Karaoke Forums

There has been a fair amount of debate on the forums over the last year about "the cloud". Particularly when DigiTrax popped up. I have been saying for years that streaming and cloud based storage options for all types of media are how things are moving. Of course I also work in an industry that gives me a bit of a crystal ball when it comes to technology trends so I am not going to claim to be some sort of soothsayer.

XBOX Music (formerly Zune), Spotify, Pandora, Netflix, Amazon, Grooveshark, Slacker Radio, Last.FM, (and many, many more services)even the cell phone providers and cable/satellite companies all provide lost cost and in some cases completely free access to streaming music. When it comes to audio and video media, the idea of ownership is something that younger generations are letting go of. There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to own a physical (or virtual) object that one can call their own, but ownership for these forms of media is becoming less important as cloud computing gets leveraged by more and more companies for delivery and storage of digital media.

No one can dispute that Apple's iTunes has been wildly successful. But even they are re-considering their current model of forcing users to download what they purchase before being able to consume it. I believe this will be a tipping point for consumers simply because of the number of "i" devices that Apple has in market.

Karaoke is already following suit. There are only a small number manufacturers that distribute on disc any more and many of them also make their product available for download. It is just a matter of time before KJ's obtain and store ALL of their content in the cloud.

If you still don't believe that cloud computing is the future, read this article and take the vote that is embedded within.

As of 9:30am Pacific on 04/07/2013, only 30% of *6678* voters feel they have to "own it".

http://m.nbcnews.com/technology/technol ... -1B9232131

-Chris

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-Chris

I think that opinion will shift when the internet goes down for a few days like it did in Europe last week from the largest ever coordinated DDOS attack. I agree that having something physical like a CD is no longer needed, but keeping a stored digital copy on YOUR device when storage is dirt cheap and microscopic just makes sense.

You all can have your streaming, but don't come knocking on my door when the internet breaks and I'm the only guy in town who can still do shows

Vinyl sounds better.

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-- Mark

As some of you may or may not know, I have been on board with streaming for quite some time (had the Chartbuster Pro Version) and it has its ups and downs! I also know have the ability to stream.....After almost 2 years experience I will say give me a disc, or let me have a digital download as my first 2 options...
Streaming is "ok" but Wi-Fi capabilities have everything to do with YOUR service. All this "Pre-Cache" bla bla is OK too. Still has a long way to go b4 its considered Professional

As retailers move to digital only options, it won't matter because there won't be any physical media produced to fall back on. We are seeing front page headlines around digital security to protect against national threats and this will trickle down (or even up) to digital retailers.

IPv6 transitioning will help alleviate some of the DDOS attacks but ultimately the software vendors will be taking a long hard look at mobile networking security as the transition from traditional desktop/laptop computing continues. It is those legacy machines being controlled by the botnets that are the most troublesome issue. As those devices fall off the net, the bad guys will be targeting mobile more heavily. Apple, Google, Microsoft are investing heavily in mobile security to try to prevent what happened on older platforms.

No matter what though, cloud is here to stay and true ownership is simply not going to be possible in the future because there will be nothing to own.

-Chris

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-Chris

Someone will own it. Otherwise there is no money to be made. What you mean is fewer people will be owners and more of us will be renters.

I've still got over 1,100 45's.

It's not ownership if it resides out of your control. If I have an unencrypted digital copy of a song, I will have control of it forever. If it's sitting on a server somewhere and someone else decides when I can view or listen to it, I don't feel like I own it, and let's be honest, I really don't.

and plenty of people are still using those obsolete VCRs too.

Why is that the guys that are always first to adapt to the newest technology have an axe to grind with people that still like the old way of doing things? They would rather lose business than make it possible for the old timers to sing at their shows by bringing a CD+G disc. I knew a guy that used to bring a CDG machine with him to shows and the KJ would let him hook it into his mixer. All he had were discs and he had some that were made just for him by a band of a friend of his.

Some people would prefer to go the extra mile than lose a good customer. Some people just don't give a crap. If you don't fit into their set up; they'd rather you just go somewhere else.

Speaking of axes to grind.....this thread has nothing to do with what you are talking about. Please take your axe elsewhere.

I have a small collection of 45's and LP's as well.
I *used* to have hundreds of CD's but sold them off over a decade ago as I went to the cloud.
I *used* to have hundreds of DVD's but sold them off over a decade ago as I went to the cloud.
I have never owned a Blu-Ray player.
I have not had Cable/Satellite in 5 Years.

There is a place for the "old stuff", it just won't be with the mass public.

You don't have to believe me and there isn't anything to argue about here. The proof is out there.

Streaming Services Begin to Beat Cable Subscriptions in ‘The Battle for the Couch Potato’

Xbox Live May Be Growing Faster Than Cable

The Battle for the North American (US/Canada) Couch Potato: Online and Traditional TV and Movie Distribution, April 2013

You aren't going to find any articles claiming that Cable/Satellite are gaining subscribers over the streaming services.
You aren't going to find any articles claiming that CD/DVD Sales are increasing over streaming.

As of 7:20am Pacific on 04/08/2013, only 30% of *17657* voters feel they have to "own it".

-Chris

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-Chris

I have a rhapsody subscription and you get the best of both worlds with it. NO, I do not own the music but I have access to 100,000s of tracks I probably would never want to buy. With this subscription, I can stream. I can also download tracks locally to registered devices including my phone. The downloaded tracks do not require an internet connection.

Their PC player is pretty generic but it suits me fine for what it is.

I can see how streaming would have an advantage in movies and tv shows because people may just watch those things one or two times so there is no need to own them for future use.

Music may depend on a person's listening habits. Some people are very "now" and get tired of a song and it's on to the next one. Others treasure their music and play it over and over through the decades so they may prefer to own a copy of a piece rather than depend on streaming it.

A karaoke host may have even different preferences as some just feel better having more control over the tools of their trade. If people are dependent on streaming services then they are at the mercy of whatever terms or costs that service wants to implement in order to keep running their business. If you own the media the songs are on then you are set for those songs despite fluctuations in supply and demand or service terms.

Some people may see a business advantage to renting access to songs and others may feel they don't want to keep paying each month for use of the same songs. It will all depend on the costs and reliability of service.

When I was doing my taxes this year, I figured out that I have spent about $14,000 on karaoke music during my 9-year KJ career.

So, $14,000/108 months = about $130.00 a month on average. Also, by current Ebay prices, that $14000 investment is worth about $600-800 right now (about 1200 discs).

So, if there were a RELIABLE streaming service for, say, $49.99 a month, I would have come out WAYYY ahead over the years. $99.99 a month, and buying the discs starts to look more like the way to go.

BTW, Virtual DJ offers a streaming service for $9.99 a month. It has steaming MP3s, music videos, AND karaoke. HOWEVER, just due to the speed of a typical WiFi network, only the MP3s are reliable. The videos and karaoke tracks are very hit or miss if they will even load in the first place, and even if they do load, they are VERY slow and tie up enough system resources to crash CompuHost. I typically don't even turn on my WiFi during my karaoke show, but I do maintain this service for my DJ gigs.

Anyway, I really think the ONLY thing preventing streaming karaoke from being inexpensive, reliable, and mainstream are the limitations on WiFi speeds. Once the US gets off it's azzz and makes Gigibyte Internet the baseline in this country (which is CURRENT technology in couple dozen countries right now), this isn't even going to be a discussion anymore....all media will be streamed.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Okay everybody. If you still have a TV that isn't a flat screen LED device; you better throw them away and buy all new stuff. I have close to 10 flat screen devices in my house but I'm not ready to throw away my 61 inch rear projection TV just yet because it's not "new enough". It still looks and plays like it did when I bought. Every few years I open it up and dust off the mirror inside. Now the picture will never look as sharp as on a brand new high definition TV but it's good enough for me....and if I got rid of it, where would I put all of my karaoke equipment? Everything fits on top of it very nicely.

Who said people get rid of old technology because it's "not new enough"? I'm getting rid of stuff because I don't want to have to store and handle it. For a few bucks here and there I can read any book I want or stream any movie I want -- why waste time and money storing and dusting media I mostly never use again?

If you want to store it and dust it, more power to you. Want to buy a bunch of CDs and books?

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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.

mckyj57 nailed it.

I haven't had a magazine subscription in over 10 years now.

The local paper is free, but even so, I don't bother with the physical edition because it is available digital.

The only books I have acquired in the last decade have been gifts.

I used to devote entire walls to book cases in several rooms. I donated everything to the local libraries and have been reading from the free PC version of Kindle on my laptop for several years.

In fact, I have always been an avid reader and with the ease of access to the written word, I read more on a daily basis than I did years ago.

I have no need to store the printed words on their physical media. Well, maybe the newspapers for when I need to pack something in a box or wash windows.

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Never the same show twice!

Well, for a long time, I didn't think 'cloud' service was practical as it all depended on whether or not the bar you were working at had a reliable internet connection or not.

With the purchase of my smart phone my opinion has shifted somewhat. I still believe that you need actual media on site. I subscribe to Virtual DJ's Cache service, and find it very practical. The media is still there if the internet goes down, but new material is easily accumulated.

My smart phone now acts as my wi-fi hot spot, and the cost of it to me is extremely reasonable. I now run with two laptops at my shows, one for Virtual DJ and the second for Compuhost (With everything duplicated on both in the event one crashes), and network both computers wirelessly through the wi fi connection on my phone.

The speed is amazing, and frequently faster than the bar's wi-fi. I've had the opportunity to test it... with one computer hooked to the bar's wi-fi and the other linked to my phone, and hands down the phone was way faster and more reliable. (no surprising really, on my wi-fi I'm the only one using it).

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

my personal opinion is that I will keep buying discs as long as I can, but then again I still own and use My LD files and just purchased a 5th set of Pioneer LD's. I will purchase legally licensed downloads and burn them and a copy of the receipts on disc for archival purposes when there is no other option available.

Although i appreciate and use "NEW" technology mostly with everyday life, i still prefer to collect and store cdgs for the business because i never want to be stuck in a situation where the show can't go on because of a computer or internet failure/problem, or because i have to rely on a service that may potentially sue me, change the conditions of the contract whenever they choose, or jack the prices!

Physical media is (now) a cheap backup, and the option of going back to running discs is as easy as pie. And no problems with lawsuits and finding jobs that may be weary of computer -run karaoke.

I still have a decent collection of over 2000 cdgs and i think that will suffice. For future newer music, downloads-burnt-to-discs will do just fine too.

In November after a friend died, and I was packing up his belongings, I must have dropped my cell phone in a box that went to the Salvation Army, or somewhere like that. Do you know I don't even miss not having a cell....as a matter of of fact it is almost like being free again. I still don't have a cell and I'm doing just fine......life goes on. I find myself having more time and money.

Oh, Johnny & KJFlorida, I like CD's too, I don't use them, I just collect them.