Karaoke Forums

My vote is no.

I have heard mentioned several times that "karaoke juke boxes" will replace KJ's in the future.

I have been to places that already have a similar set up and no one sings because there is no KJ there to encourage them. No one there to tailor their sound to be just what they want, no one there to keep any kind of order or pat their backs for a job well done. No one there to fill in the blank spots and dead air time between songs that make a karaok show "a show"  instead of a bunch of songs playing on a jukebox.  

The KJ is the glue that holds a show together. Without them you have "a jukebox"and that's not MUCH as a "show"!  I don't know about the rest of you but if I saw an add that said "Karaoke jukebox" tonight! My reaction would be SO WHAT???

What makes something valuable? Supply and demand! If the karaoke is ALWAYS there and available for a dollar or two- why would anyone set aside a special night to go to a venue. They always have it. A KJ is there on "special nights" and for a limited amount of time. That makes him "rare" because he's not always available. That gives him value that an ever present machine couldn't compete with.

Also consider the egomaniacs, drunks, groups, and other rowdies that need a "person" there to keep them in line and to "make a discretionary decision"as required that would be in the audience's best interests as a whole- and in the bars best interests to protect the equipment and keep order.

Those computerized stations may be purchased in some places- but I have a feeling that like 8 track tapes, beta video and other flawed or inefficient technolgies that have gone by the wayside- Venue owners  will find that a live KJ is still going to provide a better bang for the buck!

That's just me...what do you think?

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The answer of course is no, but I think I mentioned that scenario in your other post of which got on the topic of format shifting etc.   What about in the future where the karaoke songs and sound system was offered to bar and club owners via a JUKEBOX like all inclusive system ( which inlcuded reg music too). Now all the owners would need is a HOST (aka: less expensive KJ since you don't have any music or sound system) .... AGAIN talking futuristic.  - The system could be operated from BEHIND THE BAR by the Bartender ???  - just hand out the wireless mic and they SING ????  :(

IMHO That is only going to work in extremely small venues. A live host is always going to be better...and a show where the sound can be adjusted to each song and singers needs is alway going to sound better and be more fun for the singers...then there is the part about "scarcity" being part of the value of a show. Thats why Kj's have followings. They may not be willing to go to the same place every night- but they ARE willing to follow the same KJ to different places almst every night. Can't see a jukebox taking their place..not many people will follow an inanimate object. (wink)

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A bar owner is not a kj host, a musician, and most know nothing at all about music or singers. They do crazy things sometimes. If it looks good on paper, presented by a good fast talking salesmen. And they think they can make money in the long run, they will buy it, rent it, lease it. But they will try it.

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Sweet Little Me In Karaokeland........

The system is already there. They are common in Asia where private room karaoke is very common. In many of this rooms JUKEBOX have replaced KJ.
There is no way such system will replaced a KJ completely ; at most it complement the KJ based karaoke. It is a niche market.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

I also vote no.. I totally agree with everything you said....

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Will sing or fish for food!!I'm not quite right!!

kinda hard to say where technology is going to take us.

Customers can be extremely fickle, and they can also be extremely generic. I can see both sides happening.

My thoughts are the pro kj shows will dwindle to a fad, really, and as much as the one man bands with their computerized setup succeeds, I think a jukebox karaoke setup COULD succeed as well.

Hey, if customers will support rotation mismanagements, bribes, sh*tty sound, crappy mics... believe you me... it'll happen! The kj box thing could work around MOST of that there...

Granted, it's a simple solution to a larger problem. The sheer truth is, most venues don't CARE. When Kjs command a larger pay, you can argue the semantics of a karaoke jukebox, just as much as you can defend the venues not wanting long-term karaoke jocked shows... because in the long term, they're better off having their own system and hiring the $25 a night dudes.

I can argue with them and scream and pee in the fan all I want... most times, it just gets me wet!

That's like saying DJs would be replaced by a jukebox.

It just isn't the same without a host !

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

This hits home for me....the place I am DJ/KJ right now is under heavy remodeling.  It was a real dive when I started there and am slowly helping bring it back into a descent place to come enjoy an evening.  The issue is the owner has these large/inflated dreams that he will buy the wonderful highend jukebox and not need a DJ/KJ anymore..or just for special occasions.  It's another one that 'sounds good in theory, but will not work long term'.  People don't goto a place for a dang good jukebox.  I'm sure it will get tried for awhile then realize, maybe that wasn't such a great idea.  It will make it's way into the mainstream beacause everyone believes it's so easy to do, but will eventually come back around.  We have to hope anyway.  I'm not too awful worried about it.  MrD

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

What is the KJ's biggest source of income ?    Bars and alcohol serving establishments ?   What percentage of bars will cut back on their entertainment by about ___ percent due to alcohol laws and smoking bans over time ?   I think the KJ will be replaced by television sets and pool tables and entertainment will be cut and revert to other low tech past types of background entertainment as bar revenue decreases in the outskirt areas and rural areas. I don't believe there'll be enough interest to even generate a means of computerized "self-service" Karaoke in nightclub establisments for this to even be a consideration. Karaoke will phase-out before this happens. Remember,  Where you have technology, you still need a person to operate it, and at least repair it, and that can get costly. Computers are NOT maint. free.

Cities will likely still have Bands, DJ's and KJ's but KJ's won't have steady sources of revenue as the Karaoke bar fad dies down.  Karaoke is a fad, nothing that a person should view as a longterm *career*.  Entertainer however might be a career and depending on how you market yourselves, your tenacity, I believe that will determine what you can do given lower demand for your area of entertainment as revenue to your current employment falls.  The KJ will need to adapt, and find an area of entertainment that caters to the private sector, soft-drink crowds, and doesn't yield as steady of a weekly income.  There'll likely always be the private party with kids the wants Karaoke someplace.  I don't think Karaoke will exist in bars as a primary source of entertainment in 5 years unless you are willing to work for peanuts, and quite honestly this won't be the fault of "undercutters", demand will fall back, so payout will decline.  

JMO

(Those of us that use Karaoke as a session training tool in an attempt to learn to sing however will ALWAYS need it!)

What it's done, is created an indispensable tool for singers, and solo musicians alike !   Play with the band without leaving home !

JMHO..

What will happen is bars will pool their payout, and channel likely for a "saturday night" band, or friday night live band.  This still pulls in more revenue assuming it's a decent dance band !   Rather than paying the KJ a few hundred over the course of a week,  the payout will go towards one or two nights of entertainment that'll generate the venue higher income on prime bar nights.  Bars will also need to find some option of service besides just "Alcohol" service.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Karaoke is still going to be wanted by many & samrt bars will know that they need real kj's with good reps & eauipment/selection.  People - at least good singers - are not going to want to sing on a jukebox system with no one there to mix & hype them up.  Part of karaoke is the audience factor.  People that go to karaoke bars know they are the audience.  When you go into a place that just has a jukebox - but not a real karaoke night, you try to sing, everyones going to look at you thinking, oh gees!

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

Actually we have evolved into a different format It is a sophisticated KJ/DJ format that caters to different types of venues. In fact hard core karaoke singers are not attracted to our shows. We entertain dinner crowds with 5-10 good singers. We start at 7:30..Its not karaoke and its not DJ Its entertainment. It is a very high paced high energy full FX at times and will never be replaced by What?

Ive tried to explain this format several times and its like in that other thread now
Oh no non no You cant do that!! You have to apply this rule and you shouldnt do that. But like I say we dont attract hard core karaoke singers. We dont have to deal with demanding drunks.

A booth here is not 4 people sitting there drinking beers they are eating a full meal plus drinks. More till more profit The more I can demand. Its getting to the point where when we are tearing down the mngr comes over and asks how much do we owe you tonight?

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Actually we have evolved into a different format It is a sophisticated KJ/DJ format that caters to different types of venues. In fact hard core karaoke singers are not attracted to our shows. We entertain dinner crowds with 5-10 good singers. We start at 7:30..Its not karaoke and its not DJ Its entertainment. It is a very high paced high energy full FX at times and will never be replaced by What?

Ive tried to explain this format several times and its like in that other thread now
Oh no non no You cant do that!! You have to apply this rule and you shouldnt do that. But like I say we dont attract hard core karaoke singers. We dont have to deal with demanding drunks.

A booth here is not 4 people sitting there drinking beers they are eating a full meal plus drinks. More till more profit The more I can demand. Its getting to the point where when we are tearing down the mngr comes over and asks how much do we owe you tonight?

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Do you think Smart bars are going to expand that much though ?    They might, but to my awareness they pretty much stayed on the West Coast, and aren't anything new. Assuming they take off, watch the FDA start to heavily attempt to regulate them.  Also the AMA will attempt to slap nasty "psycho-stimulant" contraindications on these " Uncontrolled substances that enhance dopamine". I'll bet that we will start seeing dangers of psychotic affects of improper usage of uncontrolled Seritonin releasing substances. Over the past decade they've stayed pretty much contained to the more artsy elite progressive locations .  Assuming they do expand however, do you think they'd pick up the KJ's out've work ?  I'm inclined to feel much available work will be distributed in such venues back to the live "coffee house" acoustic guitarists, and guitar playing duos.    

I think where you and I may not see eye to eye here Lonnie, is in percentage that want or will want Karaoke making it *lucrative* for an actual entertainer to hang onto a title such as "KJ". I just don't foresee the actual "KJ" as an entertainer that will be able to sustain (income) work shortly down the road, I feel overtime the nightclub fad will drop-off but I may very well be wrong of course.  Again, we are speculating, and this is may thoughts on this.  You may very well be correct.  It'll be interesting to see what actually comes to fruition 5 years down the road.

My concern is that there won't be enough of a demand over time in the nightlife areas of entertaining to make being just a KJ affordable.  I believe there will be a demand especially in "Smart bar" type settings for the mellower live duo where people will be less interactive when out.

The novelty of Karaoke as we've discussed is now more of an affordable home-computer, and home entertainment concept than it was years back, I think "Smart bars" will always stay contained to college, university, and artsy wealthy "Progressive" areas and even THESE will be subject to fad as is "Health" consciousness degree in our nation.  Perhaps health club/ smart bar/ nightclub lounges will become active.. Health clubs around my area are even starting to close down, and limit their hours of operation. My own guess is that quite a few will opt for the live entertainment affordable coffee house duo as opposed to the interactive Karaoke form of entertainment,  for dance music the DJ will be back !

JMO of course,  Naturally I haven't a clue what the future holds !

Interesting conversation though

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Lousy karaoke IS a fad.  Great karaoke will always be in demand.  The so, so outfits come and go.  People will always want to have their "3 minutes of fame."  You can't have that doing karaoke without an introduction.  A great bartender, if they are one, wouldn't have the time to intro songs.

Tech can only go so far.  As long as there are humans as customers, there will have to be that "human touch" somewhere in the "mix."  (No pun intended)

Kelly

IN reading all the interesting points everyone has made - one thing kept coming to mind and that is the fact there will always be as previously said- plenty of people who want a chance to sing in public. Thats never going to change and as some move on to other pursuits, get to old to want to "party", go professional or just realise that they suck singing and will alway "suck" and move on for whatever reason...there will continually be a fresh supply of singers stepping in to take their place. I started Karaoke in 1990 when it was a relatively "fresh" concept here in the states. That was 17 years ago and I have only seen the popularity grow, It's also still going strong in overseas countries where it has been going on much longer than here.

I'd also like to point out..live bands can get old. Earth Wind and Fire is my favorite band and I've seen them in concert more times than I care to remember...but if I had to do it everynight- or several times a week- just like my favorite food which BTW is sushi...it will grow old. "Good" bands are also hard to find then more expensive to pay= especially when compared to the relatively low cost of a professional KJ show. And if said KJ had a stable of good singers as Karyoker stated... then you can easily compete with a "live band situation" A big advantage is Karaoke is never the same at any 2 live shows. If a KJ is keeping updated in their song selection- There are continually "new" chances to sing something you've never done and to hear others do the latest and greatest.

I went back to Myrtle Beach last summer and ran into a guy named "Jessie" who was out 5 nights a week at Karaoke and the other 2 were at live bands when I was running shows. This was back when "Hootie and the Blowfish" was still an undiscovered local band! "Jessie" was out with his wife and 15 year old who sings like a bird! Oh I forgot to say- Jessie couln't sing a note and to my knowledge not once in the hundreds of show he attended did he ever get on stage even ina group. I laughed when I saw him and asked "what the allure of Karaoke" had been and was still". His answer was "Karaoke suits everyone..I could come to a show with my "boys" and play pool and meet nice girls when I was single...or I could bring a date and we could just have a great time with no pressure for things to talk about- each singer/song gave that to us. It was also a given that you could approach any girl that had sung and have something to say to her without sounding like a "Dweeb"(LOL) Now I can bring my KID and its a fun activity we enjoy as a family. " I think that says it all. Karaoke can't be calleda fad because it already HAS endured 2 decades. It is one of the only forms of entertainment that suits all ages and tastes...and as I said in my profile. It spans cultures, age, sex, religion, and any other border or division you can think of with one of the commonality "Music" I think its a wonderful thing and will be around for our grandkids. And Steve- I so respect you as one of the most intelligent posters on here. Everything you say is well though out and even more well written. But I just have to disagree with you on this. I'm sticking to my guns...in a SMALL situation and under SOME select circumstances KJs can be replaced..but they will never be "extinct" Granted evolution weeds out the weak- so the sucky hosts will probably be in another line of work sooner or later..but the good ones are here to stay.. I think that's a good thing!

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Okay, who took my pants?

Actually I think if bars drop karaoke - at least the shows that aren't drawing anyone (you know the bad ones), then it will make it in higher demand & the bars that have it will reap the benefits of the others dropping it.  I don't think karaoke will ever die honestly, too many people like to sing.  People are turning 21 everyday.  I still get people coming in on rare occasion wondering what the hell everyone is doing - no they never heard of it (so they said).



Karaoke is definitely more in the home than it used to be, & that has hurt a little bit to the club scene, but it will never take over.  You can only throw so many 'karaoke parties', many people like to sing nightly in front of an audience & not to their wall at home.  I would be willing to wager that most that have a machine at home originally did so so they could practice at home to sing those songs in the clubs.



No one does, otherwise we'd all be rich in the stock market!

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For 5 or 6 years I maintained and installed jukeboxes. Went to a pioneer seminar in Denver. When Rowe ans Seeburg came out with cd boxes they went nuts. I was on weekend call and Gary form the Cove called up in Loveland sumpin wrong with that jukebox wont take money. Bring some more plush for the crane. Did you ever see more than $300 in a Mras bill acceptor?  That was one of those places we programmed 15 minutes before happy hour to play a quick succession of soul or rap. People were pulling dollars out and couldnt feed the box soon enough.

But thats another thing To play the jukebox it takes a constant stream of dollar bills and fives. Forget quarters.. Karaoke forms bonds between people of all faiths. How many memories do you have of hearing a song on a jukebox for the first time versus hearing it at karaoke? It is vibrant A jukebox is nothing more than a nicotine stained impersonal box that sometimes wont even work.

You know whats wrong in Iraq? They dont sing over there.. Give me a bunch of KJ'S and lets go over there WE will get them singing instead of hating and planning a gihad all the time. Believe me Ive been in bars in ankarra and instanbul turkey The locals sit there and stare with disdain. Me and Bobbt Darr a kid fro Round Rock Texas would start singing old country. OMG Theyd just start smiling and open up and clap and go nuts. They would try to teach us a local song and we would try but just sit there with the best forrin relations policy in the world. We would party and bond and get drunk. A jukebox wouldnt do it...

Next week we'll start working on the floods in Texas and the arid conditions causing forest fires.

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DAY-UM......whooooeeee! i think yu just found the solution to world peace!!! WAY TO GO...Now all we gotta do is elect a KJ for prez!!!!

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