Karaoke Forums

Last night I had a huge crowd for a Wed. night. As usual I was going to
shut down at 12:00 because I only get paid until then. The bar is open
until 2am. I was dealing with the usual whining because I was leaving and
the bar owner said he would pay me to stay another hour. Hallaluyah!
I have had patrons pay me to stay several times because the bar owner
is tight with his money. Finally he gets it. He will actually make more money if I stay.

When I leave the people leave - it's a no brainer.

Anyone else here have to deal with this?

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

HAd a similar problem with a bar owner.  He was so tight, he squeeked.  All was solved with an contract.  Since then no more problems.

The bar he owns finally started stocking Red Bull.  Tokk him this long becasue he thought it was too ezpensive, even thought he could make his money back.  I dunno, I have found most bar owners have no clue what they are doing, or how to keep the till ringing.

That's really good news Bab's!  That was a major step for you as he was the one making that choice. Now it opens the door for future changes on some of the other items you have been wanting to address.  Rome wasn't built in a day but you have shown alot of patience and it will pay off in the long run.  :worship:  :dancin:

Makes Ya Feel Good Don't It!!

Way to Go Girl!

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

The standard karaoke time for my area is 9:30PM to 2AM

The bars close at 2AM so people can't complain when it's time to go, it's the law.

I have tried 8 to 12 karaoke night is the past, you just end up with a bunch of old people that don't drink much.

Young, 21 to 26 crowds will make the bar much more money. They tend to drink more expensive drinks and shots.

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That is good news Bab's..  Maybe now things will slowly turn around, and this place will become a great working environment for you after-all !  Some people just take a LONG LONG time to warm up  LOL .   Maybe Scrooge is getting sentimental or something !!!

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Just joined, first post. I feel compelled to put my 2 cents in on the subject of bar owners. I have been doing this for 14 years in August. At the top of the list you have "Genius", at the bottom of the list you have "Idiot", waaaay below that is bar owner. You must need to have an IQ of 40 to get a license. Every one of them is exactly the same. They do not know how to make money. I do everything in my power to build their business and they do everything they can to chase it away. I can talk till I'm blue in the face but it doesn't sink in. Every job I do makes the bar owner more money than bands or DJ's. You would think that I might know a thing or two about doing karaoke. It's very frustrating to me to see how goofy they can be. They can't even do the simple stuff.  :(

Amen

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

yes babs i have the same thing going on at the club  i host karaoke at. the owner is tight too. on wed i go from7-11 a lot of people have to work the next day i used to do it from8-12 i jst live with it james blastfromthepast

I had a patron pay me to stay an extra hour one night. I was closing down
after playing that extra hour and some guy was giving me a hard time because I
wouldn't let him sing. Okay He had all night plus an extra hour to get his song request in. He said he was going to the owner. I laughed at him and said go ahead
because he isn't the one paying me.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Well, I've had and run several business in the past - so from that perspective - if the bar owner is willing to pay more - take his money - it's not up to the patrons to pay extra - they are your clients - if you refuse their money - they may go to the bar owner and make their wishes clear and again, you are back ontrack - the owner is paying the extra - remember - he's making extra from the business...don't give in on that , don't be rude, don't present it in a bad light - just let the patrons know they have to speak to the bar owner and then he will come to you, as long as they know
you are just doing your job. If the bar owner's that cheap or dumb - do you really want to work there ? There's better money with less hassle  - provided you have a good service and provide entertainment that people like - at the worst - the people may follow you to another place. Either way you win. Business is business, and time is worth money - your time is worth money.

They may be a little different up north.  I missed getting a job because another guy was $5 cheaper.    He told me this.   They look at their bottom line.   They want you to take a pay cut if they have a bad night.  It's not my fault, I put on the same show for ten people or 500.  I have to work harder when there is a small crowd.   They never couch up extra money on a good night.   They never want to pay you to stay over.   I give them 15 minutes over, after that it's cash, gas or a**, overtime ain't free.

I wonder if that'd be more of an aspect of individual owner's makeup as a business person as opposed to geographic area. Seem's in most locations there are always some that are stingy, and other's that are more personable.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Well, here in Canby, Oregon our local KJ's have a good relationship with the audience and the owner.  Ordinarily if the audience is still going strong towards the end of the night and there are quite a few singers around still, the KJ's will stay for an extra 20-30 minutes (I've even seen an hour).  People often will tip for the extra time -- I don't think the club owner is normally paying extra though.  But on the other hand, if it's really slow, the KJ may quit a half hour early, still get the same pay and the audience understands that there just isn't much going on anyway.  Also if the KJ isn't feeling well, he/she may leave early.  The audience and the owner seem to understand this too.  It's as if the KJ's are on salary as opposed to hourly pay.

I have loyal regulars who care about me - help me tear down, get me
a drink, protect me from drunks etc... They are great! But I also have
plenty of people who could care less. I could be half dead and they would still want me to stay and work all night. My bar is a karaoke bar. People take singing way to serious. I could have 30 singers and if I mess up the rotation, just a hair, they know it. I'm sure there are some decent bar owners to work for. I just haven't met any.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I really like it when they tell you to wait for the (sports game of the month) to end.    Now this is where they get a little stupid.  If it's an advertised, regular karaoke night, this is there bread and butter.  Not the once in a while sports game.    That has 5 people watching it.   Unless it's a wet T-shirt contest.   HAAA   They are saying to the regular loyal karaoke crowd, by way of their actions that your money is only good if there isn't a game on.   And by the way it will be good again when the game is over.   HEY STUPID    If you want to keep making money on karaoke night.   Nothing, I mean NOTHING comes before karaoke.   It's not the game of the week night, it's karaoke.   The five guys that you catered to will be out of here the second the game ends.   How much did you make on them, compared to how much you make off of the regular karaoke people?   And how much did your stupidity cost you for making the karaoke people mad?   Sorry, but I don't see their logic.    Who will be here spending their money after the game ends and the season is over?   If you don't make them wait too long and they leave for another karaoke bar.   I can understand if your team is in the playoffs or the superfinal4world  whatchamacallit.  But not for the first exhibition game.

This is another serious issue.   I had a regular give me a hard time and threaten me with bodily harm.   I told the bar owner and he kinda handled it.  Not by saying anything to the idiot, but by hanging around if he came up to the table.   He did it again and I flat out told the owner he needed to decide if he wanted the idiot or me to be there, but that it wasn't going to be both of us.  His decision?    Now I'm talking about a packed house every night.    After our talk I walked in the next night and the idiot and his wife were sitting at the bar.   I walked over to the owner and asked him if the idiot was staying.    You're way ahead of me..   He picked the idiot.   Now I know for a fact that all of the people in that bar were not there to see the idiot.   Of course if they wanted to see an idiot he could have been a big draw.    I hope the idiot was spending at least $1500 a night.   That's what it cost the bigger idiot to keep brain dead around.   The crowd fell off with the next KJ.   Never to be the same.    By the way, I heard the idiot pulled a gun on someone a few months later.   I tell all of my owners that if I have a problem with anyone they need to handle it, pronto.   It's them or me.   Not both.  I'll walk in a heartbeat.    If they want to be stupid, they can pay the price.   What if he pulled the gun on me?


As far as taking the equipment out at the end of the night.   I bring in the show and I take it out.  The last thing I want is help from someone that has been drinking all night carrying my equipment.

Waiting until the game is over - I thought I was the only one who had to deal
with dumb stuff like that.

It really only happened when the White sox were playing for the championnship this year. Other than that I can't understand why you can't watch the game if you want without sound and have karaoke.

Why would the bar owner pick a patron over you? It doesn't make sense. Was he a friend of his?

Oh I only let them carry the speakers and books to the car. I do trust the couple of guys that
help me, but I feel better tearing my own equipment down.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I generally don't have to wait until the game is over, but I do have to leave it up on the screen till it's over - home games mainly, unles we are really sucking that season which happens quite a bit..... .  If they are key games where we actually make playoffs or God forbid, the Superbowl, then yes i'd need to hold off till it was over.

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If they want us to wait for the game to end, we wait, we still get paid.  If a singer complains, we refer them to management.  No pressure karaoke. .

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Even though you tell them to complain to the management, you may have lost some people that would have been good followers and customers.   Your reputation could still be damaged.    Oh we went to So & So's and the KJ was watching the game.   Leaving before they found out that it was the stupid bar owner that made the decision.    When you get screwed you volunteer that info to a thousand people.  When you get a good deed, you'll tell 10.