Karaoke Forums

I am very new to karaoke so I am learning the hard way.
This is my full time job, and Im a rookie!
I went from managing a furniture store to this and Im loving it.
I have a wife and three kids. House payment , car payment and every other bill that comes with a family.
Everyone thought I was nuts to do this especially since I didnt even do karaoke part time. But I thought it was a chance worth taking and so far I am making it go. In fact it is better than I ever imagined.
I have tons to learn and this forum is absolutly the best info Ive found.
I did have a plan doing this it took me 3 months ,before i quit my job, of financial and show planning , but so far so good.
Oh btw I live in a rural area my home town has a population of 1500 people and I do two shows in my hometown averaging between $150-200.00 per night, and the shows are thursday night and friday night
I didnt know what I was doing, still dont, but if anyone wants to know some of the things I did to pull this off id be glad to share my ideas.

Thanks everyone for all the help Ive found in here

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Happy Sound Entertainment

Don't know what happened here!

Well, firstly, I wish you all the best of success in your new business. Then, secondly, I am shaking my head in awe. I can probably ask you a million questions about why you decided this, and you clearly have all the answers, otherwise you wouldn't have taken such a dramatic step. I sure hope you you know what you are doing. House payment, car payment, 3 kids that need education, retirement funding, healthcare, life insurance (God forbid should something happen). Entertainment is a shaky business, and there's not a lot of money available for that these days. Making $150 to $200 per night, probably 6 nights a week, gives you a max of $1200 per week, pre tax and NO benefits what-so-ever. Now you need to keep your equipment on par, new CD's, additional (expensive)insurance to cover you equipment that brings in the money, and never spending a night with the family.

Would I take that step, running a KJ gig 6 nights a week for a living? Nope, I wouldn't even consider it. I'm getting older, not younger.

But, all said and done, I wish you all the best!

In TOTAL agreement with Allstar on this issue.

You're entering into a saturated field, and if it's not, it soon will be in your area. Technology is getting cheaper, and people are downloading files so they're lowering their prices to a mere $50 or $75 a night. Even if you are legit, competition alone might force your hand to compete with these losers or die struggling.

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It can be done bro but ya gots ta bust it hard. Can you deliever the goods? Bottom line is ya gotta be the best. I'm very successful but t is a struggle. 12 to 15 hundred a week is not bad if you spend wisely and invest. But even now I'm looking for a couple of more female patrons to help ease the load................ I will marry for the right insurance plan...

I own all my gear but it's a sideline for me (and I'm upgrading my equipment right now). Between the cost for liability insurance, updating the song catalog, upgrading/replacing/adding equipment not to mention taxes, unemployment, and all the other overhead costs in running a full time business it can drive you under REAL quick.

Operating without Liability insurance isn't a smart move if you want to keep you equipment/business either.

If I was retired from a government job or drawing a pension without any real bills I might consider doing it full time, but I just don't see the pay being sufficient in my area. This past summer I was doing shows for $150 a night - and they were 7-8 hours long. It was a sideline a night or two a week and I was just starting out but keep in mind that was with me providing ALL the equipment except for some powered speakers. I'm a better negotiater now and because I have a proven track record I'll be able to charge more this summer when I start gigging again, but regular gigs don't always pay that well and many venues are hiring people to run the boards for $8-10 an hour on their own equipment.

Even at $200 a night for 5 nights a week you're only brining in $1000 a week or $52,000 a year GROSS. Back out taxes (yours AND the business), insurance, discs, equipment, wear and tear on a vehicle, etc and that gets much smaller REAL quick. Plan on taking a vacation? Hire a replacement you trust with $5000 in equipment/discs (or more) or cancel the show for a week or two? What about getting sick? Cancel the show or do you have a replacement ready to go? What happens if you suddenly can't be around cigarette smoking or if you go tone deaf because of a freak 4th of July incident?

Yes, you can make a living and there are people here on the board that do shows for a living and I applaud them. I don't. I do it during the summer months to support my disc/equipment buying habit year round and because it's fun. I won't make any money this year, but will likely have a small profit either next year or the year after if all goes well. And when it stops being fun and becomes a job I can quit or take a sabatical from it.

And then Jesus returns and he dont like karaoke. Good grief. no wonder I do so good you sound like my competition.

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Happy Sound Entertainment

We do a 5 hr. show once a week, every week of the year. During the summer's we are typically doing 3-4 nights a week. It's our second source of income.... but we also do other DJ things, i.e., parties, weddings, special events, sound reinforcement when gigs come our way. I really wish you well. I think you are charging a fair price and should hold your ground on that price .... if you put on a quality show. We won't compromise on our price... because we do a " a top quality show" .. not just call singers up one at a time ... etc, etc... I've been to Karaoke when its been run that way .. and frankly .... I think 75.00 a night for that is too much... but... if you do a true "show" .... then stick to the prices you are charging and best of luck to you. I do worry though, if you are the sole provider for your family ... as the entertainment business is a rough one at best.. and very dependent of weather, tourism, etc. Here in NY we also content with the no-smoking in bars and taverns law ... which has not only hurt regular business for most clubs and bars... but in a few cases, it has caused permanent closure. So .... do your homework well ... be sure you can handle the "hot times" and the "cold times" ... and have a blast!! We love what we do ... and I bet you will too.
Shotgun CC

Perhaps...

I talked with someone who dealt drugs for a living one time and we talked about how much he could move in a given amount of time on a 'good corner'. The best he could do was about $60,000 a year. Given the risk I always wondered why he continued to do it but he did.

It's similar here. There are things I won't run a business without - specifically, liability insurance and a plan of action if there are problems. That's why I don't do a show without two players in my rack. When I go to a PC based solution I'll rack mount two 1U computers so I have a spare. One speaker falling on a guest and you're out of business... perhaps worse.

Ok, perhaps it's because I've been doing computer security work for over 5 years and we deal in defense in depth and backups of backups but that's the only way I would do a show (with a backup player) or a business (with contingency plans in place). It's becuase I make these plans that I've never had a show not go off and never had to stop a show in the middle because of an equipment malfunction.

7 or 8 hours shows!!!! Thats crazy unless everybody tips a buck a song . i get on average 200.00 for a 3 to 4 hour show. Plus 30 dollars in grub money. Damn 7 hours is a LONG time bro. I remember about 6 years ago this club owner wanted to hire me for 125.00. I jumped all over it until she told me the hours were 7pm to 1:30 am. I stayed at my pizza parlor for the same price and worked 8 till 11......

We are oversaturated here also, But we Get $200 for a 4 hr show (min), and $50.00 an hr after. shows normally last 7-8 hrs. The key here is to keep the people going as long as you can and keep the energy up.

I have learned to take 15 minutes for breaks, and play dance music to let the crowd work off a little, we have line dance freaks, sone also like the big screen for the dance music with videos in the background. usually from live video concerts (dvd).

Playing Balads for 5 songs in a row, dont work either. You have to mix up the music, I reserve the right to mix up the rotation to keep up the energy level of the crowd, so they don't fall asleep and go home. But then again Our bars are open 24 hrs a day here also.

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I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !

I won't even setup my gear for less than $150. Also in my area doing more than a 4 hour show is very rare. I've done private parties that lasted 8 hours but I was originally hired for 4 and they kept throwing money at me to get me to stay. That was a great night.

ahhh, I remember those days.

Now, the area I'm in is so saturated, the bar owners are so tainted and jaded...

I wonder when we'll see more of you guys turn into what I've had to become in this area... I'm trying to convince Carol to move, cause I want to go BACK to that kind of atmosphere!

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If you can support your family, living in a community of 1500 with an income of $1200 - $1600 per month...I wish you the best of luck. We have made that here in the Sacramento area. The amount basically covers the cost of our equipment and current updates with some pocket change. It is a part time business that Margie and I both enjoy..

Cort
mcentertainment

ps... sorry about the picture..Margie is the boss ...

Oh I hear that! With all the multiriggers & fly by night companies running their shows for $100 or less, there is no way you can get over that. These companies have taken over some really decent shows & drove them to the ground. The worst part is that the clubs are either out of business or had such bad experiences that they will not even consider having karaoke back in their place but don't want to go back with the higher priced companies that they know worked, either.

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

The second show I did at the club started at about 9pm and at 4am was still going strong (we finally broke it up at about 5am). I had a packed house of over 200 people for nearly the entire time and didn't have time to go to the bathroom or get a drink let alone do anything else for that entire time. I was just starting out doing karaoke shows and was nieve regarding what I should charge. I was an unknown and they didn't know how it would pan out. At this point I have a MUCH larger collection of music (including the Sound Choice 8125 I just paid too money for ) and it will likely be double my current number of tracks before the summer season starts up again. I'm doing professional shows for the hotels and have a proven track record so it will be easier to negotiate a larger fee this year.

You're kidding, right? You're doing this full time, you only have 2 shows that you get $150 - $200 for and you say you're doing "so good"? In what universe is earning $300 - $400 a week considered good?

Don't get bitchy when people respond to your post with realism. You sound pretty clueless about being in business for yourself, you'd do well to listen and learn from the pros in here.

Well, first I notice you talking about how 'little' $1200/week is (when the guy is actually talking about making $400/week and pretty happy with it).

Now, you're saying $60k/yr isn't that much money. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a smart@ss here, or give you a hard time, but my GOD man, how much money do folks usually make in AK??

I was in the San Jose area (CA), one of the most expensive places in the United States to live. At one point, I was making around $50k/yr and living in 'fat city' (well ok, I could pay my rent and bills and STILL buy food!!! ).

Now, here we're talking about a guy living in small WV town, one of the more economically depressed states in the union. Trust me, even making $400/wk here isn't bad money. Most folks could live off that much pretty easily. If he was making $1200/wk in this state, he could retire in a couple of years!!

Anyway, you have yourself a blast doing your karaoke, Drummin22. Don't let anyone get you down or discourage you! BUT... DO have a 'backup plan'. Especially with a family! These guys are right about one thing, it's getting harder to find decent paying gigs these days and entertainment is not a 'steady' business. If nothing else, get yourself plenty of 'word of mouth' and try to expand (just a little bit) into other nearby towns. That's a pretty small population to depend on for an income doing karaoke!

Good luck!

$60,000 a year GROSS isn't that much money. Taxes, insurance, overhead, etc. will take close to half that.


Some make more than others. Average household income in Alaska is the highest of any state - $65,000. Cost of living is MUCH higher both directly and indirectly though. We pay up to $5 a gallon for gas, and about the same for milk in some cities. When you have to put almost everything on a plane or boat to get it here (or truck it 1500 miles through a foriegn country) things get expensive real quick. Those Little Debbie snack cakes you get a box of for $1.29 are $2.99 here. In the above discussion I was talking about gross income which is VERY different than net. I was also talking about a drug dealer making $60,000 a year and the risk of jail time (he was in Port St. Lucie, Florida selling crack).


I understand that. I lived in Huntsville, Alabama for a number of years and understand very well the economic depression based on geographic region. At one point I was making what I thought was ok money (in Orlando) and my friend (still in Huntsville) was making about half that amount. I have friends here in Alaska that make less than $8000 a year. They grow most of their own food and live in a small cabin 2 miles off the highway in the middle of nowhere (about an hour north of the Denali National Park entrance). He and his wife are doing very well though on that $8000 a year because they don't have any house payments, food cost is negligible, and they're extremely happy living that way.


This is what I'm trying to stress. Doing karaoke gigs isn't always steady work and not having a plan of action if problems arise can put yourself in a VERY precarious position. What seems like 'huge' money up front can be a real problem in April if you're not paying taxes on it. It's also not 'huge money' the first time you get sued because a speaker fell on someone and they were hurt. I'm not saying he should quit and pack up. Just to prepare for issues BEFORE they arise and protect your business investment for both yourself and your family. I did disaster response planning in IT organizations so I'm just naturally paranoid....