Karaoke Forums

hi guys i would love to hear how you guys have gotten into kjing. as i love to hear loads of succes storys  and it would be inspireing too me too learn as im settimg up in the karaoke industry


    in advance thank you for your storys

       all the best doddster28

I was originally hire to be the set-up/tear down (roadie) guy in charge of all the equipment for a company in 1990-91.  When that company broke up I went with one of the spawn companies closer to home doing the same thing.  One day out of the blue, the boss, suit up you're going to host tonight!  Me, a shy - rarely talked to anyone, sit at the counter & nurse a couple beers all night until tear down time.  
I went ahead & did it applying what I felt were some of the best techniques I learned from watching the real hosts - my personality did a complete 180.  Talking to people over the mic, playing with their comments, getting people to sing that hadn't before.  My boss was amazed at the job I did & said she'd like to have me work regularly, I said maybe.  Well the next day we got a call from the club saying we lost the gig, no explanation - just see ya.  We found out a couple months later that we got undercut by one of the other companies that we worked with before.
Oh well, so a couple weeks later, she threw me in at another club, same performance, it was a girls birthday & grabbed her out of the audience & sat her on stage & sang 16 Candles to her.  Great crowd, lots of singers.  Again boss impressed.  Next day we get a call saying we lost the gig, again no explanation - OK, i'm getting a complex now, am I overdoing it?  We fund out a few weeks later that they were dropping all entertainment and going more for family dining instead of heavy bar.
A few weeks later she threw me in again - obviously had faith or something, anyways so I decided not to be so "in your face" & "play with the crowd" as much, toned it down.  We got a call the next day saying we may lose the club if the host don't get more energized - she threw me in the next week at the same club, I reverted back to the first 2 nights I ever hosted & I am still hosting there since '92 - '94 with my own company.

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Started singing karaoke on a dare from one of my friends, and some help from a couple of shots of Sauza to calm the nerves. I was pretty bad but really enjoyed myself and continued to sing once a week. Back then the local KJ's had a limited selection of my favorite country artists so I purchased a little Awia karaoke system (they actually made an excellent bookshelf unit with key changer & echo) and then I started purchasing CDG's and practicing at home to get better. Then I caught the Karaoke Bug and I was going out 3-5 nights a week to local bars to sing. My sister caught the bug too and she started buying discs too. My karaoke habit was getting out of control and before I knew it I had 175 CDGs and quite a little library to boot. I then started having after hours karaoke parties at my home once the bars closed. I'm telling you I had it bad!!  

Then I started getting into the competitive side by entering contests. I faired pretty well and my sister and I ended up competing in the Oregon State Karaoke Finals and she took 4th and I came in 7th. Man was that an experience...we had no idea what stage presence was or what we were doing for that matter....but we sang our hearts out and that made up for most of it.

Then some friends asked my sister and I to sing at their wedding and provide some music (did this for free)....then another couple asked us to do their wedding and we charged them a whopping $100 which we split 50/50...then our Elks Lodge asked us to do a karaoke show twice a month for about 3 months and it was reasonable pay so we did it. I look back on it now and have to laugh. We did that gig by combining our home systems together and did it with a whopping 75 watts per channel

Frankly I was content with never going much farther but then a local KJ (Dalton) had a little gig in an obscure bar that I sang at, and one night he said I'm going to give my 2 weeks notice here as I have a gig that will give me multiple nights and more money....would you like to KJ here? If so I will introduce you to the owner and you can take the gig over. Frankly I never really wanted to go into it professionally but something inside me said "Do It" So I got the introduction and the gig. And then scrambled frantically to purchase equipment and more discs to do the gig. I ended up spending about $2500 on my sound system and another $2500 in discs on top of what I already had, and I was in business.

I took that gig from one night a week to two and it lasted 15 months then I was approached to do a multiple night gig for much higher pay, but that was my first professional gig with pro equipment and it served me well.

Anyway I'm now in my 10th year and have enjoyed many stable longterm gigs, some lasting as long as 4 years. I now have 3 sound systems all digital, about 12,000 songs in each library (un-duplicated) and it's all paid for. I now do both KJ and DJ work have a solid base of repeat customers for private home gigs, corporate parties, yacht clubs, and weddings. My rates have raised over the years and I now get some nice $$ for doing what I did in the beginning for peanuts.

Karaoke has been "Very Good To Me" and still remains to be a major hobby and passion in my life. I have met some really great people and had some good times along the way. Karaoke is "Good Clean Fun" and as long as I can carry a tune I will have a mic in my hand and a song in my heart.  LOL

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

truly?  answered an ad in the paper for a singer/entertainer.  had no idea it was karaoke but the money was right and i needed a job!

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All work and no play make Homer something something

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Long story short - I was talked into filling in for the established Karaoke Host. It went from one night, to 2 nights, to 3 nights, to permantly. The KJ was a friend who was burnt out after 6 years on the job. He passed the baton over to me gladly. I bought my own equipment and was all of a sudden in a new profession.

The funny part is he talked me into it. Now I'm glad he did. I helped his son get started and he also is a KJ in the area now. We are still great friends.

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

I started out collecting/building my own personal library of CDGS shortly after I started getting into the Karaoke scene (no pun intended for the name of this site). As I started to build my collection (over the years), I started coming to shows with a library that was larger than the KJ running the show/s. I used to loan my discs out to patrons (both to friends and strangers) so that they could sing more of the stuff that they enjoyed.

What really got me started as a KJ (and I only do this occasionally) was when I decided to buy my first (on so far, only) car 7 years ago. My company had officially announced that we could now borrow against our 401K plan. The date that they announced when this could begin was effective 07/03/00 (which happened to be my Birthday). I decided to take out a loan and buy myself a car (after 3 months (prior to 07/03) of driving my co-workers crazy (no pun intended there either) with all sorts of questions about cars and insurance). When I finally decided to get the car, I decided to take out an extra $4,000 to buy all of the equipment I would need to run my own show.

Well like some of the others had said, it started out as a (bad) hobby.  I hung out at the bars that some good friend KJ's of mine worked at, every single weekend.  It went from once a week, to 3 nights a weekend, for about 6 years...Then I started buying discs, to get the songs I WANTED and to get songs that NO ONE else had in the area.  Well when another DJ/KJ that I know real well was looking to sell his business, he couldn't do it anymore for health reasons.  So I've been in business for just about 2 years, actively looking for work for about 1+ years......now I'm turning down gigs weekly because I'm already booked somewhere else.  I still go to see my good friend KJ's, but only ONCE a mth....If for some reason I don't have something else going on.  I have NO complaints...things are going very well.  Still learning the equipment, still changing, still upgrading.....it doesn't stop!  Good luck, MrD

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

Many years ago, I sang professionally.

I also was a back-up to a local opera company...a very long time ago.

I got into karaoke pretty much when it started to catch on here in the US. I used to go to shows on weekends. I entered a number of competitions, and even as a professionally trained vocalist, I never won. I came in second a lot, though. The winners always had a costume and could dance. I'm not a very good dancer, so my voice has to carry me.

I started putting together my own karaoke system after renting one for a party and having so much fun running it. That was about 10 years ago. My system (hardware) has been completely redone every other year. I get really bored and find a better sound or a new gismo, and I start over. My last excuse to my wife to get her to buy into me doing it over again was that I couldn't lift the stuff into my truck. This really was true, and now, I have a pretty nice compact system that I can lift and set-up and tear down pretty quick.

I don't consider KJing a full time job (hmm, felt like it yesterday), because I work it mostly on weekends with the occasional mid week job. I am a mechanical engineer full time (that pays for my karaoke habit).

People ask me all the time about getting into the business, and I have to say that while it is really fun, It's hard to pay back the costs associated with it. I figure if I could average $300 a night, it will take me about 5 1/2 years to pay back what I have into it. That assumes that I never buy another disk or new gizmo...right!

That's nice to know Dennis.  I fit into the same catagory there.  Except I certainly can't sing professionally..hahahah.  MrD - Mechanical Designer by day.....DJ/KJ by weekends!  I have no plans nor no desires (other than the fairy tale ones) to switch over and DJ full time.  Maybe after I retire..but that's 20+ years down the road..

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

MrD,

I hear ya. The difference with me is I plan on retiring in about 2 years, then I will probably spend more time KJ/DJing. I really enjoy it most of the time, but have done it long enough to know that it could turn into a "JOB" really quick and that might take the fun out of it.

The place I work up north, has been growing all the time. Once you get out of the metro (Twin Cities, MN), karaoke seems to be more popular. I am in a summer resort area up north, and my shows keep growing. The last 4 Saturdays have been packed. Probably 20+ singers, and 60 to 100 people watching and listening. People dance to the Karaoke. I have some really good singers that come in (regulars). This venue is really easy to do, because of the level of participation, and people are up north to relax and have a good time.

My shows in the cities are much harder to do. Less people and more problems, do to ever changing crowds and attitude (if you know what I mean).

BTW, I started in mechanical design...was a draftsman back when we still used pencils and slide rules...showing my age again  :shock:

Yes, I too really enjoy it...so that helps.  The only real difference is that I went from singing pry 6-8 times a night, 3 nights a week....to MAYBE singing 2 or 3 times a weekend.  I'm way out of practice now-a-days, don't have time to stay up and spend time learning new songs.  I always tried to get into more of the 'crowd' songs....get people to have fun and dance.  Bring a 'new flavor' to the karaoke place, which my KJ friends enjoyed.......MrD

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

For sure! The amount of times I sing varies, but usually a few more times early in the night, when there aren't many singers. Once a decent rotation gets going I stay out of the way. I only sing when requested then.

I'll tell you how I learn new songs. I burn a disk of songs I want to learn, with the actual song and karaoke music for each one. I listen to the disk in my truck. Eventually I learn them. I have a lot of time in my truck tho...Friday from town to up north and back on Sunday. I get 4+ hours of "free" practice time.