Karaoke Forums

For those who are interested, PEP has implemented some changes to the HELP program for new applicants.

Previously, HELP licenses did not have any geographic restrictions. We have changed HELP to a Market-Based Pricing system. New HELP licenses will be valid in a particular geographic market (there are about 210 separate "markets" in the US) and will be priced according to various factors that prevail in that market.

We've made a bunch of additional changes, like requiring a minimum 6-month commitment, giving applicants more flexibility with prepayments and commitment terms, guaranteeing pricing for up to 30 months, and combining the Venue License and the Blanket License into a single license type.

Finally, prices have increased substantially for all market tiers. Prices now vary between $159 and $420 per month for Operator Licenses and $499 and $699 for Venue Licenses. All non-U.S. licenses are currently priced at $159.

Existing HELP licensees will continue under their current pricing plans at least until October 1, 2017, provided they do not interrupt their agreements.

The price of the Sound Choice GEM series has been increased to a base price of $1.25 per track ($7,500), discounted to $6,500 if paid in full. Existing licensees may receive discounts on additional sets.

These HELP changes are based on increased demand in various markets as well as a need to account for differences in the markets for karaoke services and overall economic conditions across various markets. The GEM series price changes are based on increased demand coupled with limited supplies of remaining stock.

Well, well, well.....

Isn't this interesting?...

You're no longer a vendor leasing a product.

Have you been drinking?

Time to get some fresh hot melted butter for my popcorn.

ALL that money...to be able to PLAY old & outdated SC tracks?

$159-$420 PER MONTH ($1908-$5040 a year!!))

$7500 to LEASE the GEM set?! Not to own but LEASE...

For less than $1,000 ALL SC tracks can and should be replaced by every kj!!

a serious DUH moment for everyone in this industry newbie-to-seasoned pro

The CHANGES are a' HELPING people see the light brighter then EVER

I have both foundations, bricks, mortar and 300+ spotlight discs and a 50 or so star series. Today I am re-doing my list database and books. They are now deleted from the DB and removed from the HD, coming to an ebay auction near you before they are completely worthless. I have been weaning my singers off SC for 6 months or so and now I make a clean break. charging for continued use of a product I bought legally is silly

If you have original discs, you don't need a HELP license. I suspect you know that, but I'll play along anyway.

We don't charge for the continuing use of a product you bought legally.

If you want to go beyond the permissions you got when you bought those discs and make a copy to use instead of using the originals, there is a small one-time charge for us to verify that you actually have those originals, 1:1.

If, in view of that, you want to be petulant about it and sell off your discs to prove a point, I'm sure someone else would be interested in buying them.

I'll buy them at the price of completely worthless...make me an offer...But remember they're worthless!

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KLAM Entertainment..."Come Out Of Your Shell And Sing"

I'll buy them at a "nearly worthless" price.

You are correct, but you want to charge for an audit and make me sign an unreasonable agreement. Which I would happily do if SC still made content. I am not bashing SC, as in the past they made a great product. I simply see it as a matter of I already spent my money with them and don't see the point of additional costs and headaches with a company that isn't producing any new material. I am looking to the future as most of my current clientele with a few exceptions are young enough that they could care less whether I use SC tracks or something else.

Hard to beleive things i'm reading here. I run karaoke in a tourist area surrounding american singers who "prefer" SC and CB tracks over many other brands.

If you have many SC disks, just get a certification and you're good to go. I would have chose this option if I had more SC disks. I chose the Gem set as it is the best deal karaoke has to offer @ $0.80 cents per track.

Bottom line is people/singers especially americans love the brand. Don't settle for others just because they are available. For it was another member on here that convinced me about having good quality over saving a buck or two.

It is a big step to dish out $7000 on old tracks but along with the payment options offered for quality old tracks... Go for it!

Over 50% of my crowd wants to sing newly released material, The older crowd is singing the same songs each night, so I don't have to replace that many tracks as I have been buying from Sunfly and other manus, so it isn't like I don't have other options for selections currently. I have replaced a lot of the "staples" with KV versions which IMHO sound pretty good.

I also don't like how I spent a lot of good money on discs and SC/PEP now let anyone get a HELP license. They say they fight pirates and in the next breath they license them.

Like I said, if they were making new material, my position would be different. I haven't sold or listed my disc yet. I really don't need the cash, so Ill probably sit on them for awhile anyway.

Also, why would I spend $7000, did you not read the post I wrote that you replied to?

First, you try to sell him on your $250 audit: (you left out the ongoing contract part - again)

But for good measure, you insult him by calling him "petulant" if he were to stand by his decision that he doesn't want your brand:
Personally, I think he's better off - and his venues are certainly better off - without the brand at all and the personal insults from you.

Your "VP marketing style" never ceases to amaze me.

KNF has a slight reading comprehension problem.

I'm sorry, i'm seeing it as 6000 songs for 80 cents each as referred to $7000.00 its still the best deal. KV has karaoke tracks offered at $2.99 as compared to others offered at same prices $2.99

FWIW
i have 3 rigs, 1 with SC & CB and 2 without either
there is no difference in attendance between them.
the few that do demand one version bring their own discs anyway and that's once every 6 months or so.
i am curious though, for those that rent the GEM, of the 6000 songs, how many (from your hosting software report) are being done? i know it is the most requested songs that were put in the set, but that's nationwide, in any particular area, what are ACTUALLY being used?
i can't find it (apparently i need instructions on using the forum search i'm coming up blank on results) but i think Lonnie posts those reports and it was under 3000 unique titles over a year.

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

Which makes no financial sense. With KV I buy songs that I know people will sing because they have requested them. I already own a good deal of SC tracks, which don't get sung near as much as they used too. (actually they don't get sung at all anymore after removing them) Our crowds are obviously different. I encourage my patrons to sing new stuff, so as time goes on the outdated stuff gets sung less and less.

You got me to thinking how many SC actually get used in my shows over the years, I can really only track the last two for the most part.
in 2015 there were 4,419 individual song titles done at least once at my show. 18,930 total (all songs counted) of which 9,110 were of SC brand
in 2014 there were 3,978 individual song titles. 20,372 total songs of which 10,593 were SC brand
in 2013 there were 3,578 individual song titles. 20,925 total songs Brand wasn't tracked until later in the year so no info here

And while many of those tracks were Sound Choice, the SC vs other brands (as a collective) ratio stronghold (used to be about 52% in 2014) is starting to shift (around 48-49% in 2015)- especially since more newer songs are being done more frequently.

I do not have a complete list of this years to date figure, but up to June 7th, there were 2,933 individual songs sung so far, 8,679 total & 4,098 of those SC, about 47%. I will get data from the show computer this week but still won't be a full years worth.

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

yeah, i thought it was you.
how many of the individual titles were SC? not total overall (for example "Picture" being done 300 times still equals 1 title, same with Black Velvet done 150 times, etc.)

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

What? Sounds like you may have hired a soothsaying, ouija board riding, tarot card reader as a market analyst.

What exactly precipitated these new changes?