Karaoke Forums

Not sure what to say that has not been said but book making programs or hoster is fine with me and yes you can learn what you have by adding them yourself but who has the time thats ok when song books were small with hoster like software all i need is a title  and thats it bam done no more looking for disks in a box

How do you know which is the best version to play without the numbers?

When you search for a song (by artist or song title, or fragments of each), the database reveals all copies of the song you're searching for (all versions) - you choose the best version.

K

And do you know every song to know which version is best?

That's what i'm talking about.

If they turn in a song slip with the number on it, i know which version is best because that's the number in the book.    No dupes.

And what makes YOUR pick the version I MAY or MAY NOT prefer just because you may think it is?  Do you personally know what version I like to sing?  Highly doubtful!  
Now I full agree that a non-marked title-artist book is not the way to go, at the very least refence which disc you are listing, otherwise one who wants a particular version can see what you are listing & maybe ask if you have a different version.  I personally will go somewhere else (spending my money elsewhere) if I don't have some kind of reference, some hosts don't care about this but some singers do & would be willing to bet the bar would want to know why some people may not be coming in because of it!

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

I totally dislike going to shows where they don't list the manufacturer of the karaoke song. There IS a HUGE difference between SC and Backstage and CB and Legends or Sunfly and STTW and Music Maestro. I've walked away from the stage when Stardisc has come up. Their Rock just SUCKS!! IF I know what version they have, it makes a huge difference in what I'm going to sing.

Having NO song versions in a song book is a major disservice to the karaoke singing public. Having 16,000 songs doesn't mean SQUAT if they all suck!

From my experience, I had more questions from non experienced Karaoke singers, when I listed the song version. This actually SAVES me a lot of those "So, what's the difference"-questions. Makes my life a lot easier.

Now, if someone wants to know, which versions I carry, I'm more than happy to pull it up on the computer. No problem with that. Besides it's not a bad thing to have a conversation with an experienced Karaoke singer and maybe make him a regular.

In numbers: Before I had at least 2 people a show asking me about versions. Now I get maybe 1 question a month about versions.

I mostly carry SC, DK, PH, TH, ZM. I got rid of Backstage discs a long time ago, except the songs you can't find on any other brand.

Another thing, I don't use sign up slips either. Believe it or not, people love it.

The DATABASE IN HOSTER LISTS ALL YOUR SONG VERSIONS - when you rip the CDGs, it assigns a brand name so that is visible. Simple matter of looking at them.

And yes, I pretty well do know version preferences, etc., unless it is someone brand new to the game. been using it an awfully long time!

K

In my mind, questions from my singers is a good thing. I don't mind educating them.

To each their own.

Well the typing part is finished now to the printing.  Right now I'm leaning toward copies at a cheap printer and pulling the old songbook from their plastic sheets and re-inserting.   Since I've deleted most of the doubles (left in the DK) I now have room in my song book for my new songs.  The positive in doing this is it's the cheapest way out.  The down side is that my books fill up a milk crate and have to be toted around.  That's one more trip to the vehicle when setting up.

Next issue will be some type of cover advertising my business. I've never done this. I'll post a question when I get that far. I do a pretty good show but fail badly at managing a business.

Thanks for the comments I've studied them all.

I don't know if you may have read this earlier in another post but the UPS store will spiral bind anything for $3 each. I'm going to try spiral bound books this time around. I'm VERY tired of binders and sleeves, and since we carry 13 books it takes a HUGE bin on wheels and a lot of space in the van. We'll see how long they last without sleeves but I've been to shows where they use the spiral bound books and they're very nice.

k

Karen, I use them too and I agree. They're surprisingly last quite some time. I reprint 1 Artist and 1 Title Book a month and get rid of a pair of really beat down books. This way, they're always kind of up to date at the same time too. My singers know to look for the printing date on the cover. Everyone else, who doesn't still finds a good selection to play with.

Sevarin:

Glad to hear that. I'm thinking it'll be a great solution. Now I just have to get the original copy of the new book printed first! Been avoiding it....

K

Since I'm printing these off right now as we speak, that is a great tip...Relvoling books!  I'm going to do a group of about 6-8 the normal page/binder way (ugh), I do also think I will try to get a couple of these bound books and see how they work out.  MrD

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
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I never used plastic sleeves or looseleaf binders. The sleeves are expensive, hard to use and get disgustingly sticky (ugh) after awhile.  The rings on the binders start to spread apart, resulting in pages that are missing or mis-filed (by helpful customers)!  

I 've been using spiral binders and am very pleased with how they have stood up to use.  Besides being cheaper to produce, they are lighter and easier to pack up for transporting.  I put ten books into a canvas "book bag" along with request slips, pencils and my tip jar!

I know what sounds like crap and i refuse to play a crap version.  I don't care if you like it.     I'm going for a high quality show and i won't bring it down with crappy song versions.     Or if the words are wrong.    Or you can't tell what song it is for the bad instrumentation.    I like my music to sound original.


Having all the versions come up on the computer is even a pain but it still offers a choice if they actually request a different version.

I've never tried the spiral books because the machines cost too much to do-it-yourself in the past. ($500 plus expensive supplies). I never did check out prices for kinkos to do it- thought it would be too expensive- i was printing 60 books at a time for employees.

For years i went with the old 3 ring binders falling apart all the time, then started using SpringPost binders from Itoya- they don't come apart, look very professional, and probably will last 5-7 years normal use.
Downside is they don't have pocket inserts to label your books in the front- great quality though.

If anyone can actaully say that there is anyway that is not time consuming to do books I think they are full of it. Unless of course you use a program and take everything in to have printed and put together for you.

I am in the process of re-doing books also, and I can say this it is a major pain, I use excell also, we input all the music ourselves, although some music listings we have actually scanned in, one problem I have noticed is certain sets of music that we have purchased has misprints listed on the song listings that we have used to add info, so when we have actually played certain songs the have been wrong.

And disk print errors, I have had a few that say one song and song number, but it is a completely different song altogether.

Mastering any book is not easy, it is very time consuming, putting the books together takes forever, and of course having enough books is never the easy part for me. But I hope this last time will be good, I have added over 4000 new songs to the book, and even with two columns on each page I am still looking at having over 500 pages per book. So no, its not easy I commend anyone that takes the time to actually sit and make sure they are done the "old school" way.

Melrose, 500 pages per book??? You must list Artist and Title in each book, right?

My books are 312 pages including up to 4 dupes, lists manufacturers and covers 27k songs. I use excel as well. The books get TOO heavy to list both A&T so i print 8 artist and two tiltle books per show. I've found that by handing out only 6 books at my show, actually controls the amount/timing of requests coming in so i don't get too swamped with songslips right before the show ends.

People in hawaii (and on vacation) seem to like sharing books- it's an ice-breaker for sure and there's always good comraderie here with all the singers, no matter what country they come from.    J.R.

JR

You've provided some valuable insights about the ways our books are used/beneficial beyond the obvious

That's why I appreciate this "place"!