Karaoke Forums

On occational Thursdays, I will attend the show of this guy that I fill in for quite a bit. He drives me nuts because he is one of the guys with 30,000 songs on burned disks (he admitted to me that he only actually owns about 3,200 tracks of originals). He also runs his karaoke with a Kustom amp, a Pyle DJ mixer, and $5 mics plugged directly into the karaoke player, 10 year-old yamaha BR 15 speakers, a black and white 13" TV for his monitor, 30-45 seconds of dead air between each and every karaoke song, etc. etc.. And he has absolutely NO personality and doesn't sing.

But, he got into this bar right after it changed ownership and he actually gets paid more than I do to work less (and earlier) hours and play to 1/4 of the people I bring in, so I guess somehow the joke's on me!!

Anyway, I attend the show because this guy is also a full-time wedding DJ (with the same shotty gear) so he calls me to fill in for him about once a month while he is doing weddings, so I'm happy to go for business sake. And for those that are wondering, the ownership has flat out told me they think I am head and shoulders better than this guy from the nights I fill in, but their sense of loyalty is stronger than their business sense, I guess.

So last night this guy sits down to talk to me (I'm filling in for him next week), and tells me that someone who claims to be from Soundchoice issued him a citation for his burned discs last week. He says that this guy was in the bar, having drinks just like everyone else, got up and sang a few times, then issued him a $500 fine pending an optional court hearing for operating his show with the burned discs.

Because we have been talking about this so much on this forum, I thought his story sounded a bit sketchy, so I asked him many many well-informed questions and he basically stated that he had no idea what exactly was going on and wouldn't know until he showed up for this court hearing (which is about 3 weeks away).

So I have NO idea what exactly is going on and why someone claiming to be from Soundchoice would have the authority to issue citations and court dates at a karaoke bar, but if this guy is telling the truth (and honestly, I don't see why he would make this up, I have never brought up this topic with him and he just offered it up to me in conversation), then I may have a new insight into what the f&*k is going on out there in karaoke land in a few weeks.

It sounds scary to me!! Almost like vigilante justice of the karaoke industry. Very shady. I personally own and use all original disks at my show, so I don't think I have anything to worry about, but no matter how much I dislike this guy from a business standpoint, I really hope this is all just a misunderstanding or something because it sounds almost as bad for the industry as the pirating!!

I'll let you know what else I can find out!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Pretty easy to print out a document that looks official(sweet practicle joke...) sure hope he didn't hand the guy 500 bucks.........my question is.......who did you put up to messin' with this guy, Topher......

I wish I had something to do with it...maybe I could get my $250 cut out of the deal. But alas, not my doing!!

The "good" news about he whole thing is that this guy did is now in the process of redoing his books with just his originals. His selection is going from 30,000 to 3,200. We'll see how the patrons like that!! Can you imagine the book going from 2" thick to 1/2" thick? This may be his head, then I can get my booty into that bar with my 11,500 selection on original discs

I think one of the unfortunate morals of the story is that apparently singers care about a large selection more than they do about sound quality, at least in this particular bar!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

It's actually quite simple to find the truth.  Call the court a few days before the court date on the docket and see if your friend is on it.  or better yet take the "citation to  the courthouse and let them look at it.  If it's legit, it's legit.  If not, then the court will be very interested in finding that person.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Topher, something similar supposedly happened a few months ago on a gambling boat on the  mississippi.  Some kind of ticket or summons was issued to the karaoke guy, who was using burned disc's. hes was told to show up with his originals and the copies in court on a certain date. He was also told if he didn't have the originals it would be a $30,000 dollar fine. He supposedly showed up with the originals, the copies were confiscated and the fine was dropped to a nominal amount. This was told to me by a person in florida, the the was her best friend, take the info and do what you want with it

I use a RSQ 3 CDG player and copy all the songs that I sing in a session onto four CDs; this way I don’t have to dig through CDGs.  I own all my CDGs and only make copies for backup and for singing sessions.  A few of weeks back, a guy videoed just about my entire performance which bothered me a little.  I have a lot of tourist that take videos, especially if I’m singing to one of there friends or one of their family members, but this guy wasn’t with anyone and never spoke to anyone else in the audience, and he's the only person that has ever used a tripod with his video recoreder.  Reading this thread made me think of him.  Oh well, I guess I’ll see in time.

                                                        Jackson

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Singing just for you

you have EVERY right to tell them not to video tape the karaoke. According to SC, they vehemently oppose this, even for "memorances".

He could have been scoping you out for competition, ASCAP, etc... You DO have the right to deny people to vid you!! It's called "permission"!

Both video and still photography. If this guy was some sort of pro photographer he would have had to obtain permission from the ownership to come into THEIR PRIVATE establishement and start shooting images. At any point they can deny a photographer access. Any time I go to do a story at ANY VENUE I am REQUIRED to obtain permission first. Particularly if there will be photogaphy involved. If for no other reason than professional courtesy. Most places dont take kindly to pro photogapers jsut showing up and clicking away unannounced.  And that goes from anywhwere form the Portland Trailblazer's Rose Garden Arena to the smallest local pub in town. Gotta have permission or you dont shoot. So for the future go up to them and ask who they are shooting for and then notify the bar manager to see if they have permission. Then they can go deal with it, ok it or send the guy packing.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

and as someone that Kurt has photographed and written about, he ALWAYS schedules ahead of time and/or asks permission when he's dropped in for the night.

Yes the bar has the right to refuse any kind of photography - still or video, so talk to them about it as well!

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

Fishy, very fishy.  How does that person have the authority to issue a "FINE"?

exactly... if it were a rep from SC, I can see them getting a lot more uppity than a fine! On the SC forum, they don't indicate word one of such matters.

I'd contact Bob C at SC if I were you!

Topher have you checked with the court yet, rather than going around like a chicken with it's head cut off talking to this one or that one.  The answer is at the court.

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You can be strange but not a stranger