Karaoke Forums

This past Saturday evening we had forty-six names in the rotation. Not a record for us, but a pretty big number nevertheless. We needed an hour overtime… for a total of five hours just to get through the rotation twice, and even so, a number of singers had left the venue before their name came up a second time.

So, it got me wondering about rotation numbers… Our record was fifty-seven singers, and that took place when our little town sponsored the area’s dragon-boat races a couple of years ago. Several of the out-of-town teams showed up at the club, and it seemed like everyone wanted to sing.

Lately our numbers have fallen off at our regular Thursday evening show. We’re down to the mid-twenties on average, while our Saturday nights just seem to get stronger each week… with just a few Saturdays under the 40-singer mark over the past several months.

Personally, if I were a singer, I’d like to see perhaps an 8-person rotation, and if I were a bar or club owner/manager, I’d probably want at least 60. As a host, I think somewhere around 15 would be ideal.

So here are my questions, if you’d care to answer them:

What was your biggest rotation at a regular show?

How many singers do you average at your regular shows?

As a singer, what would be your ideal rotation number?

As a host, what would be your ideal rotation number?

Just curious.

_________________
Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

Biggest rotation at a regular show? – 62. That was when I was @ Marie Callenders’ located in the central business district (Fri & Sat, 5hr show). Regular # of singers: 50 – 60 due to extended late happy hr of $2 drinks & appetizers.

How many singers do you average at your regular shows? – Now that I’m at a family owned restaurant, also Fri & Sat 5hr show – Average 20 – 25, shorter rounds but we’re still @ room capacity. 50% just want to listen & dance. Love it!

As a singer, what would be your ideal rotation number? 8 @ room capacity. Sing every half hr, more or less.

As a host, what would be your ideal rotation number? 15. Eliminate the “insert the new singer factor”.

_________________
To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Earl, Are your singers OK with 40 something rotations? If not I suggest you open another night or two to give them a chance at thinner rotations and help spread things out. If it's one big happy family, then carry on...


We used to do 20-30 rotations regularly with most rounds having 15-20 max. I'd preferred 20 rotations with 10-15 max in a round. We worked 6-10 max rotations last I hosted but we were catering more to listener tables.

My numbers are in blue

We do everything we can to promote and ensure a fun, party atmosphere.... and have even had a few singers tell me they didn't mind if they don't get to sing. They are there to socialize with the karaoke family.

Granted, we've had a few who've shown up a couple of times and never come back, probably because of the line-up. But that didn't break my heart.

_________________
Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

What was your biggest rotation at a regular show? 75 (LONG time ago)
How many singers do you average at your regular shows? 15-20 on avg but they just let go of two key bar staff, so that might go down for a while as some of the customers are starting a revolution
As a singer, what would be your ideal rotation number? 15
As a host, what would be your ideal rotation number? 20

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

What was your biggest rotation at a regular show?
I don't have access to my rig, but I believe it was 62. Was the night after a Seattle Storm game last summer. 9p it was me and the bartender. At 9:15 it was literally standing room only. By the 9:30 Startup, I had 20+ signed up. One of my favorite nights ever doing a show in spite of how crazy the rotation was.

How many singers do you average at your regular shows?
For my downtown gig - I do about 20-30 total singers during the November-March season with 15-20 of those people who sing 2 or more times. From April - October, add 10-15
For my Kent gig - 12-15

As a singer, what would be your ideal rotation number?
I like to sing, but I like to listen too. If they are good singer/performers, I could care less if I get up. If it is one of those rough nights then I wouldn't mind a 12-15 person rotation. I don't like less than 12 simply because I like to rest between songs, have a few drinks, chit chat and still have time to gear my song to the mood.

As a host, what would be your ideal rotation number?
In general, the more the merrier. We frequently do 40+ deep rotations during the summer months downtown and I think I do a pretty good job of handling it. In fact, the nights where there are bad singers/songs I would prefer a deeper rotation just so we have a better chance of getting something good mixed in!

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

25 or so.


Don't really have a regular show any more, but when I do a show it is usually 8-10.


1.


8-10 singers including at least three or four good ones is my favorite. I host an occasional show for peanuts just to get that kind of show going.

When I was doing a show for pay I wanted 12-18 singers to give enough of a base for the bar to make money, but not so many that regulars stopped coming.

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

mid 30's

15ish

2 (my wife and I)

1 really GOOD singer that packs the bar because he/she is so good. Then I can que in a bunch of songs and walk away.

I have to say, a bar owner/manger shouldn't care less how many people sing. If it is 1 or 100 singers is does not matter. The only reason we are hired to do karaoke is to make the bar more$$$$. If you have 5 really great singers and the bar profits $5,000 that night, and on night 2 you have 20 singers at the bar and only make $2500.....Which do you want?

Like your shoe size , it doesn't matter what size your rotation is, it only mater that the bar makes $$$$$$$.

What was your biggest rotation at a regular show? 54

How many singers do you average at your regular shows? 10

As a singer, what would be your ideal rotation number? 12

As a host, what would be your ideal rotation number? 10

Just curious.

10 singers is perfect it get everyone 3 songs and I get to play a decent amount of non-karaoke music. It's exactly how I like my show these days.

Lon's closest to me in numbers I think. He beat my highest by 6, my avg. is around 22-25, and his ideal numbers are the same as mine- pretty much heading for a 3 up per singer night, with room for an extra quick shorter rotation if the crowd thins enough very late.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

I advertise karaoke only. 10 singers is a slow night as far as singers, so they get to sing - alot. No 'non' karaoke music will be played - unless it's a rare night where no one wants to sing & then i'll throw something on while I am recruiting another singer, then the music goes off & the singer comes up. Hopefully you advertise karaoke/dj. I'd be pissed personally if I went to a show to sing and it was a slow night playing regular music where people could be singing.

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

1 really GOOD singer that packs the bar because he/she is so good. Then I can que in a bunch of songs and walk away.[/quote]

You would think this would be awesome, but I've been paid to do something similar and it didn't go over very well. We had a customer at the bar that had an underage daughter. The mother and aunt thought the daughter\ niece hung the moon with regard to singing. She was good and she did have a very powerful voice. The girl was 19 or 20 so she wasn't young young.

I would come in an hour and a half before the kiddie exit time\normal show start and queue up a bunch of songs. The mother\aunt prearranged for their crowd to be there and they averaged three tables or so of 20-30 people. The problem was there were usually lots of other people in the bar that were not of this crowd and who didn't think nearly as high of the girls talents as the in crowd did. It didn't help that ever song she sang was in a similar key and ton to the last. After a while, you would get a serious headache.

Then, I would get people who sing and happen to be in the bar come up and try to put their name in. That was usually a 10 minute conversation into what was going on that I really didn't want to have.

I do NOT miss that part of it at all.

What was your biggest rotation at a regular show? 58

How many singers do you average at your regular shows? 30-35 wed, thurs, 40-45 fri, sat

As a singer, what would be your ideal rotation number? 15, i like a break between songs

As a host, what would be your ideal rotation number? 20ish, like when the state fair is going and i only have 10-12 singers i start climbing the walls.

_________________
Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

What was your biggest rotation at a regular show?
36. That was many years ago.


How many singers do you average at your regular shows?
Fridays about 10. Saturdays has "typically" been 15

As a singer, what would be your ideal rotation number?
8. That's about a half hour between singers

As a host, what would be your ideal rotation number?
12. That's enough to get everyone up at least once an hour with a dance song or two in-between the later sets. Plus, the busier you get, the more pestering you'll encounter.

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

Lon, I just lost one of my shows (not one of my "personal" shows) for this same reason. The original owners were absent, the staff robbed them blind, put them on the edge of losing their home - so they sold it. New owners came in, fired EVERYONE who didn't quit. Now, there is a revolt against the new owner. We went from 20-25 singers in a small farm town bar on a Thursday night to less than 5 each night for the subsequent 4 weeks we were there after she took over. The few singers that showed up were the older ones who tended to drink one soda all night (yanno...).

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

Had over 50 once not to long ago. Many upset people. I tried telling some of them that they would not be singing for over 2 hours and they said okay. Fast forward an hour and a half later and those same people were freaking out.
Singers are a strange breed. They want a big audience to sing to, but don't want to wait more than 30 minutes to sing. I love around 20 or so singers in rotation. That usually means a good crowd and the divas don't get too strung out having to wait.
It's always a fine line in this business, isn't it? You have 10 singers in rotation and a small crowd and the singers are grinning from ear to ear. The venue manager, on the other hand, is looking at his/her watch and looking at you saying WTF? Flip the script and have 30 singers waiting to sing and a great crowd the venue owner is grinning from ear to ear and the singers have all got their panties in a wad because they have to wait.
That second scenario is usually when one of my regulars is telling me that he should probably be moved up so he/she can wow the crowd and get e'm dancin. Of course, they know all too well my rotation policy but still try to get an extra song in.
I don't really get an opportunity to go to other venues and sing, but don't really care about the rotation. If the sound is good and the host is good then I'm not concerned about singing. I love the "karaoke environment" and usually satisfy my cravings to sing at one of my shows. If I'm asked to sing I will try and accommodate the host, etc. but don't make a big deal if it's not possible or too busy.

_________________
Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

What was your biggest rotation at a regular show? 45 - We've actually hit that 3 times.

How many singers do you average at your regular shows? 29 on Mondays - 24 on Fridays - 31 on one Saturday a month.

As a singer, what would be your ideal rotation number? 8 - 12

As a host, what would be your ideal rotation number? 25

Our biggest problem is that our shows are all singers and no audience, so the income for the venue could be better.

_________________
Swing Time Karaoke

Singer: "I'd like to put my name in to sing."

Host: "No problem, we have a 60 person rotation, so I'll have you up in about four, four and a half hours."

Singer: "No problem, that'll give me time to have a drink."

.....SAID NO SINGER EVER!


My rotations pretty routinely hit about 25-30 by 11:30ish on Saturday nights, and I have always found that once it hits about 20ish, making it about an hour and a half wait, singers start to say "no thank you" and a good bit that sign up leave before I reach their spot.

If I had a 50-60 person rotation, I'd spend about 1/4 of my night calling for singers that weren't there.

My bar is 75% non-singers on any given night, though, so I guess it's just a completely different dynamic.

_________________
C Mc
KJ, FL