Karaoke Forums

i just open a cmd prompt
cd to my karaoke directory
dir * /s /b > songlist.txt

Little bit of magic fingers later, it's imported into whatever I want.

California is also a warm weather state. Michigan is not. Trust me when I tell you - most bars with little to no food service are really suffering.

Currently using Tricerasofts song book creator, but I really don't like it. I downloaded a trial of Pilot's Song Book Creator and am leaning towards buying it as a replacement. Check it out @ http://www.pilotkaraoke.com/c-9-song-books.aspx

New York (another cold weather state) may have suffered a backlash for a few months when the ban was new here, but in the end people who smoke still smoke and people who go to bars still go to bars.

As for songbooks, I use Fastracks from the Compuhost folks. A great program.

Ok, here is going cheap. Buying inexpensive gear I have my calculations for a cheap system at $9690 + tax and or Shipping and that includes no music. This is the cheapest selection I would recommend for a professional company. I would actually suggest better speakers and better computers.

Mics 3 Shure PGX24 - $400 each - $1200

Mackie 14 Channel Mixer $400

Lexicon Effects Unit - $200

Driverack Signal Processor for Powered Speakers $300

2 DBX Dual Compressors $200 Each - $400

Decent Road Rack for gear $250

Cheap Drunk Nady Mics $70

2 Decent DJ Computers $800 each - $1600

2 External Hard Drives $100 each - $200

2 QSC K-12 $800 each - $1600

2 QSC K-Subs $1050 Each - $2100

4 Protective Covers for speakers $80 each - $320

All Needed Cables $300 (Low Ball)

Portable LCD Screen for Singers $150

Very small lighting setup Chauvet 4 Bar $400

Sound Card - $100

Computer cases and wire bags - $100

Nice one Mr. Dye

My opinion -

Too many Shure mics for only 1 system.

14 Channels are too many

You don't need 2 computers. Plus, I would not buy a new computer. I don't run any special computer - I don't need to. And, I don't think you do either.

I make my own DJ racks. I know time is worth money, but I have not found one that meets my specs.

I'm not sure that you need 2 subs... depends on the size on the venue.

I commend you for wanting the best stuff - but wow, this is all way more than I would buy for karaoke right off the bat.

Is $10000.00 really a recoverable investment? I would suggest as others have that you start a little smaller unless you already have venues lined up at 300+ per night. No amount of money spent on equipment is going to make your system sound better if you don't know anything about acoustics. A bit of study if you're weak in that area can save you thousands. As for book editing, use kiosks. I submit that the only hosts who don't use kiosks are the hosts who haven't tried kiosks. Best of luck in your new business.

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Okay, who took my pants?

What? I have 10 hours a week (two nights) of KJ work and make about $23K a year just from that (I have a day job).

If someone told me I could start a business for 10 hours a week for $10,000 and make $24,000, I'd say that's a great investment.

In my case, I'm sure I've spent upwards of $20-25K on my karaoke business over the last 8 years, but I've also made about $140K.

I'd call that recovering my investment!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Or fly to Cincinnati and drive back with this:

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/ele/2190938802.html

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Ok, lets see if I remember everything right.

for those talking about songbook programs, thanks, but I was asking about deciding what to put in them, not how to do it. As in, should I edit the books I bring to a gig based on the type of crowd (I.E. I know its a bunch of older people who like country and classic rock, so I cut out some of my Screamer metal and Rap for the show)

@exweedfarmer- Ive been a singer for most of my life, and have played in several bands, I know acoustics pretty well. and I can build a computer myself, or have a friend do it. cost for 2 DJ computers would be about $500. Mics and cables i already have, and you call QSC speakers "cheap"? odd.

and I was under the impression that it was just NYC that had the smoking ban, not the whole state, Is that true?

and neither the california law, or the new york one covered private establishments (VFW, Legion, Elks, Etc.) with the smoking band IIRC

Seriously? Regular one night a week show paying $200 a night for one year would cover that entire investment.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Okay guys, from your perspective I guess that was a dumb comment about $10000.00 being an unrecoverable investment but from my point of view....

Bar gigs paid me 100-125 usually one nighters which means 8 hours travel/set up/tear down/sound check. Transport about ten bucks a night. Bar tab (necessary to my show at least) $20.00 new music as I can afford it. Moving is hard on the equipment and there is some expense there.

Not everyone is going to find a steady gig at $225/night or more... so yeah. From where I sit ten grand might be unrecoverable, particularly the way the economy is going.

hhb119fist you can get computers for karaoke out of a garbage can. CDG is 31 year old technology. I too got into karaoke from a band environment and after I started making a little study of acoustics I was amazed by how much I didn't know and how much better my system sounded.

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Okay, who took my pants?

This answer is not one that anyone can really answer. The songs that are going to be used are so club/area dependant that you can have a playlist that rocks the house in one club, but move it all next door tomorrow & that same playlist lies dormant and never gets touched. There are no magic songs, I would say get a good 'core' library - pretty much the standards of karaoke that cover all music in general - unfortunately you don't like the GEM series, then I would recommend the SC Foundations & Bricks & supplement the set with some current PHM & CB sets. You won't get quite as many songs doing it this way and possibly more duplicates.

I wouldn't pull anything out of the books (unless the bar wants it to be that way to get the gig). You never know what people are going to sing or want to sing - even in 'genre specific' clubs. A friend of mine worked at a country bar and some of those country patrons were singing some pretty rockin songs.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Around here anything over $175 is pretty much unheard of. However a couple of night at $125-175 is not uncommon on a weekly basis. This would more than make up for any $10K investment in a year.

However I heard predictions that with all the CRAP going on over in Lybia, forcasters are predicting gas prices in excess of $5 per gallon this summer which may put ALL of us out of gigs!. The summer gas was over $4 killed many shows & even some bars around here because no one had the extra funds to go out with, it all went into their tanks.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

OK even at $125 with only a single weekly gig and taking out for gas and bar tab per your figures, it would take only 2 years to make that money back. A good business plan usually calls for 3-5 year return on invested capital. I'd say being able to make it back in 2 years is pretty good. And that's not even a really accurate ROIC analysis either. You haven't taken into account the residual value of the assets he's spending the $10K on. Even if you assume he got the GEM series and throw out the 6,500 in value there, he spends $3500 on equipment. Say he buys it all brand new, at most it's value drops to $1750 over 2 years. So he's already showing positive return by the end of his second year with just one night a week in a low paying gig. Now if he books any other shows that's just gravy that will realize an even quicker return.

Technically, if you were really going to do a business plan, you'd also have to take into account tax implications of the income and deductions for things like business mileage, the $3500 in equipment costs (which under section 179 can all be claimed in the first year). But based on everything here, realizing positive returns in 2-3 years seems very likely.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

True, there are a great many expenses including the cost of labor. One would have to be a true believer to lend a business ten grand and then work one night a week for free for two years to recover the money. Would it really hurt to start smaller and get a return on your investment faster? I'm speaking only from a karaoke perspective. I can see the need for better equipment as a DJ but for karaoke will anyone really care?

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Okay, who took my pants?

Well ultimately the amount of money you're make in your initial investment is a personal decision based on the level of risk you're willing to take. Part of a business plan is assessing and minimizing risks. Everyone has their own degree of tolerance for risk.

When it comes to equipment however, I'm a firm believer in buying once. If you cheap out and then in one or two years are looking to upgrade, then you should have just bought the better stuff right away. You end up spending more in most cases buying cheap first and upgrading later. So if you have the funds available, it makes sense to get the better equipment right away. Besides, better equipment is also going to have better resale value so the risk isn't so big. This is why I also suggested the used market. You can get equipment that looks and functions like new for half of what it would have cost brand new. And now it doesn't really devalue quickly so even in a year if you decide to quit or upgrade further, you can sell it for close to what you bought it for.

A lot of businesses (and other projects for that matter) fail because people underestimate the amount of initial investment required or they try to find shortcuts around necessary investments. I'm not saying investing less up front guarantees failure or that investing more guarantees success, but again if you have the funds and can tolerate the risk picture, the bigger investment up front is more likely to achieve better results.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

I like your analysis. However, I think that the amount of money he spends on his first system should also consider his competition. If they are all running $hit, then he doesn't have to go out and buy the best equipment available.

I've been back in biz for like 3 years after an 18 month hiatus to serve in Iraq. To be honest, I am TIRED of the karaoke biz and have hired KJs to do most of my shows for me. My wife is also tired of me spending so much time at the bar (even if I am working)l. I think he needs to spend a year doing it without buying the best equipment available and make sure its something he is going to enjoy and succeed at doing.

But in that same premise, if everyone else is running crap, the better equipment (and obviously knowing how to use it) will give him an edge with those that do care (and yes there are those people). And like stated, better equipment has better resale value if he decided it wasn't for him.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!