Karaoke Forums

I pretty much do that at the bar, too. For me, sitting at home means doing laundry or cleaning out my DVR, or posting karaoke stuff with you lot.

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Maybe I should start singing at home. Has to be better than doing laundry. Or I could sing while doing laundry. Hmm.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

Or maybe set up at one of those 24 hour Laundromats and charge people to sing while they're washing they're panties and what-nots.

This is why I joined a band three years ago as lead singer, for my personal outlet. I host Karaoke and get to watch other people sing and have fun. I get my adrenaline rush from fronting a band twice a month, and I get to sing every song...all night long.

We have that here, Cue. There is a laundromat with a Bar and Grill attached and they started offering karaoke a few weeks ago.

Now that's what I call "good clean fun"

The key to this is the professional KJ's the one's in for the long haul and not the quick buck. I have always felt that the experience and skill level of the host could over come any advantage, a fly by the seat of the pants pirate operation might have. The trouble is that not all legal hosts or pirates fall into neat little boxes and there is a considerable amount of overlap. There are supposedly professional hosts both legal and illegal that don't act professionally and there are hosts the act professionally that are both legal and illegal. By professionally I mean they don't drink on the job, they don't use the gig as their personal dating service, they are not lazy and pay attention to detail, and they aren't greedy, a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. The superior host has to master all aspects of running a small service related business. If the host runs more than one rig, and hires other hosts he has the added responsibility of running many gigs, and keeping the quality at the same high level, as well as managing the hosts he hires. The real threat to the KJ hosting profession is the host both legal and illegal that give karaoke a bad name by their lack of professionalism, and discourage venues from wanting to take a chance. Just like any other profession the able hosts that get results and act professionally will get the work and the higher pay and the hacks will be playing for tips and drinks. That is one way the market sorts all of this out.

wow....i completely agree Ranger......

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

I've noticed the fairs & fests around here, that used to have karaoke, usually including a contest, don't have them anymore.
Good karaoke defeats itself, because after a while, it attracts too many singers, and for some singers, that can be reason to avoid some shows. I've always felt, that the venue itself, needs to attract customers, and that karaoke is basically there to entertain the customers that patronize the place. IMO, in most places that have successful karaoke, the owner or a manager likes karaoke, and that's why it's there. Karaoke itself, is not some golden ticket to bring in the bucks, and in most places, that revenue, which you can directly link to karaoke, is modest. Karaoke as making a living(especially as a households only income) is rare, but not impossible.

Probably the best post you have ever made.

-Chris

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-Chris

I think karaoke helps in small, residual ways. Let's face it--in any area (particularly, the smaller areas like the one I live in), there are probably less die-hard karaoke people than what you'd need to make karaoke a cash-cow for a bar. But once you get into the habit of going to a certain place regularly, and begin to feel like a regular, you tend to make those places your go-to bars. So while the bar may have karaoke Wednesday night, you find yourself in there on Tuesdays and Sundays as well.

At least, if you're me, and you might have a drinking problem. But still.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

Our major fair still has an annual contest but the smaller ones aren't offering it.

We always tried to cultivate dancing and include the non-singers as part of the show just to keep a good ratio of singers/non-singers.

I was a bit worried that karaoke was making a downturn when my show seemed to be group screamers but when the karaoke loving owner started tending bar on my night instead of the bartender with the younger following I started to get in real singers and things have taken off. I have always felt it was a combination as I have never had great luck at places with an eye rolling bartender. But it isn't JUST the bartender as a place I left has never gotten quite the number of patrons back despite having the same bartender. It is finding the magic combination.

But I do agree that the bar needs to make itself the main attraction and the place where people feel they are among friends otherwise they lose it all when a bartender or host leaves. Some places just seem to want to throw karaoke at the wall and see if it sticks but the places who will do something to meet the needs of the singers seem to thrive. Comfortable seats, safe atmosphere, multiple TVs all help. Resentful bartenders who hate listening to karaoke, being an island all on your own trying to compete with the bartender for the attention of the crowd, patrons that hate karaoke and had it inflicted on them.....it is hard to do magic in those situations.

Chris,

Interesting take on things. I don't think that the sky is falling, nor do I think that it is going to fall anytime soon. And, of all the changes that I do envision for karaoke in America, I'd say that the karaoke experience is not going to change for the singers. The only people that things are going to change for are the KJs, the bar owners, and the manufacturers.

I envision the revenue for karaoke service is going to continue to fall. It will fall slow, but once it hits an area, it's like a disease - one with no cure. A lot of long term hosts out there enjoy the fat rates (I do), but their time will come. It might come when they retire, when they die, or when the bar owner simply wants a change. It might not happen for quite some time, but eventually, it will happen.

Anyone that predicts growth in revenue for karaoke is out of their mind. The rate has not budged since the 1990's (it went down to $150). I'll wager that the average rate has gone down even more over the last 5 years. The difference between now and then: there are so many companies out there willing and able to provide karaoke services that it has essentially become a bidding war. This means that rates vary significantly and how much the KJ makes has now become more private than ever.

So why on earth would anyone want to get into a business where there has been negative revenue growth over the last 5 years, with no end in sight?

Maybe because they got their music for free???

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

Maybe they love karaoke hosting, that it is an art form, and some hosts see themselves as supporting art. I didn't go into this business with the idea of getting rich or even supporting myself solely from hosting. I have done all these years, and shows because it was something I wanted to do. There were so many things in my life that I had to do, it was nice to be one's own boss and do things the way I wanted it done. Having one rig I can honestly say that I have never had a labor dispute or missed one gig due to illness. Now that old age is setting in I'm going to retire and let some younger person be the MC for awhile. I'm sure there are many reasons why a host got into hosting other than maybe they got their music for free. Just because you have something doesn't mean you know how to use it properly.

We started the way many on here started. We couldn't find a show we liked to go to so thought people would appreciate something better. It has been a long haul to get the chance to show that due to the saturation and venues being offered beer shows, $25 shows and $75 shows. But oddly enough the few I have gotten are now paying $150 which is $50 up from what I was getting this time last year and fairly generous for small places. It is just difficult to get enough nights to survive on karaoke solely. You see lots of companies each with only one night.

I have been watching this because it has a potential impact on multi-rig hosting operations.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52827230/ns/l ... eattle_wa/

I generally pay $75/night to hosts working for me. This is for a 4 show with 30-60 minutes on either end for set-up/tear down. That makes the rate I pay come out to $12.50 - $15 per hour. I have always felt this was a more than adequate wage because it is $3-$5 more than our local state minimum wage which is attractive to people looking for part time work.

If this initiative passes, it could put some pressure on hosting companies to compete with other jobs in the area that now pay on the same scale, with more attractive work hours that may also offer other benefits.

Add this to the list of reasons why the Future of Karaoke has come into question. For operators trying to run at scale, this could impact margins dramatically.

-Chris

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-Chris

An airport is usually an entity of a larger municipality (county) that operates much the same as libraries. What they appear to be doing is raising the wage for those who work for the entity and making that requirement apply to any company that does business on airport grounds as a provision of their lease.

All this does is increases the fees applied to the airlines, and thus will be passed along to passengers. Since it is not a hub, I'll argue that it will result in fewer travelers to the airport, and force the airlines to look elsewhere.

Much the same as a lot of airlines did to Chicago's O'Hare. While O'Hare is still one of the world's busiest airports, shrewd travelers whose final destination is Chicago know to look to those airlines who use Chicago's Midway Airport because the fares are often 25% less. The difference is mostly the result of the fees O'Hare charges.

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

SeaTac is a Hub. Closest other major airport is Portland.

But, as a small business owner, I do have my concerns with how this movement will gain traction and spread beyond SeaTac and related industries. WA state already has one of the highest minimum wage standards in the US. If we see is go up to $15 in one municipality, it increases the possibility of it going up in the surrounding areas or even statewide.

I am not an economist so I won't pretend to understand the larger ramifications of raising minimum wage by this much, but for small business owners, this could be the straw that puts some folks out of business, stymies expansion, and even prevent new businesses from starting up.

Multi-rig karaoke hosting is a scale business. Measures like this cut into already tight margins. This could put a serious damper on the ability to be profitable with even greater scale. The other option is to cut corners even further.

-Chris

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-Chris