Karaoke Forums

Well, maybe not, but close. Hubby and I went out last night and ended up meeting with friends who wanted to go sing. Truth is, I didn't want to but ended up going anyhow. This karaoke guy was HORRIBLE. The music and the singer were totally off. Every singer one was too loud. He didn't know how to mix at all.  He used echo which I am not fond of and had it to the point that the singers really did echo and it was like he was proud of it. He had NO updated music. The latest country he had was "Holy Water" by Big & Rich. It was hideous. And the guy acted like we were an inconvience.

It really makes me wonder how good KJ's can stay in business with people like this. This seems to be what the karaoke world is coming to. I might see one good KJ with good sound and personality to every 50 bad ones. And karaoke singers are acustomed to this now a days.

If these so called KJs get paid $100, in my opinion, that's $75 too much. What ever happened to people in the business taking pride in what they sound like? It seems that any person with a few karaoke discs, a player and a home entertainment system thinks they have what it takes to get into this business and all they do is hurt the people who really have what it takes.

Anyhow, thanks for listening to me rant.

hi iam james blastfromthepast and yes your right there is bad kj out thereand as far as a mix for people. well i have mine set just right iam not a bad kj but iam not a recording studio either either you can sing or you cant  ive paid over 3000 dollars for my rig and have a lot more but yes these kids out there is doing it for 25 and 30 dollars a night we just cant compete with them the most i get a night is 75.00 thats the top around here in oklahoma and i have a good name as a karaoke host you must have ran into some body that is burnt out in the bussinsss if you ever get to okahoma look me up and come sing  james

It's true. there are some bad KJs here in topeka, but there are a couple who are excellent. The best thing you can do is "vote with your feet." Let the bar owner or manager know you love GOOD karaoke, but you won't be coming in there on his karaoke night(s).  If they start  loosing business instead of gaining business, that KJ won't be there for long.

Anyone ever heard of the phrase "You get what you pay for"? Karaoke shows in Maryland go anywhere from $75 (which are the KJs out there undercutting) to $200 a night. Right now on Friday and Saturday nights I get top dollar in the area. It's getting to the point that karaoke doesn't really pay anymore. I remember when you could get $400 a night in a bar. We'll never see that again because of the $75 people.

I also think the way some of my customers think is funny. I constantly have people asking for private parties and these people think that I am going to basically do it for free. They don't seem to understand it is a job. Would they go to work for 5 hours and not get paid for it? Well, if they do.....they are a little mental in my book.

Sorry if I sound bitchy...just getting myself psyched up for a very long weekend. Have a good weekend all.

The only way to get rid of the bad KJ's and low quality shows is to come at it from a financial perspective.  You can whine about piracy all you want but the management only cares about the lowest price they can get to fill their nightly entertainment slots.  Unfortunately there are plenty of people out there willing to continue lowering the wage bar and the quality shows are being pushed out.  

How do we stop this???

Changing the management's perspective on right VS wrong is a long term solution.  Waiting for the laws to rid the market of the multi-riggers and pirates is another long term solution that I would not waste my time waiting for.  The other problem is that there are legal shows out there that happen to be ran by idiots who couldn't mix sound if their life depended on it.  You can't legislate stupidity or quality.  

The solution is convincing management that hiring incompetant, bottom dollar and low quality (legal or pirate) shows to serve to their customers is costing them more in the end.  Singers MUST stop going to these shows AND let it be known why they will not be back.  Many singers complain about a place but where are they each week??? the same place they complain about.  If management has to make a decision between a crappy show for $50 a night and a quality show for $200 a night,  and their customers will come back each week no matter who is there, I promise you that the bar will hire the $50 show.  

As long as the singers/customers settle for the talent on hand then nothing will change.  Walking out of a show, letting the bar know why you are leaving, and taking your purchasing power with you, will do more to change the scene than anything else on the table right now....

Oops! I just realized I misselled "losing" and its in bold type.

There actually is a place for the $75-$100 a night KJ. Because of overhead, and the cost of food/alcohol bar owners typically get about a 50% profit on what they sell. In order to pay a KJ $150 they have to increase business by $300 over what they would normally do without Karaoke, just to break even! Here in Topeka, most of the bars are to small to accomadate that kind of crowd, even if they could attract it. They can afford to pay someone $75 bucks and still increase their proft, though. The KJ who is good enough to charge $150-$250 or more is pretty much restricted to the bigger bars/clubs - unless he's willing to work cheaper to "supplement" his higher paying gigs.

It's simple economics. Thats just the nature of the business.

BTW, I agree with everything Tigrr27 just said.[/b]

Yep Tig's right as far as hosts goes, there are good and bad in both legit and pirates and some pirates charge top rates.  That being said when one can get a large library on a hard drive for next to nothing, it does hurt the legit operator.

Normally entertainment is budgeted for 20% of net bar sales when it is present.  But then again we know how cheap most bars are, they will go with the cheapest offer.

The other problem about successful shows is that you'll get 30-40 singers because they love your sound, your selection, and the way you host, however singers like getting up as much as possible and with that many singers you're lucky to get up twice, so then they will go somewhere else the next week which isn't busy, then you have a low turnout.  Now if anyone knows the secret of breaking that one, let us know.

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Timberlea said:


That is a big problem. One KJ here lets everyone sing 2 songs in a row when (and if) they get their turn. Of course that almost doubles the wait time. After 11:00 or so it gets worse, because he'll play one or two dance songs in between each new singer! But that keeps the non-karaoke crowd there so it's good for his particular business. Most of the serious karaoke singers will go somewhere less crowded, or just get their early and leave after their turn to sing. He attracts more of a young "partier" crowd, and his shows are the most crowded, but not the most popular among serious karaoke fans. His fans just want to sing once, maybe, or not at all, and enjoy watching the show.

There are other shows here that get 10 to 20 serious singers, but not too many other customers. The singers love it because they can do 4 or 5 songs, but many of them drink coke or water and nurse the drink, all night. I don't know how these shows are making any money.

The trick, seems to be to have a fun show without too many singers, but one that the non singers enjoy as well. I find bumper music helps, in that regard, but then people get mad at you when you only play 45 to 90 seconds of their favorite songs. It's kind of a catch-22.

Agree with Tig's statement as well.

Tim I feel the same pain on this scenerio.  We get our busy nights & people quit coming after a while because we are so packed & rotation is large.  So then the place don't get as packed, rotation is smaller then people (usually new groups) get wind of it & start coming in because they can sing more, which grows back to first scenerio of business & the cycle repeats constantly.  We are starting our uphill climb again at this point.

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The people that don't spend money or nurse one drink for 4 hours are not true supporters of the club or the show & will ultimately kill karaoke for the club.  They don't realize it or expect everyone else to cover where they don't want to spend, but if everyone has that mentality, then the club will quit karaoke altogether directly because OF the "serious singers" not spending money or tipping bar staff.  We get those people as well, not as often but I do see it more lately.
Remember if the club you sing at don't make money, then they will drop your favorite entertainment all together!  (i have that tag line in my books).

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EXACTLY! I get so aggrevated when I see people doing that. One of my closest friends will go to karaoke shows and spend about 3 or 4 dollars the whole night. I try to make up for him because he's my designated driver! But I can't spend enough to make up for everybody. I tell these people that they should buy a couple of drinks because the bar has to pay the KJ, and without a cover charge, that's the only way the bar is gonna make money. They have all kinds of excuses. "Alcohol hurts my voice." "I'm providing 'free' entertainment so others will stay and spend money." "I don't drink anymore, I'm an alcoholic." (Actually, that one's pretty good!).

Some of the bars here won't give you a glass of water unless you're buying alcohol. Or they charge $3 for a 30 ounce coke. Or they sell bottled water for $2 bucks. Gotta make money somehow I guess.

Actually if they are a true 'designated driver', most bars will overlook the fact they might not be spending, but everyone that they are 'driving' had better be spending something.  



Many bars mistakes as well is that they do give free water or free refills.  Charge for EVERYTHING as it's a fresh buy.  Some bars will actually jack prices up during the entertainment - still on the fence with that one, if every bar practiced that, then it would be fine, but most don't so they may just avoid that club & go to a cheaper place as well.
I was talking to some places that actually SOLD a token/ticket at the door for $5 - not a cover charge per se.  This token would then be used to purchase $5 worth of food or drink.  If they chose not to buy anything further, they at least paid $5 for the priveledge to sit & loiter.  If they do plan on buying further, then it's no big deal for that person.

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At my bar the drinks go up 25 cents each when it is a karaoke night.
It seems a small price to pay for entertainment. Most people don't even notice it because they only come in on karaoke night. It is the regulars who sit at the bar everyday and don't sing that complain. That is rare though since it has been that way for 5 years now.

I may have to put up with a lot of crap at my bar, but the work is there 3 nights a week. I don't have to worry where my next job is coming from. I personally haven't been effected yet by an undercutter. Most of my private parties don't shop around. They want me from my reputation, so they don't shop around. Knock on wood, I do feel fortunate. Even if I am working next to a dirt hole tonight.  LMAO

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Lonman said:


I like that idea a lot. It would keep all of the non-spending singers out of the rotation, allowing ME to do more songs

Babs said:


That's an awful thing to say about one of your singers (Just kidding)!

Lonnie I hear that frustration especially when you're the best show in town.  I think the best mix is about 10-12 singers (sing once an hour) and about a hundred hard drinking, food eating people

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That would be awsome, but how do you make that happen?

Now that's the $64,000 question.

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I don't know if you got the concept, everyone had to buy a token to get in, what they do with it on the inside is up to themselves whether they used it on food/drink or just sat & sang - they would still be treated normally because everyone at least spent $5 anyway.

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I understand completely. The singers who are too cheap to spend at least $5 dollars would not go in there to begin with, so the rotation would be smaller. But people like me who normally spend $15 to $30, anyway, wouldn't have to pay extra for a cover charge. Great idea.

Right!  According to the clubs I talked with that implemented it, says they really haven't lost people, but the ones that didn't spend before, are at least using the $5 & often times paying a little more.  They did lose some of the non-spenders, but no many.

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