Karaoke Forums

I guess I am different from some of you. I AM an entertainer. That's what makes my shows stand out from the talentless name callers which are a dime a dozen around here.

To each his own...

Bazza,

I agree with you on the entertainer aspect of KJing, but there is room for the other types of shows as well. Each KJ finds their own level and the people who are drawn to those shows. There are shows that are highly entertaining that draw large crowds because the patrons enjoy the interaction and there are singers that like small shows where they get to sing a lot who couldn't care less about the size of the crowd they are performing in front of. I do know from experience that the show where the KJ is active with the crowd tend to be the shows where the crowds are larger and the KJs appear to get better money.

Those are also the shows that tend to higher in demand with various venues, again from my own experience.

Well I would not consider myself talentless. But I do not try to be the entertainer either. I am there to facilitate everyone else to entertain! You can have a successful 'name calling' show and still have a 'talent' and knack to make people want to come back as well!
I have been to shows where the kj thought they were a comedian on a showcase between singers - wasn't funny, no one really laughing, at least at his jokes - him yes. These types of shows do not last too long.
Then you get the kj's who want to play dj instead on advertised karaoke nights - however that is completely different arguement in itself.
Just don't discount that a host can be successful without having to be intrusive on the customers time by wasting it between songs.

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

Lonnie,

I agreed that there are extremes in both directions, either one can make or break a show. I run a rapid fire shows with the karaoke songs fading from one to the next so there is not a lot of time for doing jokes etc. but that doesn't exclude using the short overlap to make a joke or do a "special play" on the outgoing or incoming singers name, maybe once a week I will do a little piece of magic which consist of a 30 to 60 second time period but that is ussually by request. I did the "losing my head" bit two weeks ago and have been hammered to do it again ever since but I like a fresh audience when I repeat something that requires setup time (putting on the brace takes about 2 minutes of time out of sight of the crowd)

Doing things as simple as playing on the name of a singer makes a huge difference to the crowd and that is entertaining. I have seen shows where the Host is just a lump calling out the names of singers and it does not make for an interesting or emtertaining show no matter how good the singers are. I have also seen and heard of the shows where the host runs around the room telling jokes that weren't funny when they were done by real comedians acting a fool for 10 to 20 minutes at a time and yes they are a tragic experence to see.


But part of being an entertainer is knowing how much, what and when to apply it. When I was younger doing a weekly resort show about once every three months or so I would do a dance lesson skit that took about two minutes, but it was extremely physical and could actually hurt me at times I am too old to do physical comedy anymore. People who saw that still talk about it today and we are talking almost 15 years ago. I used to sing a twisted version of Fancy (Reba McEntire) complete with costume and that was 20 some years ago from time to time someone will come into one of my shows and ask me if I am ever going to bring her back, maybe one day, but to me a tired routine will always be a retired routine.

The point is that you can be entertaining without going over the top and going over the top can still be entertaining as long as it isn't over done.

Entertainer does not always mean "being on the mic", it can also be a producer or director. They do not "get on the mic" (well except for Hitchcock and a few others) but what they do do is entertain. By bringing in or cranking up and offering music is entertainment, whether on mic or not.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Like your other post: I have no clue who has you on ignore- how would I, and figured he just made an error in blaming Mt.

Between this, and you telling me the admin has warned you about a topic, I have to ask once again: How the hell would I know? I'm not privy to admin dealings, and I'm not privy to posters' ignore lists. Why do you post this drivel? Oh wait, I remember- distraction from your other posts...

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

As for being an entertainer:

I believe I am- but at the same time I DON'T believe that I'm legally seen that way.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

http://www.mobilebeat.com/kiaa-restruct ... vention-2/

On the above link there will be 2 videos. Go to the 2nd video and fast forward to 17:30 in the video. Norbit Stovall of Chartbusters karaoke claims "THERE WAS A NEW LAW ENACTED THIS YEAR THAT MAKES ALL IMPORT KARAOKE ILLEGAL. THE FBI, THE SECRET SERVICE, AND HOMELAND SECURITY IS WORKING WITH US" (ok slightly paraphrased but I'm sure I'm not too far off)

The problem with this statement is... We have 200 Japanese Laserdiscs. We are a Japanese Karaoke bar after all. I never heard this act of congress being approved, and if it was it's a culturally insensitive one. There are 0 US manufacturers for Japanese, Bollywood, Vietnamese, or Spanish karaoke. Can this really be the case? I am confused here.. Seriously, Elected officials I am confused as heck.. Can Norbit Stoval's statement be true? I thought Homeland Security is supposed to be keeping terrorist out of the country, not shovelling import karaoke into an incinerator.

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Living my life as Robert Cortese, 162 E. Jackson St, San Jose CA.

It's like the difference between high and low budget toilet paper, it really doesn't matter in the end. -exweedfarmer

Which is smarter? Just sticking to making/selling karaoke, while people all over the world create software FOR FREE that helps you sell it, or trying to compete with them and keeping it a closed loop while you blow your money into an industry (software) that you(the karaoke manu) knows nothing about?
-me

I AM URINATED AS HELL IF MY HOMELAND SECURITY DOLLARS WENT TO ANYTHING BUT STOPPING TERRORIST. J

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Living my life as Robert Cortese, 162 E. Jackson St, San Jose CA.

It's like the difference between high and low budget toilet paper, it really doesn't matter in the end. -exweedfarmer

Which is smarter? Just sticking to making/selling karaoke, while people all over the world create software FOR FREE that helps you sell it, or trying to compete with them and keeping it a closed loop while you blow your money into an industry (software) that you(the karaoke manu) knows nothing about?
-me

First of all Toqer... please ask your kid if he put his finger in his butt BEFORE you let him put it in your mouth, not AFTER. (I was truly grossed out, but it WAS funny).

Second Mr. Stovall's first name is NORBERT, not Norbit. I know because I have his business card.

Third, as I understand it, the change in the law means that U.S. based distributors can no longer distribute karaoke media that is licensed over-seas and not licensed in the U.S.

Fourth, free-trade agreements already in place protect our rights as consumers in the international market so that if we make our purchases internationally (physically, by phone or web or catalog) we can still obtain any item that hasn't been banned or deemed contraband in this country. I would suggest that means from legal sources. From what I've been able to determine, hard drives are still illegal if their content is un-licensed.

Fifth, the U.S. based mfr's are at a disadvantage in their own market because of the initial lack of interest from music owners who either don't see karaoke as a significant market or merely don't like karaoke. The reason this change came about was that the music owners agreed to reasonable licensing schemes everywhere except here, in the U.S., and when SC decided to incorporate in the U.K. and begin to produce karaoke under their licensing scheme, the U.S. based music owners decided that went against their profit scheme in the U.S.. I spoke with Kurt a couple of Fridays ago and this subject came up. I won't go into detail about a private conversation, but I will tell you that the change that went into effect was anticipated. It also, is not the end of it. In fact, the situation may be influential on the publishers to be a little less greedy when negotiating with the karaoke mfr's. We'll see...

Read what Sunfly and Tricerasoft have to say about the inconvenience of the extra paperwork, but the negligible effect on their business.

I find it remarkable that the government got involved at all. I'd really like to read that story, from start to finish. What did it take to get the legislation changed or amended to exclude imported karaoke. What does that really mean to the consumer, or to us the KJ (who even the mfr's say aren't the consumer but some sort of hybrid-industry-user)?

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Never the same show twice!

Well, there's other factors to consider here. I think I brought up a very awesome point about us being a Japanese karaoke bar. Maybe I should point out to the ACLU that if this law is true, it's completely racist against folks that want to sing Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Bollywood, Cambodian, Thai, Tagaolic, etc as there is no US manufacturer of said languages for karaoke.

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Living my life as Robert Cortese, 162 E. Jackson St, San Jose CA.

It's like the difference between high and low budget toilet paper, it really doesn't matter in the end. -exweedfarmer

Which is smarter? Just sticking to making/selling karaoke, while people all over the world create software FOR FREE that helps you sell it, or trying to compete with them and keeping it a closed loop while you blow your money into an industry (software) that you(the karaoke manu) knows nothing about?
-me

I would explain it too you but i am having too much fun watching!

I sincerely doubt that ANY Eagles song(s) anywhere on the planet was "agreed to" anything regarding karaoke. What would be the reasoning for your presumption above? Did the music owners get together and decide; "Hmm... let's license all our music, everywhere (except the U.S.) for LESS money!"

Seems a self-defeating policy wouldn't you agree?

Besides, the jury is still out on whether even a previous U.K. "license scheme" was legal to begin with. The licensing in the U.K. does NOT include transferring the content to a computer either, that is a seperate "Pro-Dub" license. And the jury is still out on SC's current Gem license anyway. Remember that SC is not only allowing unauthorized transfer of the "underlying musical works" owned by a third party, by issuing a "covenant not to sue" but that doesn't protect the KJ from the publisher suing them directly... something that SC states is "technically possible" and evidenced by at least 3 indemnifications in the Gem contract to put the liability on YOU, but "highly unlikely" that a publisher will chase around the country suing KJ's like SC is doing.

in my opinion, SC might as well say: "WE won't sue you for the infringement we are encouraging you to participate in (of the music owners intellectual property) ." or "We will help you commit piracy that is against the law, but we won't tell on you and if you get caught by a publisher, you promise to take all the heat and keep paying us."

But remember that SC is simply doing what it can to "Fight Piracy and make it a better world for the legal, legit, certified, vetted, audited KJ's that want to make MORE money."

yeah, right.

No, I wouldn't agree. The publishers are FOR PROFIT. The reasonable (and less expensive) licensing scheme that they have resolved outside the U.S. is not losing them any money. It sure beats having no licensing revenue coming from overseas, where they can't reach with U.S. law.

You actually believe that the publishers have the individuals who $purchase$ the end product in mind? Do you also believe that the publishers are going to pony up the time and money to go after individual KJ's?



To my knowledge, there has been no case brought against SC challenging the legality or licensing of the GEM series. Frankly, there is no jury. There's just a few indignant mudslingers trying to paint SC in the worst possible light. The fact is the GEM licenses are legal. That has never been challenged. The fact is the law changed with regard to the distribution of UK produced media, not UK licensing. SC is not the only mfr that this has an effect on... Sunfly, Mr. Entertainer, SBI just to name a few that are included in the consequences of that change.

Q: Who among the "naysayers" has the cajones to initiate the class action law suit that you've been suggesting?

A: None of you. Your "mouths" (keyboard & screen) are writing checks your feeble, opinionated, disgruntled selves can't cash.

When you say "in my opinion" your auto-correct should be set to insert "regardless of the facts, but right in line with my vendetta..."

Carry on my wayward son... http://youtu.be/PVH-u9gIy8s

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Never the same show twice!

Still waiting for SC to start uploading their tracks to youtubes copyright filter.

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Living my life as Robert Cortese, 162 E. Jackson St, San Jose CA.

It's like the difference between high and low budget toilet paper, it really doesn't matter in the end. -exweedfarmer

Which is smarter? Just sticking to making/selling karaoke, while people all over the world create software FOR FREE that helps you sell it, or trying to compete with them and keeping it a closed loop while you blow your money into an industry (software) that you(the karaoke manu) knows nothing about?
-me

Let's actually reference some 8125 songs.

You gotta love the eagles album, it tells a story about a young man falling in love, found out his love wasn't true, then took it to drastic measures.






Sort of how I'm feeling right now.

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Living my life as Robert Cortese, 162 E. Jackson St, San Jose CA.

It's like the difference between high and low budget toilet paper, it really doesn't matter in the end. -exweedfarmer

Which is smarter? Just sticking to making/selling karaoke, while people all over the world create software FOR FREE that helps you sell it, or trying to compete with them and keeping it a closed loop while you blow your money into an industry (software) that you(the karaoke manu) knows nothing about?
-me

Oh, I see. The "publishers are for PROFIT" and I suppose Sound Choice is doing all this as a charity donation?



I noticed that Sound Choice didn't seem to "have the individuals who $purchase$ the end product in mind" either when they filed a suit against Athena, threatened Skid Rowe, used "mob tactics" against Jennifer Price and so on and so on....





That fact alone does NOT make it legal. Just because you haven't been caught breaking the law YET, doesn't make it legal. You are fully aware that Sound Choice cannot grant you a "license" to make an illegal -and unlicensed and paid for - copy of the content of a Gem disc to your computer - that's why you have indemnified Sound Choice at least 3 times from third party (publisher) legal action in the Gem lease. You haven't questioned that? Just because Sound Choice says they won't sue you doesn't mean that what you are doing is legal with that product in the eyes of the law or the publisher.

Q: How would your opinion change if they were sued by a publisher and lost? Where would that leave those (like yourself) that have already leased it?

A: You'd be purchasing an mp3+g DISC PLAYER and you'd be back to disc-based AND still under a lease contract.



Nope, it is not "fact" as you would lead others to believe..... You have only been told it is legal. You have not provided any FACTs from any publisher/copyright owner or legal entity (in the U.S.) that provide any proof it is legal. Simply hearsay on your part. You can quote law in the U.K. all you like, doesn't change the laws here.



A class action suit may not be necessary.... don't get your panties in a bunch just yet. Stay tuned.

why are you not working for SC Chip? you seem to know more about IP law than their group of lawyers, and Chartbusters Lawyers.

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

It may or may not be necessary, but I wouldn't bet against the possibility of one being initiated.

I do know one cannot initiate a class action suit without first being a damaged party. In other words, it will take someone who has been given problems by SC to do it- though I think a contingency lawyer would be happy to to jump on it if it did happen...

Yup, gonna stay tuned....

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

There is no intrusive time wasting...one must not ramble in order to entertain. The difference is that instead of calling a name and then doing nothing while the person makes their way to the mic, I am playing bumper music, talking to the regulars, razzing the bartender, promoting drink specials, acknowledging the long-lost patron that just walked in, whom we haven't seen in weeks, etc. I am/have a personality. I make everyone feel welcome at the party. Many do not (like your wanna-be comedian example) and probably shouldn't try.

But like the above poster pointed out, there are different patrons for different shows. I attract the people looking for a good-time party. Those who take themselves way too serious and think every performance is a Broadway audition probably wouldn't like my show.