Karaoke Forums

Yes. Frequently at my shows. Too many good singers and after awhile the ones that want to sing (but aren't bold enough) get intimidated and leave. 99% of them are under the age of 25.

This leaves the audience that wants to enjoy watching the show. They usually are the ones that end up spending the most money.

Alot of people WAIT until a not-so-good-singer tries a song, THEN THEY sign up.

I began this thread with this question:



My question, somewhat fine-tuned, may also be considered in regard to the following:

Does it matter to each and every singer what songs you have, or do some singers just pick what's on hand and don't care who the manufacturer of the disc is?

Does it matter how good your sound system is or does the singer just want to be heard?

Does it matter how good you mix the song or is the singer more concerned about having fun and has no idea how they sound?

Does the singer care about the quality and type of mics you use?

How important is your personality in the equation?

Does the size of your rotation or the rotation policy you use matter?

What we don't seem to understand with these types of questions is there REALLY is no absolute answer. Of course KARAOKE is about the singer, but it's also about running a profitable business for both the VENUE and the KJ. And more time than not being profitable and running a GREAT karoke show are the same. BUt sometimes as we've seen -there are many different types of shows and venues with varied expectations. I've always believed that a good KJ can spot these differances and adjust their shows to balance out and keep as many people SATISFIED as possible. Every singer deserves the BEST experiance when it is there turn to sing but not at the expense of everybody else. Some KJs will contend that there show will never ever change no matter what...and thats OK. I say if it works for you it must be OK . CONGRATS

As far as BAD singers running off customers.

Let's say you had another business and sold widgets and your BEST customer by far was running off all your other customers to the point where you now were losing money. Is this one customer worth it ? Thats a business question you'll all have to ask yourself.

BRAVO.

So since we don't know why anyone comes to a particular karaoke show there's no way for us to judge from afar how someone should run their show?

Let's head into reality here. I daresay most shows have a couple of excellent singers (maybe 10%), a bunch of average singers (80%), and a couple of clunkers (10%). I very much doubt that most of us have a majority off-key drunken louts. Those that have nothing but excellent singers have anufactured that by not letting other (average or bad) to sing. So to me letting people get up and do their thing is most important.

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Bad singers - whatever that means - don't affect my room. Bad material selection definitely does. That's when I step in and use the only tool I have - new singer insertion - to break things up.

Here's an example from last Saturday night. A group of women who hadn't been up before wanted to do "Milkshake". I brought them up right away even though rotation was almost two hours out. I needed that song right then. Another guy - a terrific singer - brought up "edit" as his first selection. He came up much later. Even though he has a wonderful voice he's a crowd killer with his relentless selections of really old ballads.

That's when I can use my discretion.

A string of singers can be great but if they are all singing ballads it's horrible for the room. On the other hand a string of not so talented singers can do upbeat material and it's great.

This is just my room. Angel must have better luck with showing preference to talent.

I had a gig at a small bar --very local customer base. I had a rotation that consisted of the percentages above. What had some of the NON singers walking across the street (besides the 10%) was that the 80% sang the SAME OLD SONGS week after week. It got very BORING on a Saturday Night -( ballad hell etc )
I tried somethings like suggest other songs --but to no avail. I had to start to play more FILLER MUSIC to break things up. Did I lose some singers ...SURE
Did I keep my JOB and the bar busy YES. The smoking ban and a very ignorant Manager eventually chased all the singers AWAY and I quit when I found a new place that LIKED Karaoke.

My singers stats are a little different.

Good singers 50%
Excellent singers 35%
OK singers 10%
Bad singers 5%

Nobody gets special treatment. They sing as they come up in the rotation. If all 5% of the bad singers follow each other, they do. I can't change that.

That a good average.
On a rotation of 40 that would only be 2 bad singers.
I'm sure they can put up with that

I've heard people say more than a few times, "I don't want to go before that singer" or "I'm glad I wasn't that person [the person who had to go before the really good singer]". I wonder if I would have even tried karaoke if the place I first sang at hadn't been completely dead the first night I went there. I sang Friends in Low Places, but in reality, I probably should have sang, The KJ and Me in Low Places, cuz that's all there was there that evening !

Every good show is going to have a balance of singers. You may be at the mercy of the clientele of the establishment if you don't do some preliminary marketing. You may just have a room full of bad or (perish the thought) non-singers. Good KJ's have a following and will encourage at least a few singers to come along.

I've been to shows where I've had to sing 4 or 5 songs in the first hour because there were only 1 or 2 people committing to sing. And I've been to shows where I only got to sing once. What's the difference. I believe it's balance of singers and the KJ who has a reputation for having a show that's fund to attend. Sometimes, that's more about the genre of the crowd than anything else. If you're in a family establishment, a country mix may work better than rap or hip hop. You certainly don't want someone singing the Rodeo Song with children around either. That's where the KJ is the important part of the mix.

I attend a show where we have a mix of decent singers and some that are not so good (putting it mildly). Those that choose to not listen go outside to smoke. But we're all friends. Even the decent singers try a new song once in a while and miss a few notes or timing. No harm-no foul. To me, that's a whole lot more interesting than the same old songs every week. If there's a lot of good singers, we sing our best numbers so as not to be outdone. When it's lean, new material gets learned.

Our job as KJ's is to control the situation, try to make the singers sound their best, and maintain a crowd that makes money for the owners. Isn't that what you're there for?

I spent a lot of time in retail and learned a valuable lesson - Sometimes you have to walk in the door of the store and look at it like you were a customer in order to find out what you're doing wrong.

Hell I know people that leave the bar BECAUSE karaoke starts. But their chairs get quickly filled back up with singers both good & bad.

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The big question is why they leave. They think karaoke is a bunch of drunks that can't sing.

Most that I have talked with is because they were there since Happy Hour started & don't want to hear loud music. They left when there were really good singers too, doesn't matter.

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Hello All,

Is it the sound?
The song choice?
The Bar?
The Prices?
The KJ?
The cute bartender?
The ability to order food AND drinks?
The Wacky KJ host?
The customers?
The way the KJ treats a person fairly in the rotation or poorly?

I think you'll find it's a combination of ALL of the above.

If the sound is ok or decent, I'll stay. If the bar serves $11 bottled beer ... I'm leaving. Don't Laugh, I attended a karaoke w/ $11 beer. Yep.

If the KJ can't remember I'm after Billy whos after Sam .. I'm outta there.

I have better places to spend my time and money then go there.

Jason
acclaim productions

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Jason Christopher
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