jamkaraoke @ Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:56 am wrote:
I’ve been KJ’ing for about 9 years and as many I started out as a SINGER and saw an opportunity to make some extra cash doing something I love. Years ago as you would drive down the various “club strips” you could see the word “KARAOKE HERE” proudly displayed on almost every club/bar marquee. The basic pay for a night back then was around $200-$250 per night for a 4 hour bar gig. The average karaoke singer was an intoxicated patron with the nerve to get up in front of the crowd and LET LOOSE! Karaoke back then was NEW and EXCITING and every bar in town wanted it. These NEW KJ’s were either SINGERS who thought they can run a better show than the ones they were going to , or experienced DJ’s trying to CASH in or Musicians and SOUND guys who saw karaoke as a legitimate form of LIVE entertainment. At the start my (karaoke) crowds were fairly large with double digit rotations all night long, and I was constantly adding to my library and improving my system.
Today it is different, Karaoke is still around but you won’t find it at every bar in town anymore.
Most of the Marquees have the word Karaoke in conjunction with something else.
Karaoke /DJ- Karaoke / Dance - Karaoke / Wet T-Shirt Contest - You get the idea!
My Karaoke crowds are much smaller and the rotations in the single digits most nights.
The bar crowds are still the same and everyone is having fun dancing , singing , playing pool, etc. SO I keep my job although the pay is now $125 per night for the average small town bar KJ. Like many I am now completely COMPUTERIZED and my library and Sound system still gets many compliments as “one of the best around”. Although I stopped buying monthly discs and just buy on requests or “sales”. My bar system which I leave set up and share with the other DJ at the bar has downsized to a Powered mixer, 2 15” speakers and some wireless mics.
(Without any loss of quality or sound). I still have my rack system at home for parties and “special occasions but who needs to lug that around every Saturday night.
I wish if having a $10,000 system and 50,000 songs would allow me to work 3 nights a week and make $300 per show but it won’t. I have heard similar stories from other KJ’s in my area.
I visit this site daily and add my opinions whenever I think I can be helpful. I am waiting for the NEXT REVOLUTION which will move KARAOKE back to the forefront of the BAR entertainment scene. What will that be?????? Ideas ? Suggestions? Comments?
Well, I guess it's just like this site. People used to post so much, and so often that it seemed like a chat room. There were more people, and it seemed you had a rebuttal as soon as you hit the submit button....
...now sometimes it's days til you get a reply. Guess all things come to an end, and yes, that includes the sun and the moon, for one day they will have their demise. I guess the worst thing for karaoke is a KJ that doesn't really care about the singers, and to me that means each and every singer. Though poor sound systems are a problem, I've seen many KJs that just make a system sound poorly. Some are only in it for the money, and many owners think karaoke is all the same, they just need to find the cheapest provider. This forces many good KJs, who have been doing it for awhile to hang it up. Many are a bit burned out as it is, so once the fee goes south, it's pretty easy to say f@#k it. Also, it takes more than karaoke to bring in customers, and keep them happy. They need a few drink specials, and some descent eats, even if it's just pizza...it needs to be good pizza. Karaoke, as we have all mentioned, is self limiting, more and more people seem to be singing, and the listeners seem to be dwindling. Lot of guys come in stag, order that one diet coke, and then expect to sing all night....
. Most singers would like to sing at least 4 or 5 songs in a 4 hour hit, so they get their own home system, have karaoke parties, and don't go out as much as they did before.....now I've gone and depressed myself.....
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