Karaoke Forums

Don't know if this is new here or not...maybe SC might be interested.

http://www.unlimitedjams.com/facebook.html

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Music speaks to the heart in ways words cannot express.

nah....they are not hosting nor are they going for hosts.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Oh yes they are.....

"Not only do we give you access to largest Karaoke Database on the planet, but we also have a software area so that you can turn any laptop, PC, etc into a Professional Karaoke KJ station. Host your own Karaoke parties, KJ for other people's parties, or just expand your Karaoke collection overnight. We will give you all the instruction you need to take your Karaoke to a whole NEW level."

I am not going to sign up to find out, but it appears they are basically leveraging USENet for piracy just as it has for the last 30+ years.

This is the kind of thing that really, really pisses me off. They are selling subscription services to a free resource and also providing stolen merchandise as the carrot at the end of the stick.

They say they have been at it for 3 years....

KJBill has been at it for at least that long....

Any number of other IRC sites do similar things.....

I sometime wonder WHY I bother working my (@$%&#!) off to run karaoke shows when all I would have to do it put up a few servers and run some scripts then watch the money spill in....

-Chris

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-Chris

Did anyone feel something just fly over your head?.....

Sorry. Was a bit of a rant on my part.

I get particularly frustrated when I see sites like that. In my mind it undermines everything I do trying to maintain legitimacy while spending a LOT of money doing it.

Even more frustrating is that there are a LOT of sites like this that basically run on auto-pilot while someone collects money for it.

They operate out in the open too and the karaoke companies seemingly don't or can't do anything about them.

Every time I have ever reported one I have been told "we know and we are working on it but we aren't in a position to provide any further information".

-Chris

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-Chris

that is the hard part Chris.
we bust our a$$ to do things the right way, pay for what we use, just to watch these others metaphorically laugh at us through stuff like this.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Exactly. Much like the Torrent tracker sites, it looks like they are squarely in a grey area as they themselves are not providing the music. They have simply written (and are charging for) a simple interface that allows the end user to easily steal from the vast & free Usenet groups. They have simply provided a map to the bank and the EZ safe-cracking tool. The user is the one doing the actual stealing. Illegal? Maybe, maybe not. Unethical for sure.

For those that don't know what Usenet is, it is one of the oldest and more archaic parts of the internet, around since the beginning. These Newsgroups are a place where the anonymous can post about anything they like. Later people figured out how to attach binaries to the messages allowing easy, and mostly illegal file sharing. It is the dark, seedy underbelly of the internet.

I saw this advertised on facebook and was pretty disgusted. It is about equivalent to buying a loaded drive, considering the cheap monthly subscription prices.

I didn't sign up but took a look at what they had for Journey and most of it is Sound Choice. Really burns me up as well.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

That is because SC pirating dominates Usenet.

These people aren't cataloging the songs or doing the actual pirating. They are akin to a service that tells people which stores have no security so you can go shoplift there. Then they provide a layout of the store, complete inventory and a ride to the front door. But the subscriber has to do the actual stealing.

The really sad part is that they portray themselves in such a way that I guarantee the end users have no idea they are even stealing. They believe they are actually buying legal karaoke music.

And over 10,000 users in three years according to their website. That's close to $100,000 A MONTH at the lowest subscription rate. Wow.

Real shame that this stuff cannot be stopped. There is NOT a single decent hard working
karaoke host / retailer that can breath under these circumstances. I am truly saddened
by this because it effects us and hurts good kj's like you guys!

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MADPROAUDIO ~ DISABLED VETERAN ~ FAMILY OWNED COMPANY

OK I didn't find this until after I signed up for their site last week thinking that I was actually doing something legitimate. I am just getting into the KJ scene I have been a Professional Mobile DJ for 7 years now. Unfortunately the prices in my area for KJ have been really beat up by kids that spend 300 bucks for a cheap sound system and then pirate music fill their hard drive up and then call them selves a KJ go around to places and then say they will do it for 10-15 an hour. The best I can do in my area is 25-30 an hour and I still have my insurance to pay a helper to pay and on top of that music to pay for.

I honestly thought this was a legit monthly subscription service like what they have on the Roku box and did not realize that it was a load of crap and something I totally stand against and have sent thousands of letters to congress encouraging them to make it 100% illegal to pirate and to hold ISP's responsible for their customers actions and/or blocking their customers from using stuff like that.

Is there a legitimate service out there like what Virtual DJ has that has quality Karaoke music on a monthly subscription basis or am I pretty much screwed and need to just buy as much as I can when I can.

I am very much depressed right now realizing that I was taken and almost got rooked into a piracy scam please help and advise what direction to take. I did buy a couple hard drives from a retiring KJ off of craigs list and he did have proof of purchase of a good portion of the music but at the current rates for KJ Music and the low pay considering I do this for my love of music and to supplement my income as I am Disabled and need the extra money to pay the bills as SSI is not enough for a single person. So PLEASE HELP ME OUT WITH THIS PLEASE.

God Bless you all

Karaokecloud I know you can buy individual songs from a couple other sites as well. Yet karaokecloud seems to be the most complete as far as streaming the music, buying songs, etc. Ask for Gretchen and tell them that Jeff from Madproaudio sent you to them.

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MADPROAUDIO ~ DISABLED VETERAN ~ FAMILY OWNED COMPANY

We don’t want to get you depressed even more but that couple of hard drives you bought from that retiring kj with proof of purchase for “a good portion of the music” – good portion is not good enough………still illegal to own unless of course he gave you ALL the cd’s for all those tracks in the hard drive (meaning all the cds are in your possession). It’s called 1:1 ratio i.e., 10 tracks on cd, 10 tracks in hard drive, etc, etc. You mentioned 2 hard drives; if you're also using the other drive then you need another set for that. It’s been covered extensively here in the forums, I recommend access the subject for better explanation. Just saying.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

They claim to have 10k memberships & database of over 180k songs. Their platinum membership for $79 a month “Download up to 10,000 Karaoke songs of your choice per month. Access to all Karaoke software (Turn your laptop or PC into a Professional Karaoke KJ station, Song List Creator,etc) less than 1 cent per song”
A 24/7s download time to achieve. It’s mind-boggling!

Calling Jim Harrington, phone ringing, no answer………………. ooops. sorry.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

The shame of it is that they know what they are doing. They replied to every email inquire about how awesome their service is going to be. Then once they were challenged as to what they were up to. They went silent. You will find that people up to no good in this market seem very excited to entice you into a deal and then once you start asking the right questions, then they reverse their direction.

Unfortunately, it may take a 1-2 yrs. to squash that website. There was another site if I remember was called musicuniverse where they sold loaded hard drives with tens of thousands of karaoke songs, dj songs for $300-$900. They were even bold enough to advertise the manufacturer names as well. Well, that website was shut down, yet it took almost 2yrs.

When the FBI investigated Sonny Freeman in MN. The guy that was all over ebay/online selling loaded karaoke/dj drives, it took several years for that to develop. Word in the grapevine is that there are at least 3 major hard drive sellers on the chopping block thus far. So we must stand on the sidelines and hurt until they are taken care of and then sit and watch the new wave of pirates march in and replace them.

I personally remember once working with a guy designing a system for a couple weeks. One thing we are well known for is going way above and beyond in how we treat people. So this guy was getting the royal treatment. After two weeks, he said he found a website where he could get 100 times more music for 10 times less than we were charging him for legit music packs. We tried to express to him that what he was looking at was unauthorized and he turns around and says that it must be legit, its a nice website.
Even SC stepped in to personally speak to him to express that the Soundchoice they were selling on the drive was illegal. Needless to say, the guy most likely bought the drive off that site in the end no matter what he was told. It clearly shows there is a % of people out there that do not care.

Or most recently. Guy calls us and tells us that he wants to get a karaoke laptop with music and he was already offered a laptop with a 1tb drive, karaoke/dj software, over 24,000 karaoke songs and over 32,000 dj songs. ALL for the low low low 50% off sale price of $1999.99. Gosh, even our decent laptop package with 2,300 songs from cavsusa cost right around $1,800.00. We simply told the consumer. We do not want to know the vendor that offered this to him. We just want to know up front. Does he care about whether or not something is pirated, or not. Believe it or not, there is at least 30% that say they don't care up front. Real shame, hurts a legit business. Yet keeping track of how people react to situations allows you to get a true sense of what you are up against. The people that care. We simply arm them with some of the best questions to ask that seller in writing. We make sure they force the seller to reply via writing. Out of the last 10 people we have given the right questions to. NONE of them were able to get a reply again from that seller. WOW, that seller was so excited to sell them that wonderful package and all of a sudden does not communicate anymore. For ALL that care, you MUST ask the right questions. There are many of them. Examples;

1. If the seller is offering you thousands and thousands of songs and you are NOT paying thousands and thousands to get it. Then shoot off the first question: (Using 24,000 karaoke songs as the example).
Dear Mr. Amazing Seller, what name brands are the karaoke songs you are providing. Of each name brand, how many of each manufacturer is represented in that collection. (Example; 4,000 of them are Music Maestro)

2. Find out how current the music is and the namebrands of that music. If they are telling you things like Fast Trax, Singer solutions, and other names that you CANNOT pick up a phone and call the manufacturer, then do yourself a favor and move on.

3. Chances are they will most likely not get past the first questions to begin with. But if they do. Then ask how many disc come with the system. There are many name brands that were out of business even before digital versions were ever presented. So lets say I tell you that on the drive is 5,000 plus Music Maestro songs. Then the seller better be putting you in touch with the person that holds the license to sell it in digital format, or the seller better be producing every last original disc that matches every last song. (Do not let them fool you by throwing in a bunch of random disc)

4. Then there are sellers that claim they own the music or have the license to sell it and will even put that on the invoice. HOGWASH. Ask them to fax you a legal document showing this. Example; A consumer bought a cavs 203g usb player off a vendor and received over 6,000 songs. They bought it for $299. WOW, That's funny, because a player with a couple hundred songs was running $259.99 on an average. So how was it that they gave you so much music? When the consumer questioned them, they quickly pointed out that they owned one of the music brands. yet they said they could not show any proof of it, just that the buyer had to believe them. Any buyer that believes they can get thousands of songs for pennies is dead wrong, it's that simple.

Due to ALL the confusion in the market. We refuse to even touch much of what is out there anymore. Example; A consumer asked us if we could get him a set of Sweet Georgia Brown disc, that he sees them online for $50. The problem with this is that Sweet Georgia Brown has been out of business since 2003 and is a dead trademark, so where are these disc coming from? Claims of the old stock drying up came to an end in the last couple years. So unless we can get it from an old dealer that has left over stock, we do not trust any of the new disc out there like that.

We could speak on this matter for hours, and must end this rant here. Trust that it would be so much easier to simply stop fighting this and join the crowd. Our business has been destroyed by it and seeing customer after customer slip through your hands because people are not interested in going with the vendor that sticks to their guns. WHY? Because when there is 1 vendor that refuses to bend and do right by this industry, there are 10 others doing just the opposite. If more held strong, we would have a better chance of educating people. Yet the sad truth is that we are clearly on the losing team!

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MADPROAUDIO ~ DISABLED VETERAN ~ FAMILY OWNED COMPANY

and the sad part is that for every one of us who is a professional and cares, there are 10 or more of our own singers that are buying these packages because they just don't care. we are outnumbered by our own people, and it just keeps getting worse.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

We would be honored to go down with the ship with people like you over ever joining a pirate.

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MADPROAUDIO ~ DISABLED VETERAN ~ FAMILY OWNED COMPANY

This is old news to veteran legit kj’s, but maybe a good fyi for the new wave of pirates.

Stephen “Sonny” Freeman was a big time hard drive seller & living the high life until it all came crashing down. He paid dearly after the FBI closed-in on him. Quote, link 2nd page: “As part of his guilty plea Mr. Freeman agreed to forfeit dozens of computers and high capacity storage devices as well as one car, one trailer, two jet skis, two Sea Ray sport boats, one home, two bank accounts, and one brokerage account.” http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercr ... anPlea.pdf

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!