Karaoke Forums

I am working on doing something with my karaoke library, I have heard tablets for the track listings, or broadcast them on a webpage ? I hate the thought of printing out anymore books of well over 160 pages.. Thats getting too costly ! Any suggestions from the pro's ? I don't do many karaoke shows but i sure would like the easiest way to do my song listings !

I think you will find that the majority of hosts still use books. Even though there are SmartPhone/Tablet option, I don't see anyone using them to look at my online songbooks.

My books are over 300 pages now. My last print run was about $600 for 13 books. I think it is a necessary and worthwhile investment. I get a lot of comments about my books so I know people appreciate that I have them.

There are a few kiosk programs out there and I continue to look at them, but I still believe they have too many downsides.

If I have a book on my table, I can look through it at my own leisure without feeling rushed. With a kiosk, the moment someone is in line behind me, I feel like I have to make a selection as soon as possible.

If I have a book on my table, I don't have to wait on anyone else. Instant Gratification. With a kiosk, if someone is in front of me, I have to wait for them to get done before I can even look. Then feel rushed if someone gets in line behind me.

In spite of just about everyone having a smartphone these days, I have never seen anyone using a Smartphone at my show to specifically look at my online song list. I have three venues and reports from the other two are the same. People prefer books over using their smartphones.

I personally believe that with books, people run across songs they may not have thought of or would otherwise look for. Books allow for you to catch something in your peripheral vision where a kiosk/smartphone is very narrow and linear. Smartphones/kiosks don't support casual grazing nearly as well as an open faced book.

-Chris

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-Chris

I would have to agree 100% with this. I have spent a lot of time and $$ on going paperless, I am set up via smart phone, tablet, laptop etc. and the vast majority would STILL prefer the old fashioned book for the very reason Chris stated

I really dislike "book time" and it does cost us a good amount of coinage and time for each of our systems each year, However for the reasons that Chris listed so well I agree we will never move away from printed books. We are going to be listing all of our books online and using an app in addition to books for those who wish to use them. The shows I have been to that use only apps/kiosks leave one unsolvable issue. We work very hard to keep our shows fresh...apps and kiosks tend to encourage singers to sing the same set of songs every night. A book on the table encourages singers to flip tru and find new songs. Many shows have evolved because someone sang a song and it made others think of a theme or time period ect.

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

Can I hear the choir say “Amen?” I wholeheartedly agree with all of the above.

My books at 510 pages back to back are getting pretty expensive to print. In as much as I would like to eliminate them, utilize online listing & kiosk I have to abide by my customers’ wishes. They like to peruse the books at the table, drink, eat, socialize & select the songs at their convenience. I do have a laptop next to my book cabinet but used in a very minimal way so to speak. We still use the good old fashioned ‘request slip’.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

"request slips" have caused more referrals (and booked us more shows ) than our business cards ever have. Slips cost us less than 6 cents per 16 (the way purchase printed and precut) business cards average 8 cents each.

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

i may be the anomaly, but i kept one of each book and paper slips they haven't left the table in months. more of my requests are coming in from smartphones and people saving their favorites and "wanna try" songs on their account. even more than the kiosks that i have out. i figure people are going to be on their phones at the bar anyway (dumb as it is) so they might as well be on my songbook and it has been working. no update pages, no hundreds of dollars to print, no missing songs, instant update when i buy new ones, 24/7 access, etc. etc. etc.
been over three months since someone used the book and slips, even the older crowds (that surprised me).

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

I have all technology (except a kiosk) and people still ask for and want a book for all the reasons mentioned. I do get more people in the last year just telling me their songs than I used to in which I oblige.

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

I think this is becoming the new norm. Once a singer goes to a place where he or she can simply tell the KJ what they want to sing, it's tough for them to go back to manually entering their songs with their own hands. I think some of us forget it's our job to make the singers job easier, and no amount of technology can replace a KJ who will take your requests by word of mouth.

I always make them write up their first slip regardless. After that I will take a verbal request from them.

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

I have 2 books and no slips and the smartphone option going.

I have a scrolling message that says they can use their smartphone to lookup and submit songs and if they want to use to come up and ask me for assistance.

my books don't get used much anymore, but I do print 3-4 update "new music" sheets and hand those out because people want to know what I have added recently.

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It's all good!

that's a good point. i don't know if the other smartphone methods have this, but songbookdb.com has a "just added" button that will show all the songs added in the last 30 days.

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

Agree with Athena on all points above and add one specific to me:

I'm lousy with names, and work multiple venues each week. Many "regulars" who are only SEMI- regular know me by name, of course, but I sometimes forget theirs. Slips keep me from having to ask, and I come out looking like the guy who always remembers them...

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Oh my. I have to agree with Joe on the forgetfulness reminders. But of course I'm half senile. I actually got a tip because the person couldn't figure out how I remembered their names when I was only going to this one place once a month. Uh....

our song slips also serve as drawing tickets for everything from drinks to bar tabs to larger prizes.

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

Thanks Everyone ! I think I will continue the books, and post an online listing as well.

When I was disc based my request slips have the following to fill out: name, song title & song number. Such a pita to get one without a song number, s/he’s next & then I have to look it up myself, dead air for next 10 sec or so Now pc based it has been changed to “Song # OR Artist”.

Like Lon I want them to submit a slip for their first song; I will then accept verbal requests thereafter, tho’ getting a slip is preferred to eliminate misunderstanding especially when loud music is playing.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

If I had a slip without a number, I would look it up well in advance of that name coming up so there wouldn't be any dead air (when running discs). Having two players also helped, I would cue up one while the other was playing.
I also had a sign that basically stated 'we will gladly look up your song and write it down, $1 service charge' on top of a big smiley face. I never enforced it, but some would throw a buck in the jar anyway!

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

How did/do you handle multiple manus of same song / duplicates?
That is one of my pet peeves with my book... I've spent countless hrs, culling, what I thought were inferior versions... or others that were showing artifacts if I had multiple versions... and limited my printed book version to about 4000 songs (more popular or newer requests), but when receiving request slips without number, all this work is now just an educated guess, as to what is or was the best version ( I keep a master at my work station for quick reference / more work for the host )... I hate to think about adding an asterisk to each of my book listings, so they appear easier to find in the computer search, but that may have to be done... then there are those that incorrectly transpose just the song i.d. number, and the wrong song is loaded for performance, and has to be searched, changed, restarted on the fly... dead air... I hate incomplete song slips for the above reasons, and usually it's brought up by a waitress/bartender trying to help me out with "lady at table 4 gave me this", "Which one is Table 4?", he/she points at a dark corner that I can't make out, so I have to go on a quest to verify the missing info/song/singer... End Of Rant!

Ditto here, Lon! Am referring to slips being handed to me right there & then on stage & they’re up next, hence dead air while I look it up. If I go over 15 sec & still can't find it I'll call the next singer.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!