Karaoke Forums

This reinforces some of the reasons why I don't use a kiosk, or a smartphone app for submitting songs. I am a big fan of technology, but in certain circumstances it causes more harm than good. There is a time and a place for just about everything. For karaoke, I don't like using certain technologies and this is one reason why.....


Restaurant Watches Old Surveillance And Shares Shocking Results On Craigslist

http://news.distractify.com/culture/craigslist-surveillance-restaurant/?v=1

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-Chris

I was at a very nice restaurant last week and there was a table of (4) 25-35 year olds that hardly said a single word to each the entire time I was there, because they were all on their phones. As the article Chris linked states, the waiter came back several times before taking their order and my wife and I were paying our bill before they got their entrées. It seemed that their phones were more important than the food or the company they shared.

I have a smart phone and the last time I used it was when I was when I went to Iowa in March to see my ailing 99 year old mother. Some of you may have a need for constant communication but many do not. Save up a little information for the next time you see someone and have real conversation with them .... that's what we all used to do, and we did pretty good that way. The importance of personal 1:1 interaction can never be ignored.

I too have thought about using an online song book because in dim light it is difficult to read a song book, even when it is 12 point font, but I don't want to encourage excessive phone use. This is food for thought.

It is a comical sight to see two people dancing together, each holding a phone up in front of their face. Then there are the gifted multi-taskers who can sing their song, take a selfie of themselves singing the song and text someone all at the same time.

The one thing that does take away from there being any kind of audience reaction whatsoever is now I've got people wandering around in headphones previewing and practicing their next song instead of paying attention to anyone else who is singing.

That doesn't surprise me in the least. People are more interested in their dumbphones than the people they are with.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I've owned my iPhone4 going on two years... and I still haven't taken the time to learn anything but making and receiving telephone calls... and very few of them at that. Someday, when I get a "round tuit", I may teach myself how to take a picture... or not.

Saw a cute cartoon this morning... Two little boys fishing from a dock. The caption reads something like... "because memories weren't made with an x-box"... How true!

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Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

I met with a client once and in the middle of our business they pulled out a dumbphone and I promptly got up and left. When they ask where I was going, I told them if we are doing business then no interruptions and no going on dumbphones. I find it to be very rude and I won't put up with it. I've also done the same thing on a date once.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I allow selfies, but no texting, even during the bridge. I will stop the music cold.

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-Chris

If this is all that today's youth have an interest in I don't see us having a very bright future for America. This "instant" everything world we are creating is sickening. Can they wait for anything?

This is part of why I do like the online books. this process that people are going to be on their phones anyway, that is where they want to be, so why not take advantage of that? using paper books will not make them get off their phones nor will it make them pay any more attention to the person on stage. they will be looking at sings and go oblivious to everything else going on anyway. I'm just giving them the information where they want it.

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

Where did you find that retirement party photo of me Baz?

I wasn't telling them to get off the lawn.... I was disco dancing. Let's get it right

This video made me think, pause & ponder – what would be the future of the new online generation? Owning an iphone, hate to admit I am guilty in a small way. We live in an age that is so technology obsessed; I realized I am missing out on the real life happening right in front of me.

Lesson learned: Point taken, but don’t leave home without your iphone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

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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!

What the hell does all of this have to do with using a kiosk? An alternative to songbooks. A fast and fun way to browse and submit songs, wirelessly. Does the OP know what century he's living in? This is, after all, the year 2014. And we ARE living in the digital age. And this is how it is, like it or not. I take it, the OP is probably still using an analog tube TV instead of a modern 1080P HDTV. Then again, what do I know.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

The video has a powerful message, unfortunately, nothing's going to change, perhaps only get worse. Like it or not, this is the world in which we live now. Children used to go outside and play too, now it's Xbox, Playstation and fat kids. Kids used to go to the library, now it's just google it. Yes, like it or not... This is our world.

The OP who blamed all of this modern technology on not using a kiosk is just shear stupidity in my opinion. No offense, but I just don't get it. But I'm sure that the OP is not using a laptop to run his shows, after all, laptops are pretty modern tech. Wouldn't want to succumb to such high technology would we?

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Karaoke is a participatory form of entertainment. Singers want to be heard and recognized for their singing and/or performance.

I have chosen to limit the technological distractions of a kiosk, and a phone app to submit songs in an effort to keep as much of the remaining interactivity intact.

It is a personal choice and I am not chastising anyone else for using the technology. But I do have an opinion and I will express it which is why I created this thread.

The best case I can offer is this - I went to a karaoke place where the KJ was in a booth and the ONLY way to submit a song request was via kiosk. There were two kiosks, two lines and 4 people in each line (I was number 4). I waited almost 10 minutes just to submit a song. Other people in line were complaining too. What a "fast and fun" way to do things.

I have been to other karaoke shows where there was no line for the kiosk. But they also allowed you to use a paper slip or just tell the host. At my shows you have to tell me your name and song. You have to interact with me. It is a personalized experience that forces people away from the technology into a face-to-face conversation. I like it, the singers at 26 shows a week like it, my hosts like it.

But let's say were to jump on the Phone App or Kiosk bandwagon. That would be a rather large capital investment for me to make happen across all the shows. Huge amount of extra equipment to manage. Way more to go wrong. Significantly more maintenance and upkeep expense.

What would I gain?
What would the singers gain?
What would the bar gain?

What is the ROI?

What I do know is that over time I would have fewer and fewer people coming up to me to submit songs. I would become whatever just about every karaoke host here claims they don't like in a karaoke host - I would be a button pusher.

There are DJ's and KJ's that want as much distance between them and everyone else as possible. I am the opposite of that. I want as much interaction as I can get in 3 minute chunks.

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-Chris

I use a kiosk, as well as song books. You can even come up and just tell me what you'd like to sing. Your choice. But no matter what, I still make it a point to get out there with the crowd and interact with the audience. So, to me it really doesn't matter what method you choose to submit your songs, I'm still going to have just as much contact with my guests as possible. That's never going to change no matter what the technology.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

What is the difference I'd they have their face buried in a book searching under "G" for Garth Brooks, or liking on the app and finding it? either way they are still not paying attention to the singer.
another option is to let them still bring you slips and not allow submissions from their phones. at that point they find their songs faster (see above Garth Brooks example) and you still get a slip so they spend more time talking to each other and ignoring the singer anyway .

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

Well.....first.....if they are looking under "G" for Garth Brooks, they are doing it wrong anyway.

I would rather them be buried in a book, stumbling occasionally onto a track they might not otherwise ever see while fiddling with a kiosk or a phone app. Both Kiosks and phone apps are superb for checking to see if exactly what you want exists. They aren't any good for just browsing and poking around.

Regardless, anything I can do to promote engagement, I want to do. Just because someone can make a phone app out of it, doesn't mean they should or that it is even a good fit.

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-Chris

You'd be surprised how many KJs choose to list Artists by First Name first, Last Name last. And then there are some KJs who just don't know how to be consistent with their song books. I have seen several books where Garth Brooks is listed as Brooks, Garth, and then they have Elvis Presley is listed as either Elvis Presley OR Elvis (there is more than one Elvis out there).

I disagree. I just recently had my first experience with using a Kiosk to select my songs. There was an option in there to view by LETTER for Song Titles. For example, you could type the letter "G," and you would get a listing of ALL TITLES beginning with the letter "G." If you added to that, such as typing "GE," the Kiosk system would then take you to the beginning of that grouping. That's NO DIFFERENT than me sitting down at a table with a Song Book opened to the letter "G." The ONLY DIFFERENCE would be that you wouldn't be sitting at your table when you do this. As for the minor stuff (as some of you here feel), such as finding out what specific disc and track my song selection is on, that was programmed into the system, but it was easier to just ask the KJ before my turn.

Yes, but Elvis was king, unlike that king of horse pee you have. If you said Elvis to 100 North Americans or heck a million people world wide, very few would reply Costello (not even his real name and used Elvis') and even less, Stojko (Canadian Figure skater, also named after Elvis). Are there any other Elvises, Elvi?

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You can be strange but not a stranger