming there's a KJ or DJ present on those days)... Different days of the week, different crowds depending on the bar and location, etc... Most nights a few bars DID (or do) have a DJ, or KJ, even live band.... One bar formed "Blues night" just by repeatedly hiring blues bands... They did this deliberately on Saturdays... Friday was Kiddie night...As was Thursday...(More of a mix on thursday)

In one bar as I said, Motown reunion was Sunday, The veteran Karaoke singers that were their and started the place hopping around 1986 showed up.... Stylistics, Freddie Jackson, O'Jays, Commodore's..etc...
Across the street at the different bar, Sunday night was more Jimmy Buffet, Chapin, and the 70's ballad style....

This is the way it was,  The bar wanted that !  They formed it (as Adrian mentioned) by just doing it repeatedly... They created their draw, Or adhered to tradition.

Private functions,  you just have to ask, and get a feel... Yet even in a bar,  If I DIDN'T know a venue well (I was soon booked to play), I'd show up and listen in the background, and observe briefly prior to my time to play..Some things you DON'T walk into cold !  I'd ALWAYS Get an idea of WHAT and who these people are listening, usually I was booked ONLY because I provided what they wanted to begin with....

How can the entertainment afford NOT to know what their listener wants to hear ?


Still, you format DOES make a difference.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

In my mind, this one takes the cake:  just last week, a 10 year old girl got up and sang a rock song, cant recall the title but the lyrics went: "take you hand off my hump" and later in the verse: " you wanna see my lumps"!   When she had finished, the KJ asked her if she knew what those words meant, and she just giggled.  I dont like to see young kids singing late at night (around 9:30 pm) in an adult bar (they are at greater risk than just being exposed to crude lyrics) but I think the KJ should have been aware of the lyrics before accepting the song request.

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Those who bring sunshine to others cannot keep it from themselves  
Snoopy

I let a little girl sing once. But it was I'm a little tea pot. It was so
cute. To sing a vulgar song,I can't beleive a KJ would let that happen. I'm sure her
parents were proud. Geez

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]