Karaoke Forums

Well, well, well....here we are! I have waited a LONG time for this day.

It has been FIVE YEARS since I licensed GEM Set #1. And after all the speculation, guesswork, lies, rumors and invented nonsense, I am still a happy and satisfied user.

NONE of the FUD that has spewed from the mouths of fools has come true in the past half decade.

I have had:

• NO requests for audits
• NO requests for financial records
• NO requests for additional funds
• NO requests or court demands for the discs back
• NO harassment
• NO changes in the licensing terms
• NO surprise fees
• NO phone calls
• NO knocks on the door, and now!
  
• NO 5-Year renewal rate increase!

NOTHING. NADA. ZILCH. ZERO. IT WAS ALL BULLSH1T.

I hope that after five frickin' years of this crap, everyone now sees these people for who they really are. They claim to be on the high horse. The Karaoke Ralph Naders, just looking out for the little guy and trying to warn and protect you all from big bad SC. When in reality, the last five years have now PROVEN they are nothing but angry, spiteful liars out for revenge against Soundchoice. Revenge for the demise of their own businesses due SOLELY to their own lack of business acumen, dishonesty, piracy and thievery. They got caught, were busted for their multi-rigs, copied discs, pirated songs and more, and have vowed to seek revenge! Blaming SC for their failures instead of accepting responsibility for their own criminal actions.

So next time you see an angry, hate spewing post about SC or the GEM set, ask yourself. WHY are they so angry?! Why do they care?! I will tell you why. Because they are not what they portray themselves to be. They are nothing but common criminals who were backed into a corner and lost their shirts. And they are still pissed off about it over half a decade later. Banging the drum against SC and cheering on the decline of the karaoke industry under the guise of consumer protection.

FIVE YEARS my friends. Happy Birthday GEM.

Uh... Since you didn't, I'll name names here (of two of the biggest "Nay-Sayers" that have been here). I don't think Joe Chartreuse or Chip fall into any of those categories you just labeled.

That being said, congratulations on your anniversary. You deserve to blow your horn. Just don't lump EVERYONE who opposed your opinions and business decisions into the same category.

You're absolutely RIGHT Cue.

Chip and Joe STILL in business as far as i know and have been for DECADES.

Just WHO is the drunk guy referring to with that horrible description? Must be hitting the hard stuff again. Well at least he's happy with "his" LEASED music!

Right now i can't recall anyone here on KS that has got busted or can be described like that, can you?? There are a couple of kjs on KS that have quit hosting karaoke shows because of retirement, relocation, or low attendance...WHO were the pirates?

I congratulate SC as well on The GEM sets- a good product, ALTHOUGH Karaoke Version and SBI (and others) put out just AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER useable songs (old & new) without any "strings attached".

Oh.....and wait...... I OWN THEM and can shift and make copies if i want to, right?

I'm also looking forward to SC new song releases to see if they can surpass the QUALITY of KV,SBI,ZOOM,SF....hell, even ABX swipes!

Most KV songs i've bought (new releases) are spot on. Hard to beat. Except maybe pricing SC might win back some business. But historically, SC's former "new releases" were always MONTHS LATE and most kjs bought from other manus first.

I actually mentioned that to Kurt Slep personally at the Mobile Beat Expo in vegas a few years back and HE AGREED. Hope he gets it "right" this time.

-john

Bazza, you have lumped waaaayyyy too many people into your last paragraph of you banner waving speech. I for one greatly take offense because it appears the only ones that are released from your all inclusive snare are those that are GEM owners.

Talk about passive aggressive (you once called me that).... it took you 5 years of holding this all in to finally let it go!!!!! Congratulations you have earned the passive aggressive award of the year

Did anyone bother to tell Bazza that his own work - five years ago - was featured by the plaintiff (EMI) in the last lawsuit that helped put Sound Choice Studios out of business?


Didn't think so.

You should consider a career as a fiction writer; you've got the "fiction" part down pat.

. Let's go!


Oh, I'm not talking about simple disagreements here. I'm talking about the ANGRY ones over the last five years. You can feel it when you read. The have a deep, seething, black bitterness inside them. A personal vendetta. It's actually pitiful, really.


Oh yeah...I forgot THAT silly bullet point!. "It's just a lease! They can take them back whenever they want!". Man if I had a nickel for every time someone tried to denigrate the GEM set by telling me how horrible my "LEASE" was I'd be a frickin' millionaire! And let's not forget the ancient and lame "You'll have nothing to show for it!" rants. I will still have them at ten. And twenty. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted annually.


Passive Aggressive Behavior is indirect hostility. Masked. There was nothing indirect about my post my friend! You should look up the definition.

And if you recall, I have held nothing in. I have been giving this rant annually on each anniversary. The reason this one is special is because the original agreement was for five years.

And I have heard:

• AT FIVE YEARS they will change the licensing terms!
• AT FIVE YEARS they will change the rates and charge you more!
• AT FIVE YEARS they will demand them back!
• AT FIVE YEARS they will refuse to renew!
• AT FIVE YEARS they will <insert BS here>

Well, here we are FIVE YEARS later. And NOTHING. NADA. ZERO. IT WAS ALL BULLSH!T!

But somehow, I don't think it will end. It will probably change to "Just you wait! In five MORE years you'll see!!!!"

What are you attempting to declare as "fiction?"

It's not fiction that "Sound Choice" (the company) is out of business -- assets sold and reduced to nothing but a trademark... owned by a "new company" called PEP....

It's not fiction that Bazza's work 5 years ago was included as an evidentiary exhibit in the EMI lawsuit...

So counsel, it's looks as though you're simply trying your hand again at misdirection and the fiction writer is you. (again.)

BTW counsel, there is a post on FB from a gem lessor who claims he has a number of them and when he wanted to lease another one, the price went UP by $1,000 and that PEP cited "increased royalty costs.".... Care to comment?

Oh, snap..

and a nice big F you to you as well Bazza....
i was legit in the eyes of SC before you were. great job generalizing.

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

We raised the price on July 1, but that was well after the lawsuit was settled. I don't know where he would have gotten that the price increase was due to "increased royalty costs." We raised the price because in our view the value of the set increased because your FUD about recalls was shown to be the lie that it was, not because of any royalty increases. Input costs don't set prices. Demand does.

Maybe this anonymous FB poster was confused.

Wishing this were so will not make it so. Plus, "Sound Choice Studios" was a separate company that did the production work, and it's been out of business for four years or so now--or, to be more precise, it was sold to some former employees and continues in business as a recording studio.



Now, hold on...if you're talking about corporate structures, which I think is sort of ridiculous, you have a point about Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation being out of business, in that it is no longer the vehicle for the business that it handled previously.

But the actual business lines continue, and the assets associated with them include much more than a trademark.



I don't think anyone disputes that he is a GEM licensee--the first one, in fact--and that was a fact was relevant to the lawsuit.



Um, you forgot a step.

So let's look at that again.



The lawsuit didn't "help put Sound Choice Studios" out of business. Even if we're being generous and assume that you meant "Sound Choice" as a business line, it's not out of business. Your contention that it is--that's the fiction I was referring to. Not only is it not out of business, we're growing. You must really hate that. If only there were a Viagra for psychological impotence...

He wasn't anonymous at all. But I will pass along your response.

Silly me! Of course I meant Slep-Tone Entertainment.... I'm fully aware that the "studio" portion of the business was tanked and sold to employees long ago...


I highlighted it for you... That was my point: Slep-Tone is dead meat.... "Business LINES" doesn't mean anything more than "a name" and that's all it is. They sold off the recording talent long ago. Heck, I could probably hire them to produce the audio for tracks, get the licensing and sell discs.... And they'd be "that same quality you know and love" because currently, I doubt there's a single employee (of the 8 or so) that was working when there was a recording studio. So the assets are gone, the crew is new and what you have is a mere skeleton left.

Name an asset other than the trademark: A desk, A chair? A computer system for adding graphics to audio files? (KaraokeBuilder studio is $99). There's nothing that this new entity has that can't be purchased off the street cheaply.


Annnnd??... C'mon.... quit holding back.... tell Bazza what he did that got included in the lawsuit (other than signing the first contract)




Just because you keep repeating it won't make it true either: Sound Choice (Slep-Tone Entertainment) is dead.... as a doorknob. Ashes to ashes and all that. You claim your new enterprise, PEP "is growing" but I see that it's asking for customers to fund them in advance.... or should I say "begging customers to front them the money... to grow."

You either can't afford to or simply refuse to purchase advertising space on this very forum... even though you've been reminded several times that it is the policy here.... NO advertising unless you're paying for it...

Yeah, you're "growing" alright....

Keep holding out your tin cup....

I guess you'll never learn that I don't make a claim without backing it up. This was from your staff... Now, it would be convenient if your left hand actually knew what your right hand was saying to your own customers.

Regardless of what you said above, let's just let the words speak for themselves:

Looks like our customer service guy was confused. I'll have a talk with him. We did not increase the price because of higher royalties. If that were the case, we would have had to raise them immediately after the settlement.

uh.... yeah..... sure.... that's the ticket!

But the question still remains why this person was told the price "went up" and now you're claiming it "went up July 1st" and the KJ had asked for pricing loooong before that... on June 17th to be precise...

(timelines and stories aren't matching up again... wonder why that is?)

I'm sorry. Did I say something about you? Which part?

This rant is a direct response to being called an angry, dishonest and vengeful pirate. I too have doubted the GEMS legitimacy, and particularly the way they were produced in the UK just under the wire of the import time frame, and the copyrights wrangling by going off shore. Then the "give your first born as collateral" legal contract that was required to purchase (lease) the set of GEMS was a massive turn off to any one that wanted more freedom to run their business and not less. Furthermore I have written several times that without SC doing some policing, there would be total uncontrolled rampant piracy (way worst than now). I know and appreciate right from wrong.

Bazza, I think you need to walk your statement back several steps. I've always thought that you pretty sharp, but what came out of your mouth this time seems to be written with very little thought. Their are plenty of people on this forum that do not belong in your catch all characterization that I have highlighted above. The ones you should be getting this message out to are the pirates that many of the forum members have given "guaranteed pirates" names to SC to investigate but never have.

To be as angry as you appear to be I think it would be way better to name actual individuals that you have positive proof of rather than to include everyone that isn't a GEM owner.

I think it was the generalization that I wrote about.