Karaoke Forums

Well, for those of you that the economy has recovered well enough that you are gainfully employed,,, count your blessings!! The effects of the down turned economy has hit again.

Two of my venues have been seriously affected. My Tuesday show has cut me back to doing it only every other Tuesday. I believe this actually is the beginning of the end of the bar. It has been in business for 18 years, and it's now to the point that it is only doing about 15% of the business it used to do prior to the plunge. I have serious doubts that it will be able to recover at all, let alone return to happy times. I've been doing this show for almost 6 years now, and I have made many friends and will be sad to say goodbye.. We will see.

Now, my Thursday/Friday show just shut it's doors yesterday without any notice at all. Leaving its bartenders wondering what will happen now. I spoke to the owner for over an hour while I was retrieving the rest of my gear, and was really amazed at his attitude of it closing. Sadly, I believe that he just didn't take his business seriously at all. You know what they say, "You know what happens without advertising,,,,, nothing".... and that is exactly what happened. Combine no effort on the owners part, and the fact that the bar business in general in Utah is really being hit hard, it's a "no-win" scenario.

I will miss my new friends that I have made, but I will survive and move on..

Happy Holidays everyone.
Scott

We have lost the last 3 weddings that have contacted us. All 3 strictly on price. The other guys were cheaper, lots..I will not waste my time for pennies like some of these guys, not to mention we provide professional services with pro gear. I can't compete with a guy who sports in a cd player, pops up a website and then uses pictures and videos form other PROFESSIONAL DJ's to promote his business. It's sad, very sad. We offer the basic set up for parties to the extravagant with up lighting, gobo's, dry ice machine, moving heads etc. But it seems even our basic set up price is too much lately. It's your wedding, you really want a DJ to come in for $250.00 and take your chances of ruining the most important day of your life? UGH....
signed,
Frustrated

I've been there! Here in Michigan, the economy has had an effect on the bars, but not as much as other businesses. History has shown that the economy might take away a few customers, but they are generally replaced by those who have a little more time on their hands since they are unemployed.

What has hurt us mostly has been a recently enacted smoking ban. NO smoking in ANY bar. Many states have exempted bona fide bars where there is little to no food service. Not here! Even "Club Lottery Games" (like Keno) are down 30-40%. During the summer, most of the bars are really hurting because so many people feel inconvenienced by having to go outside to smoke. They'd rather have get togethers at private homes where they can smoke.

The other thing that is affecting us is piracy. Its so easy to get into the karaoke biz with bootlegged music that there has become an over-saturation of karaoke shows. There are so many choices for karaoke now that it has diluted the market and the bars just aren't making the money they used to! I/we have to fight for every customer, whether they are there to sing or not. That's why when I read about the bar in the UK that "banned" a terrible singer (that was also disabled), I felt bad for the host & owner because I know what it is like to be in that situation where people are leaving, or at least getting a bad impression of karaoke night altogether. While I don't neccesarily agree with an outright ban, I do feel as if they were within their rights to censor/restrict singers who are so bad that they are driving customers away.

Good luck to you. Remember, always keep looking to improve you and your show because technology moves fast, and you can count on your competition adapting. In other words, don't go resting on your laurels!

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

To simpmech,

You will always have that in the wedding biz. I have always had a very lenient deposit policy ($100 down, refundable until 30 days prior), but I am finding that I need to change it because I, too, am getting cancellations because of cheaper alternatives. At a minimum, I am going to say "Deposit will be refunded within 30 days after the wedding date". This is because I had one couple that cancelled with like 31 days notice and they wanted there money ASAP so they could pay their new DJ. I suspect that about half of my cancellations (maybe 3-4 per year) are because of cheaper alternatives.

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

I think eventually brick & mortar buildings are gonna be a thing of the past & that includes bars... with the economy being hit so hard how can people even afford to go out & drink when they can buy a bottle of booze & have a karaoke party right in their own homes. This includes retailers as well as far as a building goes to supply their inventory when they can easily sell everything online & not have the overhead. Even in my line of work which is/was real estate, we're a dying breed, eventually buyers & sellers & such won't need an actual Realtor to do the leg work & finalize a transaction, it will be virtual Realtor (s) instead making way less money than they ever did, everything will be done online.
If this government, as well as globally in general doesn't do something soon, we're all gonna be out on the streets wandering around wondering where our next meal ticket is gonna come from. Now is the time to start being as innovative as you can, this way you can stand out above the rest without losing your shirt.

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MUSIC+DANCE=LIFE

Split wholly political stuff into Lounge.

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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.

Oh, I don't know about bars. They are about the only place available for relaxed social interaction during the adult part of the day, after work and possibly kid care. You can't meet new people at home.
As for karaoke -or ANY entertainment- in bars, it only makes sense that as long as they ADD to the business income, they don't COST anything.

In other words, if the Karaoke Host charges $250, and brings in an additional $2,000, then the business MAKES an additional $1750 gross, and loses NOTHING in the process.

Why would a venue NOT want that?

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

oops.... I didn't start it... ......politics actually do trickle down(maybe pour down) to karaoke.....besides....hardly anybody goes into the lounge.......I liked these forums better, when everything was under one forum.....more posts, more arguments, more grab a$$......this place is a ghost town since they seperated the forums.......guess you'll move this too, huh....

she thinks sooner or later, everyone will think like her....don't you, Andrea......

2 bars in my local neighborhood closed their doors recently due to the economic conditions & they even had karaoke there a couple nights a week. I'm just going by what I see on the surface when it comes to bars, I'm not here to try to make you believe me or not Johnny.

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MUSIC+DANCE=LIFE

I'm not a big topic-splitter, but piracy and politics are two exceptions. Too many minefields to negotiate....and I have grown attached to my rather ample posterior.

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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.

I agree, but what I'm saying is, that it wasn't always that way on here.......we used to post in real time....about everthing & anything.......lots of posts......lots of fun......sure there were arguments.....that was the fun part... ....seriously, most people on here just want to pick your brain, and go on about there way. You've seen where people ask questions in the tech section, and after plenty of feedback.....they don't even post back to let everyone know if the problem was fixed, and what the solution turned out to be.....not everyone, but many do this.......

I pretty much agree except for the aforementioned two topics. If you examine your memory, I think you would find I am one of the people who is constantly flying off into new tangents....

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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.

[quote="TroyVnd27"]

What has hurt us mostly has been a recently enacted smoking ban. NO smoking in ANY bar. Many states have exempted bona fide bars where there is little to no food service. Not here! Even "Club Lottery Games" (like Keno) are down 30-40%. During the summer, most of the bars are really hurting because so many people feel inconvenienced by having to go outside to smoke. They'd rather have get togethers at private homes where they can smoke.



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One of the main things keeping bars in business, is at a private party SOMEONE has to clean up afterwards and the hosts will get tired of it after awhile. Plus spills and what not causing wear and tear. Otherwise even more folks would do it.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

I have a party every month!! I call it a karaoke gig and hold it at a bar.

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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.

I think that we''ll be ok as long as the best place to get virtually laid remains at a bar. But when kiosk software advances beyond that, I won't be thinking of karaoke as the vehicle anymore anyway.

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KNOW THYSELF

What surprises me is 80% of adults are non-smokers.....guess it's only the 20% that keeps bars in business.....been that way since I can remember. I've never been a smoker, but I've seen places have a non-smoking night, only to have me and only a few others show up. That would end that....

I think there are quite a few that ONLY smoke WHEN they drink.... because it certainly seems like more than 20% are outside smoking when I call them to sing.

When the smoking ban came into effect here, the bars did take a downward turn for a little while (less than a year). The ones that were struggling before it closed shop (and conveniently blamed the smoking ban), the others muddled through & pretty much bounced back. The club I work in is on tribal land so there is smoking still allowed inside. Funny thing though, I lost customers BECAUSE of the smoking being allowed - before they had no option for a smoke free place, now they do and go. I even see some smokers come out that don't like the smoking inside - they still go outside to light up even though the ashtrays are on the tables and sometimes even they do not stay as long as they used to. When there was no smoking ban, we were one of the cleanest air (16 commercial air purifiers in the ceiling) bars. Now it doesn't matter if we had 50.
Smoking bans can only be blamed for lower business for a short time IMO. Smokers will adapt and return.
We have been slower than normal the last few months simply because everyone is unemployed and can't afford to go out.

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

Lon, you might be right when it comes to how things work in WA, but it's a much different story in MI. We only have 6 decent months out of the year, so when the 3 months of summer come along, most of the bars are dead. Most folks do things outdoors, take vacations, or attend one of the many festivals around here. The off months (Oct-Apr) used to be our busiest time, but now they're down substantially. The non-smokers did not flock to the bars to replace the smokers, although there are a few. Statistically speaking, the average drinker is likely to be a smoker, and the average gambler is also likely to be a smoker. I bring up gambler because of our Club games, like Keno, which have surpassed pool tables, juke boxes and other games COMBINED as the biggest non-food/drink source of revenue. The State had reported a decline of 30-40% in Club Games 6 months after the smoking ban was enacted, but I cannot tell you how much they are down today because they started offering these games at gas stations & other retailers, where before the smoking ban, they were only available at bars.

Anyway, its been over a year and a half, and its safe to say that lack of smoking has had a substantial impact. Luckily, my shows do well for the bars and one owner (of two bars) has told me he loses money every other night of the week, which (according to him) is uncharted waters because he owns his bars outright (no loan payment).

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!