Karaoke Forums

As I remember Lonnie it was SC's Jim H. that was throwing around the 95% number. It was being based on the estimated number of hosts in the country and the amount of SC stock that, they had a record of sale on. For the longest time 90 to 95% has been the number accepted by the hosts on this forum. I maintain that every host has at least some questionable material in their library. Unless someone officially tells them to remove it, they are not going to worry about it. They maintain they bought their material in good faith. This doesn't even take up the issue of orphaned labels.

Let's put it like this... I could go to 20 shows in a 10 mile radius and every single one of them are pirates. That's 100%. If you include my shows in that radius, it brings it down a little, to around 95%.

But you're right. I can't state this for a fact but I truly believe that the 95% rate is correct. I can't remember the last time I've been to a show where the KJ was actually operating legally. In fact, I'm even willing to say that it's more like 98% of KJ's are pirates.

_________________
Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Even the DJs could be smacked down for having all those audio files on the old hard drive.

I repair computers from time to time, and you would be amazed how many hard drives are full of Mp3 songs.

Even at $1.00 US per song, a DJ needs to work a lot of hours to cover 100,000 songs.

I believe the Karaoke Piracy rate to be at minimum 95% … Even when SC/PEP has KJs under some kind of agreement they can not and do not force the playing or non playing of other manufacturers content whether still in business or defunct.

Simple thing when a host drops SC/Chartbuster altogether and continues to pirate others' tracks. I saw it all the time when I would visit other KJs shows.

Around here, I am the ONLY Host I know of that has paid for absolutely EVERY track played at my show. Over 18,000 unique according to Songbookslive.com. I have 1 show, now, and have only continued doing this simply because I like mixing singers and have earned a following of several accomplished professionals and ex professionals and they will miss me when I'm gone. I hear I am not allowed to take any time off every time that I do with a fill-in.

_________________
You can never argue with a crazy mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mind ----B. Joel
I have great faith in fools; My friends call it self-confidence ---- E.A. Poe
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity ----E.A. Poe
I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference! ----A. Einstein
Double bubble, toil and trouble ----W. Shakespeare & Walt Disney
I hate it when I get on FaceBook ----Me
Karaoke might be Groundhog Day ----?
Of All the Martial Arts, Karaoke Inflicts the Most Pain ----?

To the best of my knowledge, NONE of the people who do Karaoke around here are 100% legitimate anymore.

There is one host who has a considerable collection of discs, and she was 100% legit when I helped them convert their collection from those discs. But they have since started working for a well known outfit that used to have their own retail store, and they seem to have taken their limited amount of discs that were aquired legitmately, and distributed them to ALL of their hosts.

*the host in question when from about 40K tracks to over 80K overnight*

Another extremely large multi-rig op that does business in alberta claims that they bought all their discs, but all their hosts seem to have the EXACT same collection, which leads me to believe that they took their one set of discs, and made copies for each host that works for them. I have no proof of this tho, so i would never name or accuse them directly.

The third person i know of is an outright pirate! He does not pay for ANY new music and will keep downloads from anyone who is willing to bring them.

Even I probably have a few discs and tracks that could be called into question if scrutinized hard enough. However, i will say this 100% of the karaoke I own, has been paid for by me in good faith.

-James

I have one of those near me. Computer based, only had about 6,000 tracks about a year ago, but is now advertising having 60,000 "legal songs".

While not totally impossible (say in the case you buy out a retiring host's decades old collection all at once) the odds are against anyone substantially increasing their library that much, that fast, doing so legally.

I've known bars that have fired their KJ's and gone over to in-house, computer-based systems the very next week with 100,000 tracks.

Even if someone outright gave me the 8,000 original discs that would represent, I couldn't possibly rip that many songs to mp3+g in a week... or even a year! The ones claiming gigantic legal libraries obviously have no clue how unbelievable they sound.

that's happened around here as well. the last brick and mortar stores in the area now host and have obscene libraries.
they don't care, they get the gigs.
singers don't care, they get to sing any song they want.
bars don't care, the singers come in and drink.
we are the only ones who care.

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

BINGO! GIVE THAT MAN A CEE-GAR!

There's no percentage in caring anymore when there are people like PEP who actively encourage piracy for their own financial gain.

I have been disillusioned at one time into thinking that PEP cared about piracy. Yet, of all the leads that everyone of us has turned in reporting pirates, to my knowledge, not one has been acted upon. The same pirates are still out there that were reported 10 years ago. It's very frustrating when a singer tells you: "What do you mean you don't have that song? Everybody has that".

And so I agree with the above statement... Why should we care anymore?

_________________
Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.