Karaoke Forums

Here's one for the books -
Friday night it was so packed in the bar people were sitting on the pool tables. My quitting time is 2am - The bar is open until 3am. I went and asked the bar owner if he wanted to pay me to stay another hour. This is a standard question now. He said No. I was a bit puzzled by this. Well it turns out the patrons pay me to stay instead.

After I closed up I went and asked him why he didn't want me to stay. Didn't he think he'd make more money if I stayed? He told me ---------------------

I'M TIRED AND I WANTED EVERYONE TO LEAVE SO I COULD GO TO BED.  LMAO

Unbelievable !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

Babs.. Babs.. ...Babs.....there's more to life than money....I don't know what it is....but this is what I've heard

When you are a karaoke host as you know we are always concerned about making the bar money and keeping the patrons happy, so they will come back. I wasn't upset with him - just confused. Some nights I'd like to go home too, but when there is a crowd I feel like it is my duty to stay. I've stayed when I was sick or had a migrane. All he does is sit there and watch. I'm not complaining. I just find it odd.

I'm glad the bar is doing so well he isn't worried about money. ?

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

That is one of the things that drives me about nutz.....going to the karaoke bars around here.  The good one I grown up around...they play till, they kick you out...sometimes..literally.  There are ever so many other around that go till like 1am...that I totally don't understand.  You just can not get & keep a good crowd, when you are...oh, it's 1am..last song of the night.  All the people are speechless, like what the heck(insert multiple cuss words here), the party is just getting started?!?!?!  Don't make sense to me...at all.  If the bar owner is in the business to make money, which I would hope that he is....you go to tend to the crowd.  Sounds like you need to get paid to stay longer, period.  MrD

_________________
[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
& on myspace - larrynance[/highlight]

babs, that's where I have to disagree with letting the patrons pay you.  You do it one time and he will expect them to do it all the time.  If I go extra, it's the bar that pays.  If I were in your shoes I would have said fine.  Packed up and left.  Then when he saw patrons filing out also, he might next time reconsider.  just a thought.

Kelly

I use to worry about things like that.   If the one you are working for doesn't care if they make money, why should I.    You can beat a dead horse all day, but it won't get up.     When my time is done, unless they have asked me to play longer, I'm out if there.    My wallet will have the amount of money I charge.    If his could have made more but he chose to be stupid, oh well.     See ya next week for more of the same.     Don't sweat their stupidity.     Keep your sanity.

I have worked for so many years quitting at the regular time (because they never want to pay more) I would have a heart attack if they even suggested playing over for more money.    LMAO

I never charge to go over extra.  It's usually only a few minutes to 1/2 hour max anyway when I do.  I am there from 9-1 Sun-Thurs & 9-1:30 Fri & Sat.  I am to be done at 1:30 on the weekends only leeway is if a song is currently playing when the clock hits 1:30 I can let it finish - no exceptions.  The weeknights are pretty much the same - 1:00 is the cutoff time.  During the week, depending on the bartender I may be able to go over if I want, but generally that's rare.

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

Not charging for extra time is your business.   But to me it cheapens your time.   Making you look like your time isn't valuable.    Plumbers, Doctors, lawyers, etc all charge by the minute.    They aren't embarrassed about asking for it.   We shouldn't be either.      My time is worth as much as anyone elses.   Just ask me.

Bar owners don't care if people stay an extra 30 minutes to sing a few extra songs
What they do car about is - In that 30 extra minutes how many people will actually buy another drink so close to closing time?  

Take a look around, at 1:00am to see how many "singers" went for another drink
my experiance tells me that most will quit drinking so they can "think" they are sober enough to drive.   So the bar doesn't make much extra money if you stay an extra 30 mins.  You might make a few extra singers happy --But the bar owners could care less about that.

I completely agree! he's gotten used to you doing it, and now doesn't want to pay the money. Tell your folks you're sorry, but you have other committments!

Sleep and personal time are committments.



Anytime I wanted to quit and the bar owner wanted me to stay, a fight broke out.    I should have left when I wanted to.    :yes:

No what it shows is that I care about my customers & if I choose to go over to finish out a round, then I will go that extra mile.  And yes I have had professional types that have given me a little extra for no pay, it's called good customer relations.  It cheapens nothing, if anything it brings people back.  I usually hang & BS with people after the show anyway so i'm there until closing, I was already paid for my time, any extra is for the customer & I do not require money for it - i'm more than happy to do it.  An extra few minutes time is not going to break me financially.

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

I too will stay an extra 30 minutes if the slips are up there for free. I'm having as much fun as the singers are, and that extra few minutes lets the singers know you care about them. That helps to build loyalty. It isn't an every week thing. If I don't feel like staying, I don't.

Babs, I had the bar manager want me to shut down with a large crowd in house wanting to stay (she wanted to go out somewhere else  :D ) I had people hollering they'd pay me to stay. I had to tell them "it's not about the money, the bar is ready to close".  

As far as 'the bar should pay for the extra time, instead of the singers', there's a group of singers that comes in, that when I have passed a hat to stay longer, have consistently payed me more than the bar would have....

_________________

I've had many professionals and trades people go the extra mile for me and not charge me.  What did they get in return?  A very happy permanent customer who referred many, many people to them.  So an extra $50 or $100 "freebie" got them several thousand dollars more and many other happy customers who also referred them.

And in my profession, I've done the same and reaped the benefits.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

Yep, same here...  It depends on the night, the crowd, etc...

Susie

_________________
You do it in the shower,
you do it in the car,
Ccome do it with us,
and be a star!!!!

Karaoke with Full House Entertainment

[scroll]Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean...... [/scroll]

I'm not saying customer relations isn't the right thing to do.    There are very few nights that I have ever made more money than the bar took in.    But they tend to cry poor mouth a lot.     They pay me $175 to make them $1000-1500-2000.     I wouldn't be able to count out $175 fast enough if every time I did, you would give me a $1,000.

If I worked in a place (with a decent house system) that I didn't have to tear down every night, it would be a different story.   Tearing down the entire system is a lot of work.   Just packing up a couple of boxes of discs is an entirely different matter.  :O

Owners have very rarely ever offered me extra money.    You are lucky most of the time to get the agreed upon amount every week.     They get 15 minutes tops from me.      Then it's my time, bye time.    See ya  :wave:

There are more people involved in your little equation than just you and the singers.     Staying over would be worth it, if as mentioned the singers were still spending money.   If they are all done buying, I'm done playing.    It's all for naught.   The bartender is not going to get any more tips.    They want to clean up and leave, too.     The bar owner isn't offering you more money.    The singers will take advantage of you too.     Happens many times when I have my final countdown lined up.     Then you get 2-3-4-5 singers asking if they can get just one more.    And you find out that you under estimated the time because every song left in the rotaion is a 5-6 minute song.    It's always the same song hogs.    The exact same people that would never stay over at their jobs for 15 minutes for FREE.   Let alone stay for an unpaid half an hour.

Staying over unpaid, may have it's place once in a while, but those times are few and far between.      Bar owners are a cheap lot.    Look at the amount of money they would sell you out for, to get a cheaper KJ.     Just to save a few dollars.  

My divorce lawyer charged $200 an hour, after $3,000 down just to take the case.     It came to $10,000.     No freebies were involved.     Every moment of work, phone calls, letters typed, meetings, court appearences were all on the clock.   They all send detailed documentation letters of every minute/dollar gone by.     You even have to pay the secretary by the hour to show you how much they just screwed you out of.

I have a Dentist friend that has given me some reduced rate service.    Nothing FREE.     Doctors give you free samples that they got free.     The furnace man didn't give me any free service to rescue the poor little kitty.      My mechanic doesn't work for free.     Shop time over $60 an hour.    Nobody I can name works for free.     It's your fault if nobody shows up.   They want you to take a cut.

If you walk in to an expensive restaurant and tell the owner that you want a dinner but you don't want to pay the full price because you are out of work, he'll tell you to go eat somewhere cheaper.    As he has you by the collar.    

My time is valuable to me.   Everyone should respect the value of peoples time.      If you can not afford the price of good quality karaoke, buy yourself a cheap, unemployed hack.    Don't expect me to play for free while you want to keep all of the extra money.      I'm a share the wealth kind of guy.     A white collar guy will screw you way more than a blue collar guy.   They know what hard work is.     The professionals are always asking for a price break.     They won't give you one, but they will ask.      Next time you go to a professional for something, try to haggle the price.   See what he tells you and how to get there.    They will tell you to find  somebody you can afford.  

Money money money.....it's driving me insane.....oh, Hi people.  :wave:
I keep trying to tell my company that my time is valuable too, but they aren't listenin' anymore...I already make too much money.....says them.
I say.....SCREW!!! I work 65-70 hours per week about 3 weeks a month, the other week about 40-45 hours. And yes, I do make a decent living. But break it down by the hours and days lost, and I'm not doing any better than the average Joe.
Oh wait, I am an average Joe.
But the job that I do, especially being away from home for days at a time, would pay more and have better benefits if the company drivers were supported by outside representation.......UNION.
I know what your thinkin'.....awww shut up cry baby.
That's exactly what I used to say about some of the union workers I've ever had a conversation with....spoiled, sheltered, momma's boys that think with every tick of the clock, the world owes them something.  :no:
Now I'm thinkin'............F'in' AAAA!!
I've busted my a$$ for a few companies over the last 25 years that could care less if I died tomorrow....they'll just hire someone cheaper so they can get richer...no biggie.
Well now, approaching my older age, I'm thinking it's not such a bad idea.
There are other jobs out there....I just haven't had time to look. The reason I've stayed with this same company for almost 9 years now is that it used to be a cool place to work...smaller company...more personal attention to drivers with families...etc...etc...
Now it seems they've invested more in upsizing their management team, and driver perks are slowly dwindling to a halt, or being decided by someone who has never stepped foot in a freakin' truck, let alone ever having to unload one themselves at multiple destinations, or ever having realized the time involved with such an undertaking. The worst thing is, we have a new guy buying the new equipment who is trying to make an impression with budgeting, but he doesn't have to plant his skinny a$$ in the hard vinyl driver's seat of a day-cab tractor that rides like a freakin' stage coach to make a 1000 mile round trip and bust his a$$ the whole time playing cart-in delivery boy.  :no:
I guarantee if some of these pencil pushers had a taste of what life really is, driver comfort would be a high priority.
Right now, I drive a big sleeper truck, but I don't sleep in it. It has a high comfort level....nice plush seats....fairly cushiony road feel...I'm good for now. But they wanna take my truck from me and stick me in one of those rattle cans....I'm pi$$ed.

And what does this have to do with crazy bar owners? Nuttin' honey...sorry to rant on your thread.  :no:

I think kjs should have a union like say.....Local #69 Entertainment Professionals Association that all bar owners should have to shop from when hiring an entertainer. It'd probably put an end to the un-professional conduct and maybe induce some fines upon the non-conformists. In a perfect world.....in a perfect world.  :(  

PC....very well spoken on the need for the 'union'.  I can certainly understand your pain.  I know of many people around that don't think they're necessary, but the truth is...if they weren't around..we'd all be working for minimum wage, no matter what job you do....MrD

_________________
[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
& on myspace - larrynance[/highlight]

Hi Kelly - The patrons paying me started because the bar owner would never pay me to stay. This situation evolved into him paying me to stay when it was obvious he would make more money if I stayed. so the patrons helped me show him how much money he was losing when I left. The bar truly empties completely out when I leave.
For the most part now he is the one that pays me to stay.

Lon - I think it is awesome you stay over for your people and that they appreciate it.
I do think it is good business. In my case it is simple. I work a full time job also and my bar closes at 3am. I don't enjoy staying late for free when I have to get up in the morning. It makes it worth it if I have the extra money in my pocket.  :D Plus I get pressured to stay late every night I work. It wouldn't be a once in a while thing. They would expect it all the time if I started doing it.

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

I personally stay over up to 30 minutes. I agree with Lon- it just makes good PR. True, the singers might not be buying any more drinks that evening, but when they consider their options in a crowded market for the next week, they will remember the guy that stayed late for them to sing 1 more song.

Is this privelege abused? Hell YES! By both bar owners and patrons. People don't understand that 15-30 minutes is way different than an hour. People also tend to think 1 more song means American Pie or Paradise by the Dashboard Lights....

There is no wrong or right answer. Most of my shows are on nights I don't have to work the next day. That makes it easier for me to stay.

Besides, you never know which of those patrons will turn into a private party one day...

_________________
Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!