Karaoke Forums

I was thinking that legal downloads are great, we get to legally compete with the 100,000 song hard drive people! But wait.... if we can download almost any song we need legally within say 2 minutes why would we ever need to build a song library at all! Soon all you'll need to start a legal karaoke show is mic, PA system, mixer and lappy. Our tried and true CD purchases that built our library will soon become even more worthless!

Now, granted if you have to buy every single song you play you aren't going to make money for the first several shows. Soon enough though, you'll have a few hundred songs that your singers all sing and you'll know that each song you buy will actually get sung!

So the question is not.. how do we compete with pirates but how do we revalue our investment and coexist with downloads!

Obviously having a good library is a nice head start, and we all have nice song books to browse too. A newcomer could simply find out the 1000 most popular karaoke songs, put them in a 'song book' for browsing and still only download them as needed. Reliable internet would be a must but assuming you have that the things that will set shows apart will stop being about song selection and be more about personality, hosting skill, equipment quality.

So far the most I've spent on downloads in a single night is $15. The wave of the future is upon us.... except when a singer wants the 'Sound Choice' version!

- Jonn

Someone pointed out in another thread that it isn't so much the song choices as it is the sound reproduction and personality of the host - I believe this to be true. Most people that attend my shows now aren't interested in the new stuff -- there was a time when that was the case and I was able to keep them happy from week to week.

I haven't done a download during a show because my place doesn't have reliable 'net service but I wonder if I would anyway. You bring up interesting points. Food for thought.

I think that within 5 years that will be the way it is.
Especially for custom tracks.
I mean they expect us to pay for songs we know will never get played.

The internet is enormous yet it is growing and many people are already living their lives on-line.

Maybe in ten years no-one will leave home to sing karaoke...

I remember when CD+G was the new thing on the block.

I've yet to download on the fly at a show, just because I try not to have my show laptop on the net. It won't be long until KJ's don't purhcase songs but LEASE or RENT them and pay upon their usage.

It's amazing how technology has totally changed so many industries. However, I don't think we'll ever get to the point that people stop frequenting karaoke hot spots. Part of the thrill of singing karaoke is entertaining the crowd. You can't do that from home, except in online communites like our SS, but it's still not the same as seeing someone in person.

We are going to have to co-exist with this type of karaoke though. That's obvious. It is the way of the future. Interesting question classic!!

I couldn't imagine totally starting a new show with only this method as a way of providing the songs. For one, what if the internet signal in the bar is not working that night? Your show would not go on, unless you already had some library available. That just seems too risky to depend completely on internet access for a show.

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It's called Karaoke Therapy...

I agree with that one.
Thing is though it will possibly be something pretty unique to venues.
That could have a big effect on your regular KJ

If the bar is provoding the internet access the bar owner will probably just download the karaoke tracks himself and hire someone to run the show... and the KJ, as we know it, will be out in the cold. The HUGE initial investment into a music library is what used to keep most people out of the karaoke business. If the bar owner can just download the songs that are requested on an as needed basis.....there will be more and more filler music played by the "KJ" to keep the number of tracks needed to be downloaded to a minimum. Be careful what you wish for.

Yah, I guess the karaoke hosts that have as much personality as the "go" download button won't have jobs anymore.

I did a party out at a campground last friday (it was for a new employee meeting for a local university).

No internet, probably not within miles.

Still had a good show.

It seems I do about 4-5 outdoor gigs a year where internet is not a possible option, and I dont have internet at my main 2 clubs anyway.

People will still come to karaoke gig;

1: because the sound system is generally better than home system and most singer will want to listen to them self in a better system.

2: Now that they have easy access to karaoke tracks; they have more chances to practice the songs at home and when they come to sing they are better at it.

3. Most people just want to show off to a bigger crowd, something that is missing when singing at home.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Downloading songs is great, but as someone who uses this method as the primary way to get the "latest and greatest" It's not something you want to do constantly all night. You still need a decent base of songs.

One, not all the downloads come in the "form" you personally are using... especially if you started with ripping disks. For example, I use; SC0001-01 - Name, Artist - Song.zip. I like this because its the automatic form choice for compuhost, it shows up nice on my selection screen, and I can use the mp3 import feature for my songbook.

So now I have to rename the file, then put it in the correct folder. I like to keep my files organized by manufacturer to make it easy to locate if there is a problem.

Next, you have to import it into your hosting program, which, depending on your computer and software can take about 30 seconds to a minute. Usually, you can't do anything else while its importing. So I'm playing this little juggling game where I'm downloading, then importing while someone is singing, hopefully so I can get the song ready for person who requested it.

THEN, when you get home, don't forget to import those new files to your songbook and your backup drive!

And, what if the place you work looses internet or doesn't have it at all? Pack up and go home.

Its a tool, its wonderful, but its not what "makes" a KJ. I certainly wouldn't want to run my show all night that way. Not fun.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!