Karaoke Forums

Just random thoughts on a Sunday morning...

We had forty-nine singers at our regular Saturday night gig last night... fifty, if you want to count me... and believe it or not, we were missing several of our "regulars".

So where does this "Karaoke Is Dying" rumour come from? I certainly don't see any evidence of that. If anything, it seems to be growing in this area...

Last night, I had a young lad (I'd guess him to be about 20-ish) approach me complaining that he and his band couldn't get any gigs, yet our karaoke shows were packing them in, oftentimes standing-room only...

He was obviously indignant that he (a "talented musician") wasn't getting any work, yet I (a simple button-pusher) seemed to have all I could handle. I let him sing his song, and let his comments go in one ear and out the other..

I wanted to, and perhaps should have told him what is blatently obvious to me... Many, and perhaps most bands in this area are made up of young folks like him, who seem to believe that ear-splitting noise equates to talent... Most, it seems, have never heard the old adage "first you get good... then you get loud". These are the same young folks who's "following" consists of late-teens and twenty-somethings who get blitzed at home, and then make their way to the bars where they "nurse" a single beer for the night. Just the kind of clientele that bar owners love..... NOT!

Unfortunately, the truly talented musicians often get lumped in with these wanna-be pickers and bangers in the eyes of bar owners and audiences alike... so they don't get hired, or when they do... don't attract enough of a paying audience to make it worthwhile to the bar. On the way home from my gig last evening, I stopped by the Club where I do karaoke on Thursday evenings. The band on the stage was excellent, and the lead singer was both talented and gorgeous... and there was maybe a dozen people in the audience!

I felt sad for the Club, but must admit to being a little smug that our karaoke seems to be subsidizing live music... especially since I had just come from a gig with 49 singers and perhaps another 30 or more non-singers in the audience.

So, is Karaoke dying?

Somewhere perhaps.

But, not around here.

Just the ramblings of an old fart...

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Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

Karaoke is participatory. You actually get to perform a song or two. Going to watch a live band is far more passive, unless you are a dancing machine; but even then, you aren't going to get on stage and be a star for a few minutes at a time. A karaoke gig will attract people from 18 to 80. A Live Band...Not so Much.

I believe karaoke reaches a larger group of people. There really isn't an age cap on singers. From toddlers to retirees they will come Live bands usually play a certain type music and cater to only that genre. If you're over 40, live bands are loud and usually you cant get away from the music because it's so loud.
Obviously, there are exceptions to this rule, but I really think karaoke is something you can do at an elementary school or senior living facility. Most bands couldn't.

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

Bands suffer from the same types of problems karaoke hosts do--bad ones on every corner. Plus it takes a large venue to generate enough money to pay a good band and there don't seem to be as many of those around as when I was young.

In one town where I am, DJ and (some) Bands are bigger draws to the younger crowd than karaoke but it has to do with what was offered before. I has been a process for me to show that karaoke can include newer music and that you can dance to it.

The one band that does well does what I think a band needs to do to succeed at a bar. They play a variety of genres from all eras and mix in different songs each time. They also learned the particular favorites of the town. Too many bands want to be a Blues Band or a Metal Band and people end up saying they saw them once, they all sound the same, been there done that. The band that learned to play a variety is the one that has managed to get return engagements.

Glad your show was hopping, Earl. In my area half the people were down with the flu.

I just finished up my first Christmas season with around 60 rentals, mostly corporate parties but a few house parties. Karaoke is definitely not dying (rentals at least, dunno about hosts...).

We are doing 21 shows a week and turning away gigs every week right now. It is not dying. It is changing and morphing though. You change with it or lose your gigs to those that are keeping pace.

-Chris

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-Chris

As long as people watch and follow their favorite stars, they secretly ( or not) want to be just like them. In the case of music stars, public karaoke- and only karaoke- affords them that opportunity, at least for a little while. Nothing else comes close to it.

Be awhile before it goes away...

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

I am happy to see there are areas out there that are still doing well. However, the same can't be said about where I live.. Karaoke itself may not be a thing of the past "yet",, but the entire bar scene in Utah is changing,,and it's not for the better. There is not one single bar or club that I know of in the entire state that I know is growing in business. The vast majority has dropped in sales about 50%. The ones that are still doing OK are the big clubs in the cities,, and even those are just holding their own is all. Beer sales in Utah has dropped about 25% at the retail level over the last 3 years. The big spike in sales has been at the liquor stores themselves. Increases set new sales records are set each year. Liquor sales here are controlled by the state, the stores are owned by the state and operated by state employees, no private sales allowed. Hence, the state uses all the profit from sales of alcohol to subsidize schools and education.
This tells me that the parties have moved from the bars and clubs to home parties. I still have nights that are really good here and there, but nothing like I used to have 4-5 years ago. My biggest rotation lately has been 16 in the last year. We still have fun,, thats what it's about, right? Good on ya Earl for your success!!

Ease your troubled minds folks. As long as you enjoy sex, karaoke will never die. From karaosoft’s facebook page, allow me to post Bob Latshaw’s take on this.

(Quoted verbatim): “I've recently seen discussions on the future of karaoke and there's always someone who asks "is karaoke dying?". Let me just add my two cents here, because in 2005 I had to ask myself the same question before I decided to get into this industry.

As long as mankind has the ability to create alcohol and background music, karaoke will never die, and anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't know human nature very well. You might as well say that sex is going to go out of style. There are just some things that people will always enjoy, and the combination of drinking and singing is one of them. The need for a KJ will ever die either. They can make all the automated jukebox systems they want, but people will always need a knowledgeable sober person in the room to play referee and make sure everything runs smoothly. Doctors actually have less job security than KJs, because someday they will make cures for all diseases, but if there's one thing they will never cure, it's the human desire to drink and sing”.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

That is brilliant Bob (through Brian) Thanks for posting. The "is karaoke dying" topics always make me laugh..

I'm just in the mood to take a guess- Has smoking in bars been banned in Utah, and if so, how long ago?

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Utah is one of the most conservative states in the US. It is also in the bottom 50% by population (more people live in Puerto Rico than Utah). It is also the home of the Mormon church.

Do you really expect the bar industry to be thriving state-wide?

-Chris

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-Chris

Trust me,, the fact that we have a smaller population has no bearing on how successful a bar can be,, that has to do with bar to customer ratio,, ,,, i.e. more people, more bars,,, less people less bars. The Mormon church does have an impact on the laws, but when it comes to the non-LDS people, or the non active Mormons,, bars have always been here. I live in a smaller county, and at one point we had 7 successful, busy bars. I am 52 years old, and when I turned 21, the seven bars were all still in business. We had 17,000 or so county residents, now we have 24,000 or so residents and only 1 bar left. The ones that went out of business were unable to adapt to the new laws or had nobody who wanted to buy them out. The one remaining bar is my local town one that I do karaoke on Friday nights. You would think we would be slammed,, but the exact opposite is the case. We struggle,, the new owner is the right person for the job in my opinion.. I believe it's the fact that the home parties are what is causing the shift. I can't say that is true everywhere, but here it is. The laws make it incredibly difficult for owners to be profitable,, too many state fees, taxes, regulations and rules. So, Chris,, DO NOT go blaming the Mormon church on that,, cuz the minute you do, you will have a fight on your hands,, cuz I happen to be a Mormon, (not active tho),, but I will still stand behind my own beliefs and go toe to toe with anyone who tries to knock something they know very little about. Not meaning to be rude here Chris, but I just want EVERYONE out to know that being Mormon does not mean we are any different from the rest of the world.

The reason(s) for the reduced business from my own personal observations are what I have said already,,, 1) harsher laws, 2) yes, the smoking ban was and still is affecting the bars,, 3) Home parties I believe are the biggest factor,,, and 4) the economy did have a lot to do with it. All of these reasons basically started happening at the same time, around 2008,,, and we have never recovered in the bar industry, and I don't believe we ever will.

Sorry for the long post, and the negative feelings and comments,, but they are my honest thoughts.

The harsher laws are a result of the 1) conservative atmosphere that is propagated by the 2) Mormon church. Not picking on Mormons specifically, but like Southern Baptists, they have a markedly conservative position that impacts local laws. They have a strong lobby that extends that reach to the state level.

One thing I didn't consider was unemployment levels. Don't know what they are like in Utah, but in Western Seattle, we didn't take as hard of an unemployment hit as the rest of the country. There is a lot of uncertainty regarding Boeing right now that is impacting some of the blue collar communities here, but in general, people are still going out and spending money at karaoke.

-Chris
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-Chris

Our economy actually is one of the strongest in the nation,, our unemployment rate is still very low, and even when the crash happened we were only in the upper 8% range for unemployment. We are growing in population as well. So, I can't put much emphasis or blame on the "economy",,, it's more in the habits of the customers themselves. I do agree with your statement to a point about the church's views affecting the laws,, but we have had that problem for the last 150 years, nothing new there. In fact, even tho some of the laws are relaxing a bit for the customer, they still are harder for the owner to become profitable. I won't try to explain that one at all. Statistically speaking, the percentages of non LDS vs LDS population has increased. The state used to be be about 70% LDS, and now is closer to 60%. The percentage of 'active' LDS is only around 50%, and of those remaining 50%, about half of those are drinkers/smokers. So, you can't tell me that the business isn't here,, it's just shifting formats, if you will. Technology has impacted all ways of life,, many of the youth are choosing not to get drivers licenses anymore, because they can take mass transit, or the social media is their avenue to the "what's happening scene". Times are changing, and it's adapt or die,,, Here, the bars are losing the battle because they are unwilling or unable to make the changes. That is my take.