Karaoke Forums

Phoenix Entertainment Partners, LLC, together with its predecessor in interest, Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation, more commonly known as Sound Choice, today announced that three previously pending lawsuits brought against the companies and others by Sony/ATV Music Publishing and the EMI consortium of music publishers, have been finally and fully resolved.

All three lawsuits, including two in New York and one in Tennessee, have been dismissed voluntarily.

“We’re pleased with the outcome,” James M. Harrington, Phoenix’s general counsel, said in a prepared statement. “All parties worked together to produce a mutually beneficial resolution to the litigation in a way that confirms not only that the SOUND CHOICE brand will continue to be available to the karaoke industry, but also that the music publishers will participate in the rewards of our innovative new programs.”

Phoenix has entered into a license agreement with Sony and EMI that covers Phoenix’s new Hassle-free Easy Licensing Program (“HELP”). Under that program, karaoke hosts and venues that sign a license agreement with Phoenix gain access to more than 16,500 “red logo” SOUND CHOICE karaoke accompaniment tracks under streamlined licensing terms and without disc audits. Licensees pay a monthly fee under the HELP program and, in exchange, won’t have to worry about lawsuits from Phoenix or from participating publishers.

Phoenix also confirms that the licensing of the SOUND CHOICE GEM series will continue on the same terms as Slep-Tone offered before. Rumors of a forced recall of the GEM series, which circulated at various points while the litigation was pending, turned out to be completely unfounded. “There was nothing whatsoever to those rumors,” Harrington said. “It was never a real possibility—just wishful thinking put out by some in the karaoke industry who planned to profit from our hoped-for demise.”

“With these lawsuits now ended, one of the major obstacles to the production of new karaoke tracks has been removed,” Harrington added. In the continuing battle against rampant piracy, however, new Sound Choice®-branded song files will only be available to HELP or GEM Series licensees and Certified KJs, Harrington said.

Phoenix Entertainment Partners is the owner of SOUND CHOICE®, the most popular brand of karaoke accompaniment tracks in the United States. More than 30,000 professional karaoke jockeys and commercial venues rely on the SOUND CHOICE brand each week for accompaniment music at bars, restaurants, social clubs, and private events across the nation. SOUND CHOICE is a registered trademark of Phoenix Entertainment Partners, LLC.

Hopefully a mutually beneficial resolution.

How will venues/hosts access the 16,500 "red logo" tracks, and does this signal the start of new production?

Congratulations Jim, that has to make your week better.

I think everyone involved would agree that what we've agreed to satisfies everyone's interests.

The HELP license is directed primarily at those hosts and venues who do not have original discs, who may have acquired unauthorized copies of SC tracks from illicit sources. It could also be used by hosts who do have original discs but want to use them on two or more systems. There is also a license available to venues that hire in hosts--the blanket license, which covers a venue regardless of the status of the contractor-host.

I'm of course not telling you to go out and download SC tracks or buy a hard drive--but there are thousands of KJs who have done so without our permission, and this program makes it possible for those KJs to convert that into legal operation by paying for what they're using.

The end of this lawsuit removes an obstacle to new production, but that's not the only obstacle. We do have a plan to resume production, but we're not prepared to discuss it in detail right now. We've been dealing with these lawsuits for a long time. Now that they're resolved, we need to assess where we are with our business plan and how new production fits into that (and everybody at Phoenix agrees that new production needs to be a part of what we do going forward).

So does the "voluntary dismissal" mean that Sound Choice paid a settlement?

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Birdofsong

Congrats Jim, you must finally feel vindicated. I doubt it will shut up the naysayers completely, but it certainly may keep them silent for a few days.. Maybe even a week

Good thing Mr Harrington is a professional or I feel a great big 'neener neener' kind of moment would be coming on the scene

Glad i didn't let fear rule my recent decisions.

cheers

-James

Mr Harrington, I hope for us legal KJs that PEP is still going to go forward and delete any tracks on these other hosts HDs that do not meet 192KBps. You did not state that in your above reply. My understanding is that nearly all pirated tracks have been downloaded at 128KBps. That would wipe out most all libraries from Pirates.

Also, I would like to know if these audits are looking for any manus other than SCs tracks. It was stated by Mr Slep that CB could not be allowed to go to freeware. I assume that would mean Stellar, PHM, and THM, too. Are they part of this audit or not? If not, then are any of them notified?

I know from my audit that the Forensic thumb drive captures all tracks.

I currently have 21,500 approx. legal tracks. Most of the hosts here probably have less than 7,000
legal tracks, to go with their 100,000++. Having to drop all tracks at 128KBps would put me in a competitive situation. That would also mean that several who attend my shows would become more regular than they have been. There are those who want to sing a track by SC that I do not own and can not get. I know when they go elsewhere to sing those songs because I hear about it. They prefer my system and mix without doubt, but since I do not have and can not get every song they sing they are not considered regulars. They will still go back to the KJ that they have been going to for years because of it and I only get to see these people maybe 50% of the time. Usually, it is because of a SC track that they have grown accustom to regardless if I have another equal in quality.

Even if these audits are only for SC then it is of some value to me as a competitor of these pirates. Several in my locale have expanded their systems and taken on multiple simultaneous venues with pirated HDs, driven prices down, and made it difficult for me as a legally conscientious KJ to secure any of these venues even after explaining and leaving URLs for venue owners to research for themselves the legal ramifications that they may be taking on themselves. I quit doing that 2 years ago because of deaf ears.

It would be wonderful if they were mailed explanations with PEP and SC letterheads. They pay no attention otherwise.

I keep waiting for suits in my area as I believe they should be forthcoming (soon I hope). I am quite reasonably sure that I have been investigated several times, hence my securing an audit from SC (Brian Plyler) last July after pursuing it in April 2014.

Please, do not make it so easy on pirates. Be fair to conscientious KJs as well as yourself.

Sorry, I just realized I was probably on the wrong thread with this. I do not know how to move it. Still I would like an answer from Mr Harrington wherever this is placed by admin.

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You can never argue with a crazy mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mind ----B. Joel
I have great faith in fools; My friends call it self-confidence ---- E.A. Poe
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity ----E.A. Poe
I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference! ----A. Einstein
Double bubble, toil and trouble ----W. Shakespeare & Walt Disney
I hate it when I get on FaceBook ----Me
Karaoke might be Groundhog Day ----?
Of All the Martial Arts, Karaoke Inflicts the Most Pain ----?

I am guessing that there was no payment unless you count the publishers being involved with HELP as settlement/payment.

I believe Mr. Harrington has already stated in a previous post that they were unwilling to make payment, which would essentially convey an admission of guilt. I might have got the details mixed up. I'll see if i can find what i am thinking of.

-James

I would also like to offer my congratulations to Mr. Harrington on the resolution of these lawsuits.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I believe Mr. Harrington has stated previously that they are only concerned with SC discs.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Regarding the GEMs in particular, I am happy to see that issue resolved. Not just for myself and the rest of the GEM licensees, but also because of all the FUD that has been slung around regarding them.

Several individuals have done a lot to scare people away from Sound Choice by trumping up the "GEM recall" within the EMI case. Something that was never even asked for in what I read. It appears to have been conjured up by those hoping that it could happen and in turn that Sound Choice supporters would take a hit on them as well. Not a very nice thing to wish upon a fellow KJ.

The "cheerleaders" get accused of going silent anytime something "bad" happens to "Sound Choice". The same holds true for the anti-SC contingent when something "good" happens.

It will be interesting to see if and how this gets spun into something bad for the karaoke industry and bad for karaoke hosts.

In the meantime, I would like to congratulate my fellow GEM owners!

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-Chris

Any time lawyers are involved, everybody loses.

Exactly.

Coming up this July, GEM Set #1 will be five years old. And in those five years NONE of the BS claims people have made has come true. And believe me, there has been a LOT of panic spreading, fear mongering and simply invented BS.

Not a single one has been true.

I'm going to say this once and not address it again. As in virtually all settled litigation, there is a confidentiality agreement in place that prevents me from discussing the details of the agreement. It is irresponsible for anyone without knowledge of the agreement (which should include everyone on this board) to speculate about the terms, so I would encourage all of you simply to forget about it. What I can say is that both sides worked hard to reach an agreement over a period of many weeks, and I think both sides are happy with the outcome and with the future business our new licenses represent. I know we're happy, and our licensees and future licensees should feel better about their use of SC tracks in the future, now that the uncertainty of litigation has been resolved. This is one of those rare occasions when everybody wins--except, of course, those who wanted us to fail.

Hello to all our faithful supporters and the supporters of fair and legitimate karaoke business practices. As Jim mentioned, we are excited about the prospects for the industry going forward and of course for the Sound Choice® brand.

A quick read through some of these early comments seems to be an attempt to determine "winners" and "losers" in the lawsuit. I believe it should be clear that the "losers" are the pirates who continue to damage the industry, Sound Choice, the publishers and fellow KJs.

While Phoenix has to assess our exact plans for NEW music going forward, as Mr. Harrington mentioned, we recognize the importance of being able to release new music for the health of the industry and to be able to help legitimate hosts compete against pirates. New music (the "carrot") will be released to HELP and GEM Licensees and Certified hosts. Phoenix will also be able to redirect its energy and resources to ramp up its litigation efforts (the "stick") in more areas. We believe this ramped up "carrot and stick" strategy will revitalize the industry and make it profitable and respectable to be a professional karaoke host again. While we recognize that we won't be able to cut out piracy altogether, if the remaining pirates are relegated to playing dive bars with 3 singers in rotation using counterfeit Backstage and Music Maestro branded tracks, I believe that Phoenix Entertainment would declare "victory".

We look forward to working with legitimate karaoke hosts in making this happen - and we invite those who might have been waiting to see if Sound Choice survived before deciding to "pay up" to go ahead and get legitimate - NOW. You are more likely to make more money being a Sound Choice customer than a Sound Choice infringer.

Except the lawyers of course.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

James, Were the lawsuits dismissed with or without prejudice? Those facts will become public, so you're not giving up any secrets.

Not knowing how the court system works, I could be wrong but since the case was VOLUNTARILY dismissed by the plantiff, I don't think either one applies.

I would bet that the plantiffs dismissed the lawsuits for a fee (settlement), therefore my question stands.

Dismissal was with prejudice. Those are public documents, of course.