Karaoke Forums

Let's assume that piracy all but disappears due to quality legal downloads and former pirates obtain the Gem series as settlement. How will you compete in the new marketplace with rates, product, etc.?

Rates that have dipped during the last few years due to piracy and the economy won't go back up, if anything, they'll dip further.

What will be your unique selling proposition for venues to hire you? KJ personality is not one. Anybody can say that they have a sparkling personality that the singers love.

I find they respond pretty well when you put a gun in the venue owner's face and make him an offer he can't refuse.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Rick, I ask variations on this question every once in a while, Asking that KJs exclude library and equipment (which anyone can purchase) from the equation. You will find that maybe 8 or 9 out of a thousand will be able to answer individually. Most haven't got a clue.

I can show an owner how I can bring people in regardless of library or equipment. In my case it's not JUST sparkling personality, but specific targeting using "karaoke psychology", flirtation, and an attitude toward the preferred ( partying drinkers as opposed to water/soda divas) income generating customers most desired by a venue.

Though I won't go into it here, I can give a history of success, and explain specifically the exact cause and effect.

This is why pirates as well as legit disc owner/ undercutters have never had an effect on me.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Joe has the formula that works. He is a solid host, works those that bring in the money, but doesn't avoid the water drinkers, and can prove through history that what he does works.
newer hosts can have a disadvantage without the long history of those like Joe, Lon and others, but it can be done if you look at what makes people happy. you are in the people business, make them happy and they return.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

There I fixed it for you.

You are saying exactly what I did in the other thread. Relationships with staff, owners and patrons, working the crowd and being liked by the patrons (personality) are key.

Find an owner, with customers that appreciate great karaoke. They must actually know the difference between great karaoke, and poor to fair quality karaoke.

No arguement! Many have misunderstood my comments about the The Cloud. My comments were about possible liability, but if all was on the up and up, I would LIKE the concept.

As I stated in another thread, unskilled KJs no longer having the ability to use large or "favorite" libraries as a selling point ( since anyone could have the same) would knock many, if not most of the garbage karaoke out of the box. Bad KJs are much more damaging to the industry than ANYTHING else.

I can't tell you how hard I have worked to get venues that originally said " Oh, we tried karoke and it sucked."

It's not that they are cheaper or pirate ( because many times they are legit and full-priced), it's because the bad experiences caused by bad KJs make it more difficult for all of us.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Even if all the pirates are gone or switched to the new Cloud Service, there are other things to consider as well. I don't canvass anymore for gigs since I'm nearing the end of my karaoke hosting run. Usually I get calls from friends who have friends running venues and want me to have a look at starting up a service for them. It is very important when doing this to stay professional and objective. I do mostly a Golden Oldies show since my target market is the baby boomers. The important thing to establish with the venue owner is trust, this calls for host being totally honest with the owner, and them with you. If a venue is not generating at least a $500.00 gross on their bar, they cannot afford to pay the host even a $100.00 per night. I have used this rule of thumb through good times and bad and it has always worked for me. My base happens to be $100.00 if they can afford it the talks continue. I work on a salary commission basis, it is the base aka salary plus commission of $10.00 per $100.00 of additional bar gross revenue, over 500.00. This doesn't sound like much but if a bar gross of $1500.00 is achieved, the host would make $200.00 for the evening. The venue owners like it since the host is assuming part of the risk along with the bar. Making you both partners working at making the venue as successful as possible. It has worked well for me, most of the year I work six days a week. Currently I'm on my annual two month vacation until New Year's Eve party I'm working then I start the new year.

Qualifier - I have only been at this for three (3) years now.

I thinks rates may be going up in my area. I recently picked up my best paying gig ever and I am courting another location that seems willing to run at the same rate. It is a rate that was literally laughed at by every other venue 3 years ago. But now folks are no more than just skeptical about it.

To the OP's point, I think we hit the bottom on rates a few years back. Hard Drives are no more or less available now then they were then and iRC/Torrent and other means of downloading are no more or less accessible.

With the introduction of KaraokeCloud, there is a new legal, relatively inexpensive option for obtaining legal tracks, but that already existed in the form of KaraokeVersion, Select-a-Track, KaraokeDownloads.ca and others.

I still think library size and variety is a differentiator but only because I feel like SC legal actions in my area have forced many pirates to think twice about using SC in their systems. Since I get to use SC and many others aren't, I have a very clear advantage there. Plus I think I have some good hosts working for me and we put on a quality show.

In short, the biggest value add is still going to be how you deliver your karaoke entertainment at the venues you work. Sell yourself along with the rest and then follow through on delivering a great experience and ultimately you will win.

-Chris

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-Chris

Chris I have not used SC in my shows nor promoted them for several years now and it is not effected my business at all. The only manu request I get is DK, and I have never had any patron insist on SC. Many bring their own discs which I am happy to play for them. Then of course I run a Golden Oldies show mainly for seniors such as myself and they were all brought up on DK. I could easily afford to lease the GEM series, but I don't see the need for my particular operation. Every host situation is different, after hearing all the bad mouthing on DK, it was interesting to me that one of the labels offered on the Cloud Service is DK. I guess that sort of vindicates my confidence in the product. It could be also that the DK label has fallen into the freeware status zone and DT could include it in it's library more easily than other still viable labels. This I'm not sure of. Have a nice day.

Lone - You cater to a relatively narrow demographic and a specific genre. I cater to whomever walks in the door. It is my job to keep them there spending money. SC is just another tool in my bag of tricks to help make that happen. I believe it is one of the more valuable tools I have. I also feel it is one of the better investments I have made in my karaoke business. So much so that with my recent expansion I decided to pick up a GEM series.

If I pulled SC from any of my shows, it would impact my business. Because I generally default to SC *and* I do have people that specifically request SC, pulling it has never been, and will never be an option.

Last night I had 6 requests for SC tracks. Two of those came from two other area KJ's that stopped by my show last night. Two other SC requests came from a regular, and the final two came from a newcomer.

-Chris

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-Chris

Chris that rather narrow demographic as you like to call us seniors is the single largest segment of the population currently with the largest disposable income in the country. It is good for me since I'm pushing 70 now and in two years will be fully retired. Like I have said before every host's situation is different and you still fortunately have many years of hosting to look forward to. The GEM series offers little for me, and I started with a business plan and a target market, that has worked for me. I'm not saying it will work for everyone. I'm just saying that there are many roads leading to the same goal or destination. Have a nice day.

Many years ago, I started with SC F1&F2, 5 SC Bricks, DK Millenium set, and some odds & ends......very few Chartbuster, no SGB.........never had a single complaint....There are singers who religeously prefer DK versions, as there are ones, who prefer Sound Choice. Boomers are responsable for Karaoke, making it this far.......I say that's a fact.......but we're dying off fast.....and will the younger generations, drop the batton?..

Sort of Like Monty Python where they are pushing the cart and saying "Bring Out Your Dead" and the guy saying "But I'm Not Dead Yet", right Johnny. The fact is the Baby Boomers are the egg going through the snake at least for the next 15 to 20 years. It will be interesting to see if karaoke survives after the Baby Boomers have passed on. Have a nice day.

Judging from the 19-25 year olds we get at our shows, I'd say karaoke is pretty safe.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

They lose interest pretty quickly.... ....plus they have so many more things available to them, than what we Boomers had....we had sports, singing, & a monopoly game if we were lucky....... ....he!!, even sex was a rarity.....

at least with a partner...

I don't get alot of seniors at my show, over 70% of what is sung is SC or only available through SC. Pulling SC from my books (like Chris) would be detrimental and alienating much of the customers as far as what they want - we get many people coming in because we have the brand (I don't care what a few others think that is 'brand' dependant or relying on it), it is a tool just like any other job & like to provide the tools people want to use.

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

Which proves what I have said all along Lonman we all have our target markets, or comfort zones. There are many jobs I throw to other hosts because they are not my type show. It is important to know one's self and we all have limitations, although we like to think we can handle any gig. That is why all successful generals pick their fights carefully and really play to their strengths and away from their weakness's. Have a nice day.

Disclaimer: Just guessing here - I'm a wannabe not a pro yet.

... What do bar owners ALWAYS ask? "Do you have a following?" Right?

If you have one I think you'll be ok. If not, it's tough. Btw, I also think personality definitely comes into play in building that following, but I'm still trying to build mine so what do I know?