I read the article.
I was a little turned-off by it early on with this statement:
"When you're singing karaoke, chances are your backing track has been stolen."
I know it may be true, and even for a KJ who purchased all of his music on CD directly from the manufacturers, it's prossibly true, but they make no distinctions in the article, so the message is that it's just KJs that steal because it is their nature. I don't like the idea of silenty being considered a thief by people who read articles like this.

I found some other misleading falsehoods being spread through this article too:
"Slep says that music publishers haven't yet begun to grant permission to companies like his to make downloadable tracks available for public performance."

"If a show is being run off a laptop, there's a good chance the tracks aren't cleared for public use."

And what the heck does this mean?:
"Do you kill and eat your own children, or do you wait for someone else to?"
That's not a very good way to portray a solution to anything.

But, isn't it nice to see publicity that makes us all look like wonderful upstanding citizens to the casual observer? Yes, it is. Unfortunately, this bit of publicity makes us all look like theives.

I agree with what you wrote as well. There was one other thing mentioned in the article that rubbed me the wrong way....

Quote:
"One possible solution is a subscription model like Rhapsody and Spotify: Hosts would pay a monthly fee for access to a cloud-based collection of tracks that would be cleared for use in a venue. Though such a service isn't yet available, Knoxville, Tenn., company DigiTrax will soon unveil its Karaoke Cloud, giving KJs access to about 60,000 tracks for $199 a month."
End Quote

The way I'm reading it, it implies that if the KJ does not subscribe to this service (which doesn't exist yet), then he/she/they would not be cleared to work in a venue. That would include ODB KJs as well as (SC/CB/PHM) Certified KJs.

Of all the things that people rent that are far more important, why is karaoke music so important to own for you (or anyone)?

-Chris

With renting you are just putting money in somebody else's pockets. When the rental is done you haven't gained anything. You have spent money on nothing.

Smooth, you are so wrong. What you got was the use of an item be it a car, accomodations, a hang glider, or any other item you want to use either on a short or long term basis. I renovated my basement. I needed special tools which I rented. Why on Earth would I buy expensive tools that I would use for only one project?

In the '90s, Sound Choice enjoyed profits in the tens of millions of dollars for its high-quality recordings, but current economic conditions have forced the company to stop producing new karaoke tracks altogether.

Spending $47,760 over the course of 20 years and having no music to show for it, IMO, is foolish and a total waste of money.

But how much money did you make out of that outlay? To be very conservative getting $100 a night for a show, three times a week is $300 times 52 is $15,600 a year for 20 years is $312,000. Not a bad sum. Even if you had to spend $40,000 for miscellaneous/equipment replacement/repair, it's still over $200,000 profit.

Then buy your music and quit harping about the cloud. It's not for you or me or many other hosts that have a good library but it doesn't mean it isn't for others. For you to say it's bad is ridiculous. I will never use the cloud but I don't demean it as something evil by the "corporate world" to screw the little guy. It, like most things is a choice. It may be successful, it may not, only time will tell.

I read the article.
I was a little turned-off by it early on with this statement:
"When you're singing karaoke, chances are your backing track has been stolen."
I know it may be true, and even for a KJ who purchased all of his music on CD directly from the manufacturers, it's prossibly true, .