Karaoke Forums

You could go into business now with illegal stuff but the first time a speaker blows or an amp fries..or a mic gets ruined, you'll be out of business anyway. The overhead to the karaoke/dj business is HUGE! We have to have special liability insurance to even play here.. the venues require it, not to mention the taxes, vehicle insurance, gas..
Sounds to me like you're trying to start a business on less than a shoestring... bad idea, sorry.
Hey, find a working KJ and see if they'll hire you. There's more in your area than just your friend? If you're good at it, you'll be that much closer to having what you need to go into it for yourself.

All this advice, IS me trying to help you! Don't go about this the wrong way.... best advice available.

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

Well PHM series is a completely different manufacturer than Chartbuster. So now it has to be the best in order to help you out? Too bad, PHM also has ready to go computer mp3g discs, just you have to buy them as a set and cannot pick choose like the Chartbuster setup. You talk about hating the quality of these two brands (that are the biggest computer friendly brands currently available for pro kj's) and yet you ask about the All Hits? I think your little tag line needs an IN in front of the sane
Chartbuster has improved immensely throughout the last few years, and you know if you really 'gotta do what you gotta do' to get into this business, then you make concessions about the quality vs cost. Their country is top notch from the start, their earlier pop/rock stuff was hit or miss, but still useable & alot better than the All Hits/Sweet Georgia Brown stuff that many kj's have their customers use. Their newer pop/rock from the last 7-10 years is much better. But again, MUCH better than anything All Hits (gone) or SGB. No new stuff really available, you can still find sets - however often counterfeit - on e-bay, so even though they are discs, you could still possibly get nailed for using illegal material if the claim that CB bought up the SGB logo is true.
DK has been out of business since early 2000's.

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

That's why I said to remind me! You're right.. it was $120 or so! I forgot

Ripping in my spare time! After I get the certification thing done. I do have a couple of players still.. and will be starting the process (again) in a month or so. The laser ripping is so slow!!

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

Same post a moment later:


WTF?

I suggest you educate yourself.
The more you carry on, the more foolish you appear.

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KNOW THYSELF

SGB is pretty good at Classic Rock, CB is great on country, DK is for beginners but not horrible, SC is the best for most stuff (but I've found a few they mess up), THM I hated, Pocket Songs are not too bad, I like Zoom (they are SC?).

*just some of my very humble opinions*
When I was a beginner, I could've used just about anybody's opinion!!

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

Isn't that illegal??? And who is going to show up at her door to audit her for THAT?? You DO realize this whole thing is worse than dealing with the government, right?? How do a few karaoke companies get to wield such power??

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Pioneer laser discs are no longer made. But yes, technically I suppose ripping them is illegal, HOWEVER I own the discs and as long as I keep the discs and can show I am 1 to 1 with disc's to hard drive files, I'll be ok.

Running a business is dealing with government, I'm thankful is the USA government even with all it's flaws.

Karaoke companies wield the power because they are the ones that have risked the capital to be manufacturers of CDG's.. it gives them the right to police the use of their product. And they wouldn't have to police if their profits hadn't been taken away by people stealing said product.

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

Not if she owns the discs, and who may ask for an audit, whomever might own the trademarks - but guess what, she OWNS the discs and can prove she bought them.
They have no power, except suing thieves for what rightfully should have been paid to them originally.

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

I actually own two sets.

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

Where'd everybody go? *did someone fart?*

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

Can I get a HECK yeah???

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

I get tickled at people who ascribe political motives to these things.

I represent many clients whose political views are very different from mine. My Republican clients think I am a Republican, and my Democratic clients think I am a Democrat. Since my legal work has nothing to do with politics, we just don't discuss it. I do a lot of smiling and nodding when it does come up.

Smoothedge, I don't tell you I know who you are to intimidate or threaten you. I don't need to do any of that. Most of the people who deal with me, even on the other side, will tell you that I am the opposite of slimy. I really couldn't care less whether SC collects any money from you as a result of my services. I didn't have to tell you what I know about you. I could have just kept it to myself and surprised you when a process server hands you a summons.

But I do believe in fair warning. You want a shortcut. My job is to stop people from taking shortcuts, because shortcuts are unfair--they're unfair to my client, who worked hard to build a great collection, and they're unfair to the hardworking KJs who post here, who have spent lots of money over the years to get the collections they now have. I do recognize that times are tough. They're tough for a lot of people. I am not unsympathetic to your politics, but you come across as a bit of a whiner--and not just on here. I work 80-100 hours a week because that's what it takes. Nobody's giving me a grant or making it easy on me. I am fortunate to have opportunities and grateful for them, but I had to put in a lot of time and effort to position myself for those opportunities.

Several people have given you good advice on how to get started. I'll say again that it will not be hard to get approved for the installment plan for the GEM series. You do not need 200,000 tracks to run a karaoke business. But CB's media drive might well be the better option for you. CB makes a great product, and to get access for $200 plus the unlock price per song is a great deal. In a 4-hour show, how many songs can you really play? 60? And you'll start having repeats from your second or third show.

Your iTunes tracks are not legal for commercial use, period. Karaoke is different from "DJ music" because karaoke tracks are audiovisual works, not just sound recordings. The copyright rules are different for those different types of works.

Good luck.

Oh, and since you gave permission...it's a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Impressive. Ok, so you aren't a fraud. Still, I have done nothing wrong, yet, so there is no need to keep an "eye" on me. I talked on a website. I told you that I downloaded material, for which there is no proof. It's all hearsay, Your Honor. This has been eye opening. I do not intend to use downloaded stuff, and am going to have to wait a little longer to get started. To say the least, it pisses me off, because I am anxious to get started. Starting with 66 SGB disks and current 36 disks is going to suck, and I will be lucky if anyone hires me, but I have little choice at this point. Until I start making money, that's the best I will be able to do. I like the idea of the Compuhost/CB thing, but until I can get my hands on $500 that is out of my reach. Oh well.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Smoothedge,
More like $200, and comes with 50 credits.
Check this:
http://www.chartbusterkaraoke.com/kjmp.html

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

But, you're correct if you don't already have the compuhost software.. you'll need that to use the Chartbuster KJMediaPro HD...

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

No, I don't have CompuHost, yet. I was trying different programs. I tried PCDJ Karaoki. It was pretty user friendly. They have their own "case" of karaoke that you can unlock. I don't know the quality, because I didn't unlock any of the songs.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Well, if I were you, I would borrow $20 from everyone I know and start buying the Chartbuster drive & Compuhost. That is the best way to get a good library without having to buy disc's. The drive comes with 50 song credits, so that lowers the overall price right there. Each credit is $1.50 to $2 each.. cheaper than most download sites, AND you're gonna get good quality. AND you can unlock on-the-fly on the job, so you only pay for songs you're going to use.

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

PCDJ uses Karaoke Channel tracks - which are Sound Choice, rebranded. Now a club here that used the system exclusively just got named in a lawsuit. So might want to be careful.

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

I tried PCDJ when they first came out and hated it.. but I do know some here use it. I use Karma from Latshaw systems and am very happy. I've heard great things about Compuhost, but it is more expensive than Karma. I already own a huge library.. so that Harddrive/unlock songs thing wouldn't work for me I don't know of a better solution to someone just starting out.

You can always add other manu's later..

There's nothing illegal about borrowing someone's library (as long as their library is legit/legal). It's what you do with it that may or may not be illegal (as your other point states).