Karaoke Forums

I started a new gig on Thursdays a few months back which is going great .
The manager of that bar has reccomended me to another bar in a differant town.
I meet with the owner this week and found out that him and the previous KJ did not see EYE TO EYE on what the owner expected. Owner stated he has a GREAT regular karaoke crowd but likes the SHOW to be a mix , play a few UPBEAT dance tunes once in awhile he told me. He mentions the singer who sings ONLY slow songs, although he is a welcomed customer he needs to think about the 90% of other customers who complained of the constant BALLAD HELL. Part of the business I told him .....But I could mix it up . I'm starting this Saturday as a TEST for me as I already have a steady gig that I was off from anyway. This NEW gig if it works out is paying $75 more per night than my current low paying gig. It's a big difference that I have no choice to take....... I'll most likely be given notice on MONDAY and accepthing this new gig permantly. BOTTOM LINE ---- If you meet the owners halfway on what they want for their bar ..you stand a good chance to land the job. I'm finding out that the KJ's who say "It's my way or the highway" usually end up .....unemployed

If you are replacing another KJ who was fired with no break in between, expect the worst and don't be surprised when it happens. Even if he was bad, there will be resistance to change from many in the room. And outright boycotts from some.

Even if he wasn't the best, there will be singers who will be loyal to him. Unless the owner is patient you will need to bring in new people immediately.

Been there done that. And it didn't work out. Doesn't mean it won't for you, but just be careful.

edit: Don't say anything even remotely critical of the old guy. You have to really watch your mouth in this situation. And don't quit your old room just yet. Make sure everything is totally set first.

Congrats on the new gig, Jam!
I hope it works out well for you. It sounds like you are doing the right things in clearing the air with the owner...before the gig even takes place. That is a very wise thing to do. In my area here, a 100% karaoke show at a local tavern...just simply would not fly. You could get a good karaoke crowd of 10-15 people, but it would be the same 10-15 people..every gig night, singing the same songs, drinking only a few drinks or mostly water...noone new would come in the door and if they did...would leave quickly because of the constant 'ballad hell' as it was so perfectly put. It is a challenge to keep the flow of the show upbeat and keep the songs and mood interesting...keep people in the place and pass the word to bring more people in. Admittedly, I've only been in the DJ/KJ business for (3) yrs, but have been hanging around the area at all the different bars..in a 100 mile plus radius for over (12) years. I am very aware of what is successful and what is not. Still learning every day and willing to change to make it better! MrD

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
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Bill - agree, the number one rule in business is NEVER TALK DOWN your competetion. I'm sure there will be a small TRANSITION to take place maybe 1 or 2 weeks. I'll keep an eye on it !

I just FEAR new gigs, mostly because of the OWNERS ..you just never know what to expect one week from the next sometimes ... I'll keep my fingers crossed

"OK, we've gotten ourselves a new host, let's see if anyone wants to try some new songs"

Congrats! Bill said what I was thinking and you responded perfectly. The one thing that worried me was why did the old KJ fight the owner on playing music? And is that the only conflict they had? I'm a bit leary of this owner for you. I certainly don't want to sound negative and wish you the best, but watch your back.

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I just woke up earlier than you did this time Babs. You'll get first shot tomorrow because I get in really late tonight.

G'mornin'

Bill you've got me pegged. I had a show last night and didn't get in until 2am. I slept until noon.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Babs

The LOONG story according to the owner was that the KJ was OK.
But some of the BALLAD ONLY singers would come in STAY FOR the night - SING EVERY chane they could and just put the rest of the bar to sleep and spend $10 a night. The owner was more interetsed in keeping some of the other patrons happy who were spending 6 times what this singer was spending. It always comes down to money!!

The owner asked the KJ on a slow singer night ..to SPREAD out Mr. BORING singer and not let him sing every 2 minutes ..throw a DANCE TUNE or UPBEAT music in here and there. KJ REFUSED to let Mr. Boring wait..... RIGHT OR WRONG not up to me. I always do what the BOSSMAN requests

anywhooooo.......I"m always leary of NEW owners and NEW gigs.

Obviously he didn't have a big rotation, if Mr. Boring singer is up every 2 minutes (How is that possible anyway? ) So I cannot understand the attitude of the previous KJ to not play a couple of upbeat dance songs. If you have a big rotation, sure... but in this case?

My concern is, since this was so obviously a dumb thing to do... Is this really the true story behind it?

Anyway, I wish you good luck and a good start with the new gig.

So OK... even though the owner told you he has a great karaoke crowd, it sounds like rotation must be pretty light for a good portion of the night. Otherwise a guy who sings only ballads wouldn't be a big problem. Hey we all have 'em...

Not telling you what to do or anything Jam but it might minimize problems with the singers if you come up with a formula up front and tell them... you know... if rotation is under 1/2 hour (whatever you decide) I'm going to mix with dance tracks... owner's orders... whatever... sugar coat it somehow...

But I'd think about a strategy to deal with this before you get into the heat of the night.

One DJ/KJ bar gig I had for a while didn’t have too many singers, and the majority of patrons preferred music.

Usually cards coming in would be more intermittent, so it wasn’t an issue.

But even if I had a few cards up, I would almost always be able to play a song between singers, and could keep they type of music mixed up that way.

I know if it were more of a karaoke bar I couldn’t get away with that, but man, that was nice.

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Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

I'm not a KJ, just a once in a while singer.
If the KJ encouraged me to sing some upbeat tunes and moved me up in the rotation then I'd be up there with some upbeat tunes for sure.
I get bored of ballad after ballad after ballad too.

I'm sure there is more to the story than I know ....... My plan is always to observe and gauge the crowd...... I don't have a problem playing filler and or dance tunes even with a full rotation if the ROOM is calling for it. Otherwise I am just as comfortable going back to back karaoke singers. I'll take notice of thr crowd this Saturday and see how it goes ..I'm hoping some of my OL regulars will stoop in as I sent them all emails ...... Thanks for the advice and comments

you are the new broom, you can sweep clean...by that I mean, lay down some ground rules at the very beginning, for instance, no ballads after what ever time.
you have very valid reasons to put this to your inherited regular crowd...and perhaps even do so with teh bar owner present...shout the regs a drink and have a chat

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Sounds like you have a chance to make some improvements over the previous KJ. I've always been under the notion that the bar owner calls the shots. If he wants upbeat music between songs, then that's what I would do. You can try and compromise by using a mixer to play a portion of an upbeat song between singers as you wait for them to transition. He probably wouldn't even notice that you aren't playing the whole song! It helps to get people picking songs that are more fun, too. I get lots of people that come up and ask what the name of the song was that I was just playing. Sometimes they switch out a sleepy tune with something they saw the crowd getting into.

I was in a similar situation when I took over the venue that I'm at now. I had to clean house of all the ballad singers. They never spent any money, they made life boring for everyone else, plus they were usually the biggest pain in the a$$ to begin with.

When we started an extra night, I made a deal with the owner to only accept upbeat songs that one night a week. Now it's the most popular night for us. I get some complaints, but the majority of people that come up to me are regular karaoke people in that thank me for eliminating the slow songs. I make sure I announce the rules every 20 minutes or so. If they don't like it, there's always the following night. I'm never short singers.

I try to do a mix but if I have Karaoke songs up the wazzoo from at least ten singers, am I supposed to make them wait while I play dj Music? I agree with you if you only have that singer in the crowd. I had a night of only one singer once recently and played four dj songs between her song and mine before I sang.
I have a bar owner that is much like Jam's new one in that he wants me to space out CERTAIN singers so they don't sing as often. But his reason is that if I get a singer who is spending extar money in the bar then they get priority over anyone else, like I'm really gonna know who they are. Okay I know who one of them is and he only sings one song but is very patient when it comes to getting up - meaning he gets the idea behind a rotation.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Unfortunately I would not be welcome on that night as I sing mostly ballads. I stink at the upbeat stuff. Too bad I really get the crowd into "Faithfully" as I hit the high notes.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

It's not the ONE or TWO singers per rotation that creates ballad hell but when you get 4 or 5 stab you in the eart type of songs I can see it creating problems for the non singers. I really don't see any KARAOKE BARS anymore just bars that offer karaoke on a given night. Just because a bar offers KARAOKE it shouldn't mean that those singers are any more important than the non singers.... As a HIRED KJ my job is to offer great Karaoke services and cater to the singers. But when a non singers requests a FILLER or DANCE SONG ...why not oblige.

I'm excited about the new gig and will post back once I've finished Saturday Night

Just a suggestion, because sometimes I have situations come up where ballad follows ballad follows ballad, etc.
I queue up TWO in-between filler songs, one is high-energy, one is mellower. Then I can balance out the mood of the room with the filler music. If necessary, I will play the "rockier" fill a little longer than usual.
(Conversely, I'll break up a hard rock block with bubblegum-pop filler.)
And if need be, I'll take a turn in the rotation to sing a song completely different from what's being done to death.
It can be a subtle way of directing the mood of the room, without limiting the turns of your singers.