Karaoke Forums

This is for Bill H.  :hug:
I thought we could get a feel for what is happening around the world with karaoke.
I feel karaoke is alive and fine here in the Chicago land, no decline as I can see it.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Thanks Babs! I voted staying the same (after intense saturation).

I put declining as MANY of the karaoke bars that used to be around are now doing more alternative entertainment - either going all dj, dj / karaoke mix, live music, Texas Hold-Em nights, etc.  Our bar is pretty much pure karaoke (ugh hate that term) so we are starting to see a slight increase due to many other clubs no longer doing it.  Have a new group of 8-10 people that has been coming in the last few nights, found out they all WORK for a rival club that dropped their karaoke nights.  Maybe it's in spite, but they no longer hang out where they work like they used to, they are now coming to ours.

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

Now that's interesting to me. The DJ/KJ mix taking over for all karaoke venues.  I'd say there are probably more KJ/DJ than pure karaoke shows here, but it's always been that way. Pure karaoke (sorry Lon  LMAO ) seems to flourish in small bars while larger night clubs do well with a mix.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

It's not taking over all karaoke venues, but seems to be the trend for the most part.  Many of the karaoke clubs around here that used to advertise 'karaoke' now have 'dj / karaoke' in their ads.  
I don't know about the small vs large, I think that debate was already active somewhere.  Our club is pretty large - again around 200 seat cap & if I did a mix there, i'd be lynched from the singers that already have to wait anywhere from 1-2 hours just to sing.

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

The trend in my area is in a slight decline at the moment, but give it a month or 2 and it might be back up.


The wife and I have been doing the same thrs/fri nite gig at the same bar for 5 years now, and have seen a decline in "karaoke addicts".  Use to be rotations of 15+ singers, now the average is 5-10 a nite.

3 months ago there were 3 bars in my town of 6,000 that had karaoke at least once a week.  Now the one bar locked its doors (bad management).  One other bar tried competing with my bar and me on thrs nites, but lost, so now they are just trying the club type dnace music for the last couple weeks, we will see how long that last.  And then there is me and the wife doing ever thrs & friday nites till the end of time.   We have our good nites, and bad, but we just roll with it, and keep on gigging.

I would say it's not declining, but not growing too fast either.  There are several places near where I am that have karaoke.  A couple places I know of have gone out of business--I believe this was mostly due to a nearby casino that could charge alot less for drinks.  Another place I know of lost its karaoke after an argument between the KJ and bartender (bartender usually wins these).  One of the bigger karaoke places, the China Garden in Renton, with karaoke 7 nights a week, went out of business a few years ago.  It seems like most people I'd talked to had sung there.  It was one of the more popular karaoke places in the area.  That said, other places have picked up where these left off, and there are still plenty of choices.  

What about song availability?  I think one of the things brought up in the Sound Choice forum was that SC was seeing less opportunities for doing good quality new songs, songs that would be around longer than just a month or two, songs that are worth listening to and worth singing.  Has the overall quality/creativity in music declined?  While there is still older music that has not been karaoke-ized, alot of the low hanging fruit has been picked, and even some of the mid-hanging fruit, which...leaves the higher hanging fruit, still good but more difficult to pick--still good songs, but the companies have to go through the legal stuff, and is it worth their while?   It may not be the goldrush it once was for karaoke businesses, but every year there are more and more singers.  So maybe we should all quit posting for 15 minutes, and try and write some good songs!?

Hey,  I hope it's growing.   23 months til the end of my day job and I hope to use KJing to supplement my lifestyle.  It sure beats working for a living.

I hate to disappoint you, but it is work.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

It's declining to a point that it is so popular with crappy systems & selections that every street corner bar can afford it @ $50 per night so there is no real good karaoke bars left.  Although I haven't been able to go out to sing for about a year since my job has me on nights now.

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

I feel , 100% Karaoke Shows are on the decline.  
I think shows with a little more variety to please the masses are going strong
Lotta Karaoke Little MUSIC and some dancing.

Just my 2cents

Babs,

Yes it qualifies as work,  but I love music and doing Karaoke shows.  I suspect you do as well.  I read somewhere that musicans have the longest life expectancy of any of the professions or crafts.  In that group conductors out  live'em all.  Something to do with the waiving their arms for exercise and musicians using a lot of their brain.  

Anyway,  for me a bad night of karoke beats a good day behind a desk.  Setting up is a complete pain and I'd rather take a beating than update my song book,  but overall running a show is a blast.

Rick

Totally agree with you, Rick, on the setting up thing. The older we get, the harder it gets. Have to be innovative in the approach - no more carrying cases of CDGs, or a HUGE rack with amps to support speakers & subs.

Here is how I figure it - it is work if it uses up time that I could be doing something else just for fun - that comes from doing too many years of working every single weekend.

On the up side, I believe I'll be trading karaoke for room & board in an old folks home some day but the system will have stay where it is! Will hand out hearing aids and reading glasses at the door.

k

I was just teasing - I knew what you were saying.
Some nights I'd rather be behind my desk. But you are correct it beats most any other job !

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Guy by me presses the play button, walks to the closet table, drinks and talks with his friends, while the mix is terrible....voice not loud enough, music not loud enough, one or the other too loud......he rarely even briefly stays to make sure it's right....except when he sings. Once I was invited to sing with someone already up there. I accidently grabbed his mike(exclusive), and the effects were so tweeked, that I sounded like an alien from outer space......I love effects(by my name), but that was way too much for even me.... .....even though you can't hear the karaoke, and the mix sucks.....the place is packed on Fridays, and 40+ singers deep.....go figure

from what I see, it is on the increase. IF DONE WELL! there are slow times of the year, but with the economy in the toilet Bars are looking for ways to get and keep people . we do karaoke as long as there are singers, but early in the night we do often end up with some dj time depending on the room and time of year.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

I'd say it's on a slight decline around here, mostly due to saturation. There are dozens upon dozens of bars and restaurants that host karaoke, and you can find it seven nights a week in practically any area of town.

I'd say a large percentage of people that go to certain venues aren't going because it's the best show they can find either. They're going because it's either a destination spot that everyone goes to anyway, or they go because it's close to home or work. I've been to so many bad shows in this town, it pretty much disgusts me. Most hosts have horrible sound that they don't tweak on a per-singer basis, out-of-date song books that are limited at best anyway, and absolutely zero charisma or desire to make a show out of it. And it's been this way forever. Sometimes it boggles the mind how some of these shows are so popular. One of my shows is uber-popular while the other is decent, but I do get a ton of comments either way that they haven't seen anyone better, and that makes all the work I put into it worth it.

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hi-voxentertainment

Hey DJ Swirl - where are you at? Sounds like the Seattle area ... tons of crappy shows. Ouch!

Sorry, I haven't edited my profile to list location and such yet. Just joined today.

I'm in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Tri-State area. The market is completely saturated here. Live trivia has been making some waves lately (a couple years later than most of the rest of the country), but it hasn't really dented the karaoke shows. There's just so much karaoke that it spreads those who dig it thin.

I'm a successful DJ as well, but I like my karaoke shows, and fear they may be on the way out in the next year or two. I've been trying to tempt some area clubs that have had bands for years into trying me out as a DJ or hosting karaoke or trivia, but it seems they're all terribly afraid of change.

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hi-voxentertainment

yes

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".