Karaoke Forums

what have some of you members done about song books coming up missing? Itried to keep them at the booth with me,but seems like at least 1 gets stolen every other week. any ideas greatly appreciated,thanks all

Get a website & list your books online, keep it current & advertise that everyone can look online!

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Lon is right that's agreat idea- most of the people that take'em do so so that can look through to decide what they want to learn to sing at future shows you do. So they probably ARE regulars.

I had a problem like that and my songbooks were the big notebook style &  all had little LED lights attached to them so people could read them in the darker places, Darn lights were $6 apiece. They started dissappearing so I worked it out with some of my friends who came to the show regularly. My boss and I gave 'em a 25 or 30 dollar bar tab to "man the door" They basically were psuedo bouncers but they could drink. They used to laugh because people would hand them their ID's when they walked in. But their main purpose was to make sure that no one carried bar glasses or song books outside. Made both me, my friends, and my bar owner VERY happy!

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this was discussed before in a thread and i just don't understand it.

i've NEVER had a book stolen.  ever.  period.  i've been a kj for a loooonnnggggg time, too.  i can't imagine why anyone would want a book, though??????

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All work and no play make Homer something something

Books have been taken out of our clubs for a number of reasons - granted not regularaly, but I will lose on average 2-3 books per year, this has been going on since '92 when I started hosting.  
I know alot of people that have taken them home to be able to highlight the songs they want to try - partly why I now list them online, which has almost eliminated this.  Some of the books eventually reappeared weeks later.  I've known of other companies that have come in - by word of mouth of crossover customers stating they saw one of my books on their counter at their show - for whatever reason, or they are just trying to duplicate a decent library & want to know what to get  :whistle: .  I have found books that have been just misplaced through out the bar, on top of/behind video machines, occasionally find them in the garbage, once found one in a urinal - I think I know who did that one too, they were cut off from singing for the night since they were too drunk to stand up.

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Sometimes we will be missing a book and look all over Sometimes its there next morning but most mysteriously reappear the next week. One I know for sure was taken by a wannabe and wanted a list to go by for a new business,

My pet peeve is I buy the cheapie packs of pens and have the pouch in the front of the book with slips and 2 pens.. When I setup the next time I have 3 pens left!!!

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Lo/jack your books in the future

I don't understand it either. I don't think I've ever had a book go missing ! Pencils yes  LMAO I swear people eat pencils.

I have let people take books home and they always return them. I even copied my listings on disc for people to take home and they bring those back, when they were meant to keep them.

Is someone mad at you?

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Thanks Everybody For The suggestions! The Website Seems To Be The Best,Hopefully It Works. I Also Swear That Peple Deep Down Love To Eat Pencils (Wonder What Flavor They Prefer #1s Or #2s  

Again,,,Thanx Everybody!!!!!

I have to admit I can be a book hog. I like to look through the entire book. I have never taken a book. I did print out one of Lonman's books about a month before visiting his show and I carried it with me to the show. I had it clearly marked... "ISIS Karaoke Book"  I had highlighted all the songs I wanted to sing, Just in case...  Everyone I know thought I was nuts.. I just knew I didn't want to spend the night with my nose in the book after traveling 2000 miles to get to his show....

BTW.. Lonman does a superb show. If you are ever in his neighborhood I highly recommend it.

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

Ditto. Not only that, he is a great singer and all around nice guy -- as you might guess from his helpfulness here.

We stopped using books 3 years ago.  Singers look up songs on a computer that sends the request to us automatically.

No Books, binders, sleeves, slips or pencils!

I agree completely.  Kiosks are the only way to go particularly if you only play one venue.  No books, no book related problems.

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Okay, who took my pants?

As far as the pens dissapearing,...I USED to have trouble with that. I use the pouches in the front of the book also with the slips and pens.  I buy the cheapie package of Bic pens; black ink color; usually about 10 for a buck.  

What I do now though, is remove the caps and throw them away.  I have found not many people wish to "take" a pen and put it in their pocket or purse that doesn't have a cap on the end of it.

Kelly

Try WalMart, they have pens 10 for $.50!  They work just fine.

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

I have had a few books "disappear" over the years. Never found out what happened to them. Since my books are quite large now (300 + pages), it doesn't seem to be happening anymore.

I've also tried many methods to keep people from taking pens. Leaving the cap off doesn't work. I even tried chaining the pens to the book---BAD, BAD IDEA! The chains became so tangled it was impossible to use the pens, so people were breaking the chains off. Now I just buy a box of 144 golf pencils for six bucks, and they last about 4-6 weeks. I keep a pencil sharpener with me.

Yes, this is the back to school time of year.. Time to stock up on cheap pens and binders for the year.. I don't run a karaoke show but I stock up anyways... With 3 kids, I am constantly loosing pens.. I also take them to work because I run call center and they always need pens too....  I really like the golf pencil idea...

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

You can get golf pencils at Staples et al pretty cheap.  We lose very few books over the years.  What we also do is when we redo the books, we give away the old books to our regulars.  The problem I see with kiosks is a lot of singers enjoy browsing through the books throughout the night at their leisure but with a kiosk singer would feel rushed.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

A valid conern certainly.  But my experience with the kiosks went like this.  First night a few people played with the kiosk but I got a lot of slips.  Second night it was about haf and half, by the fourth night I got not one slip.  It has been my experience after three years with the kiosks that given the choice, 90% of the folks would rather use the kiosk.  I think the big draw is that they don't have to write anything and the easy search.  Writing by hand is becoming a lost art.

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Okay, who took my pants?

Even in the NON-school time of the year, they have a generic brand for $.50 per 10 pack.  The only place I buy pens anymore.  If they aren't of quality or leak, well then someone can find that out in their purse or shirt pocket  LMAO

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