Karaoke Forums

I know, plus I have met over the years, tons of people who go to karaoke shows to eat and drink......and they don't even sing. They tell me it's cheap entertainment.....but there are people, that seem to be present at karaoke shows, that just plain hate karaoke......why do they come?

You may have a packed house (as indicated in your picture), but these people are staying there for 4 or 5 hours (the length of your show). I remember you posting (recently), that the Karaoke people have to make reservations to get in to this show each week. Unless these people are spending a substantial amount of money, the Restaurant can be losing money (as pointed out), due to a lack of turn-around on the tables occupied. They could be serving 2 or 3 different parties at each table in that time span (as versus all those people never getting up until it's closing time).

Most venues start out telling you that you're doing a good job, and they're happy (in the beginning). Then as they get used to the amount that karaoke is bringing in, if ANYTHING else changes, the entertainment is the FIRST thing they focus on as to "Why aren't we making as much money"? All I have to add, is that if you KNOW that you're putting on the best show that you can, then, there's NOTHING else you can do. If the venue isn't happy, then THEY have to make the decision as to whether they want entertainment, or not.

Srnitynow

What is Jon Taffer always preaching about if not doing things to increase the length of the average stay so that people eat and drink more?

This COULD be correct, except that in my experience karaoke is more of a "second shift" income, like a band. In other words it usually starts near the END of dinner service, which means table turnover really isn't a priority. Since it's end of service, there is no guarantee of refilling the empty table. It's a "Catch at the end and hold for more income" scenario, with additional folks dribbling in later- at least for the host in question...

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" Disc based and loving it..."

Joe, go back to the first page in this topic, and view the picture. Note what time it says the picture was taken. I think that that is nowhere near the end of dinner service (most restaurants I know of usually are serving until at least 10 PM). Plus, I have no idea what time his show started (it could have started at 6 PM, or even earlier).

But also looking in the picture I don't see a lot of stuff in front of people as far as food or drinks - not that you can really tell from this picture, but that first table I see maybe a cola & someone eating. And a drink (or something here and there) at the next table. Again hard to really determine from this pic.

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My official start time is 7 PM and end at 10 PM. On almost all evenings I announce that "When I get 15 singers signed up I will start the show". I don't wait for them to turn a slip in, because when I see them walk in I add their name. During season that is usually around 6:30 or slightly earlier, and I go until I get everyone through at least twice which is usually by about 10:15 (35 singers).

I get to the venue at about 5 o'clock and set up (pre back surgery) and am ready to go by about 5:45. At 6:00 they start coming in and by 6:15 the room will be 1/2 full. I send an email out every week requesting that they make reservations and arrive early. The kitchen is quite small and handling 100-120 people is a challenge, but with karaoke starting and drink in hand they are more patient. A lot of the people in the picture have not received there food or drinks yet.

I am going to get together with the owners this week and get their profitability cleared up. I can do no more than I am, short of policing the tables and not letting non-spenders sing!!

Bottom line, if the owner is losing money on karaoke nights because he needs table turnover as part of his business model, then he shouldn't have karaoke.

Of my regular singers, about 2% don't eat or drink. I go to alot of karaoke bars, and while I would say most singers don't eat, the vast majority of them everyone I've been drink.

Also, why would you wait to start the show until there are 15 people signed up? I start the show as soon as I have 3. No reason to wait, reward those who come on time!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Because my real start time is 7:00...... I am starting early (and staying later) and not getting paid any extra.

If I had ZERO singers at 7:00 (my official start time) I would start the show. I have never been even one minute late on my start times no matter where I have done my shows or how FEW singers I have.

How many times have you ever had 15-30 singers signed up 30 to 45 minutes ahead of your advertised start time? It happens to me all the time summer and winter.

If he has a packed house and is not making any money, then HE has the problem...not you.

Bottom Line: YOUR job is to bring them in the door, which you are doing admirably. It's HIS job to sell them food & drink.

If he has people sitting at a valuable table all night and not eating or drinking, then he needs to institute a drink/food minimum IF you want to sit at a premium table. But again, that's HIS issue. Looks you are doing what you are hired to do! Butts in seats!



Pardon my french but F-THAT! You are running a business, not a charity. Start on-time, not early, and if people want you to stay after your paid time, have them pass the hat. I did that every Friday night. 15 minutes before end time I'd get on the mic, say "Karaoke ends at 1am unless you pass the hat around". Once in awhile, nobody paid up. But most times I got at least $75 for another hour, many times much more. You'd be surprised how quick the money pops up when people want to sing badly.

Thank you Bazza. Here is their FaceBook post on Sunday:

Happy March Everyone!
This Week's MVP Line Up: March 2 - 7.

Monday ~ Trivia night in the Pub 7 pm. $5 fee goes to the winnings.
Tuesday ~ Bingo in the Dining Room 6 pm. Dinner, Drinks start at 5 pm.
Wednesday ~ Karaoke is already booked with a waiting list.
Thursday ~ Rockin' Robin in the pub 7 - 10 pm.
Friday ~ Sammy J & The Sax Man in the dining room, 7 - 10 pm.
No Cover. Dinner, Drinks and Dancing.
Saturday ~ The Glass Onion Beatles Tribute Band 7 - 10 pm. $5 cover.

I am going to talk to the owners this afternoon and clear the air.

I've had venues that do not allow this, my current one included. We are not allow to solicit tips or allow the tip jar to be passed around. We can have a jar out for people to drop their appreciation in only.

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That is the same way at my venue. I know that some people feel they are being coerced into tipping when the hat gets passed around.

I hate it when someone grabs the tip jar and works the room shaming people into tipping the KJ. Just like the waiters & bartenders, If i think they are doing a great job I tip them. If not, they don't tipped.

I don't mind the pass the hat routine to see if the crowd wants to go overtime especially when the hours are clearly posted, final rotation has been announced, and the KJ has already gone 15 minutes over finishing the "final" rotation.
In this case, if people still want to sing then yes, they should pay for the overtime.

It should not however, be a unilateral decision on the KJ's part to go over without consulting the bar manager.
3 or 4 people wandering in at the last minute may not increase the bar's or the KJ's bottom line enough to warrant the overtime but sometimes a large group of late arrivals can be worth the extra time.

Then at stopping time...I'd stop. I don't work for free.

Its not a tip jar...it only comes out at 1am for "buying" an extra hour of karaoke. If you want to keep singing, pay the man. It isn't coercion, we can all go home as scheduled!

When people were into it, my owner loved it. She got to sell more drinks and didn't have to pay me for another hour.

My start time is 9:00. I show up at 8:30, and am typically ready to go by 8:50-8:55. If you are starting too early, it's because you are showing up too early. If it takes you 20 minutes to set up, show up at 8:40. Problem solved.

I am paid to work until 1:30 a.m., but the bar does not close until 3:00, with last call at about 2:40. I will work in 2-3 regulars that have been there all night after 1:30, but otherwise, I make it very well known that I am paid by the bar until 1:30, but would be happy to stay later for tips. The only people upset with this policy are the ones that show up at 1:30 a.m. and demand to sing. I tell them that I start at 9:00, and the last call for songs is typically around 12:30, so they need to show up somewhere between those hours. If they work until 1:00 a.m. and can't get there until 1:30, well that just sucks. They aren't going to reopen and serve me food at their restaurant at 3:00 a.m. for free, are they? Don't confuse customer service with unreasonable people trying to take advantage of you.

Reasonable people understand the situation, and like the other poster said, some nights I make 75% of my tips after 1:30, but then I always have the option to be done at 1:30 if I want to.

I understand customer service, and am the figgin master of it, but you are being taken advantage of, and it's because you have not set reasonable expectations. Give an inch, they'll take a mile. Don't give the inch. Set firm boundaries. You have to be in charge of the singers, not subject to their whims.

JMHO! Good luck!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I think that it's entirely up to the venue to determine what they want to make per patron, and pay for hiring a karaoke service.

I really doubt that a retirement community crowd will ever spend as much as a younger crowd just about anywhere.

And that's why the house is packed every day, because they're giving their product away!!

The rule in business is whenever you have more demand than you can sustain, raise prices. If the owner is making (round numbers), $1,000 a night on a packed house that doesn't buy anything, maybe it's time for a $3 cover or even to sell bottled water instead of tap. Making $2000 a night for a 1/2 packed house with room to grow is an incredibly better situation than giving his product away and not making any money.

I live in a pretty touristy town, and there are several popular karaoke bars around here that will give you one ticket to sing karaoke for every one item you buy. Don't buy anything, don't get a ticket, don't sing. You can hang around and drink water all you want, but you aren't going to sing. Sounds like something like that would do wonders for your venue.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I had an idea a while back a couple places used and worked fine. It was a $5 cover (one actually used $10), in return you received a ticket that would be equal to the amount toward your tab. If you just drank water and had no tab, then you still paid $5 to partake. If your tab exceeded the ticket value, you paid the difference. The ticket was good for the night only so someone couldn't just save up tickets & bring them in later on either.

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