Karaoke Forums

I do my gigs in the northern part of Wa State. I'm one of a few 'independents' in the area. A couple others are employees of production companies, but I own my own, and do my own.

There's one guy in the area (next county up), that's a real xss. He's got about 15 shows (and they're multi-rigged), and he promotes himself as the shows to end all shows. One of the bars in town was getting desperate for an entertainment option and somehow got hooked up with this guy, and he's been doing two shows a week at a place a couple blocks away from my two venues.

He started out doing Mondays and Saturdays and bombed. Mondays probably cause the show just sxcked, and Saturdays because I'm down the street and really pack 'em in. He's the type that will try to buy independents like me, but I made it very clear to him that that'd never happen. He's go a shady past (drugs, violence, etc.), and I'd rather he stayed away from me, my shows, and my friends. He's unpredictable and in some respects dangerous.

They changed the Saturday to Friday to compete with my Friday show. Attendance never really took at hit at my shows, and his have been blah (I send scouts ). PFten times receiving reports back that there are maybe ten people in the bar and only 1 or two are singing and he's doing most of it. After having dropped the Mondays, they started doing Wednesdays too. Competing directly with me again to try and steal my established crowd.

He's not doing so well, and he tries so hard. He writes articles in the karaoke newspaper posing as a patron and pumping up his shows like they're the best thing in the world, he has a van that he's got all painted up and has some lights on it to attract attention, and recently he's brought out a search light and a dancing wind gumby looking thing.

He doesn't fit it our small town. He doesn't enjoy the same anonymity he gets in a bigger city. He's a joke, and he just keeps thinking he's the coolest thing ever.

He used to have an employee hosting the show, and the show tanked. The bar actually stopped it, untill he forced his contract on them. They honored it on the condition that he himself host the shows. I don't think he's digging that idea and his rep is starting to get around town that he's an xss.

There are several reasons not to like this guy personally, but his multi-rigging scares me. Not that I'm doing anything wrong, per se, but it's rigs like his that have been prosecuted in the past, and with as much attention as he draws to himself, I can only imagine it's a matter of time before someone comes to check out the validity of 75,000 song library (x 15) = 1.5 million dollars in music minimum, and while they're in the area who's to say they don't start asking questions of the rest of us. I can probably produce most of my receipts, and show a good faith effort to be legit, but does anyone really want to be 'audited'? I don't.

Anyway, his shows aren't doing well, and it's probably just a matter of time before he packs up. I think he's switched Wednesdays to Rockband or something which won't go over in town (another band tried it and 'splat', another bar tried the Wii thing and 'splat', and the town regulars are pretty loyal to me, pool tournaments, a couple of the DJs and some bands. The place I do my Saturdays at was looking to do something on Fridays and they were leaning towards another karaoke show. Damn, are there no original thoughts anymore? I turned them on to dart tournaments (no one else up here has them), and they've been doing relatively well.


Anyway, anyone else have to put up idiots like this blowhard host down the street from me, on your circuit?

We have one guy who reminds me of this vaguely. He apparently gets upset when someone fires him for lack of crowds, and tries to make threatening noises, but despite his rather intimidating size he is pretty harmless.

But with regard to "auditing", has anyone here ever gone through it? I have electronic receipts for most everything, and 600+ actual physical CDs. But I just went over 350 downloaded songs in my library.

If anyone has been audited, who was it by and what form did it take? I have not actually heard anything about this ever happening, which is why the multi-riggers run wild.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Oh Yes!!! I even had one company send me a threatening text message which finished with the fact they were going to undercut me and steal my shows. Three years on they have no regular gigs now and I hear very little about them, but for a while it got quite scary.

I've been audited. I had all my ducks in a row though. No problems.

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

What do they do when they audit you?
How do you know that it's not just some guy having one over on you?
(I could see someone pulling a prank like that!)

Tax audit

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

I was thinking more along the lines of those ebay types that would mass produce hard drives and sell them. Those are the types of folks that are getting prosecuted. What's the difference between that and these multi-riggers who copy their library over 15-20 times and run concurrent shows?

Ahhhh! I was thinking an audit of your music library to see if it was legal....
My mistake.

How many songs on one duck?

You have NOTHING to worry about Croak. You are well established and have a very loyal following thats NOT GOING ANYWHERE. The karaoke police are really not that interested in a single independent KJ in a small town. However they would be VERY interested in a large scale multi-rigger that shoots his mouth off and brags about his gear, mutliple libraries ad-nauseum. Jsut make sure that the bar you KJ at is current on thier ASCAP/BMI fees. Thats the only sniffing around Ive heard of up here(PDX and Seattle). Pay this fool no attention. He will dissapate and disappear. We have several of these types in PDX(Portland) and they get shows, fail at them, get kicked out and then sprout up again like weeds. Most of the time thier KJ's suck and the veunues last 6 months to a year at most.

You will outlast this clown.

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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

you're just quackers

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

No question about both your outlasting this guy, AND that he has opened himself up to being checked out by the Karaoke Police.

We had a guy up here like him. Said he was great, but never seemed to last more than 6 months anywhere. He also seemed to leave a bed taste wherever he went...

Yup, out of business now.

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

and some of those multi riggers sell off their originals for cheap.. kinda nice to buy em up isnt it.

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:angel:

You guys quack me up.

I saw that coming. I should have ducked.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Bar owners are no longer impressed with amount of songs They listen to your system and are impressed when you have a good selection and add as customers request. Those types never did flourish here for the owners see through them.

Multiriggers shows suck because they usually have mediocre systems and their library is seldom updated. I have no problem competing with them and the chances that they will replace me is slim to none. Masterblaster is familiar with this area and I bet you a dollar to a donut he knows who I am talking about.

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If a KJ refuses to invest in legit music (and let's face it - multi-use != legit) then they also are unlikely to be investing in sound quality. They show no real committment. They won't last.

I wouldn't be so hasty as to make the assumtion that pirates don't have good sound quality and don't have any talent as hosts.
It a dangerous thing to do if you think they can't be any competition to you.
I've seen more than a few who have AWESOME PROFESSIONAL systems and are GREAT at hosting.
But you guys can keep jamming your heads in the sand....
I don't mind.

diefel's got a serious point.

I've known some pirates that had excellent sound. They invested in THAT. they just didn't invest in any songs... that was all their pirate activities.

The two main pirates in our area (NW WA) haven't really invested that well in sound equipment though if you asked them, they'd say they had.