Karaoke Forums

How do you deal with singers that want to smoke or drink while singing?
(i hate a smoke smelling mike and don't want beer in it either)

Do you allow singers to bring personal cd's for you to play if you don't
have the song they want to sing?
(some of the older players won't play some of the newer discs)

What is the usual pay rate in your area?
(varies from bar to bar here in TX )

Just wondering to see if I'm on track or pushing it a little.

L. W.

Honestly this is something you must decide for your self ..as far as Gemini Karaoke ..Singers must leave their drink and smoking at the table...they might like having it with them but it just doesnt look good..and beside that your equiment.

As far as CD go most on here will tell you yes its good costumers service...I say its not...they are at your show..you need to stay in control..and you need to ask yourself these questions..do i want to keep track of their CDs......are they bring their CD collection to try to take your gig....or just to show off....Gemini Karaoke doesnt allow singers to use their own cds and it is posted on the KJ table and in the book...all i can say it can be a pain..so be careful

Pay rate in Salina for a 4 hr bar gig $150 - $200


Most if not all the other KJ on here will try to tell you how you SHOULD..my word of wisdom go visit other KJ show personally and then decide for yourself how you should run your show...never be one just to follow the crowd

- My singers are politely asked to leave their drinks and smokes at the table...considering most places where I KJ, the dance floor is where they sing

- I never turn away a customer wanting to use their own disks, provided my player will read them...unless they're rude about it, of course.

Good luck with your business!~!

I don't mind people bringing up their drinks on stage and we are a non-smoking state. So I'm not much help there. But I would probably handle it like any other rule.

I price out private parties different from bar gigs. It depends on how far the drive is and if I need to set up and tear down.
Bar gigs are usually $50 to $75 an hour for the 1st 4 hours. Private parties are somewhere around $100 an hour for the 1st 4 hours depending on all the circumatnces. I don't know the going rate in your area. That would probably be more beneficial to you.

As far as customers bringing in there own CDs - absolutely ! We've had lengthy discussions about this on the forum. There are some people who won't attend your show if you don't play outside CDs, so it is to your advantage to do so. I use a RSQ MV-333 to play discs. I have never had a problem playing any type of disc on it. It is a vintage player, but you can still find them on e-bay for decent price.

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

Just tell them they need to leave their drink &/or cigarette at the table. Or have a little area where they can set there stuff, but not actually hold it & do not start the song until its set down.



Of course, there is no reason not to. As a kj I cannot have everything out there, it would be impossible both financially & . My job is to allow the singer to enjoy themselves & if that means singing a song that I may not have or a version that they are used to, all the better to allow this. Nothing more than GREAT customer relation between you & your singers. Especially in this declining age of karaoke, why alienate ANY customer, in the bring your own disc thread, several have stated that they do not return to shows that don't allow their own discs & there was also a poll about it that equates to around 7/8 in favor of bringing their own - so that's a lot of potential business to possibly push away from your show?
There are some kj's that think the customer is trying to show them up, but are usually suffering of an inferior collection or other problems.

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

Ditto re: Lonnie's post. Never underestimate the value of a happy customer. Happy customers tell others about their great experience, and word of mouth is invaluable. Can't put a price on it, good and bad (G).

What is valued in our area, based on what our loyal and steadfast followers say, is good sound and good song selection. Focus on that and the loyal followers will come and stay, and bring others, and put you closer to getting a decent amount of $$ for your show.

Price varies in our area, which is saturated with karaoke shows. Keep in mind, at least here -- you get what you pay for - there are places that pay $75 for a show and it is absolute garbage (poor equipment, poor sound, etc.) to $175-200 for a 1-night show, and maybe less for 2 nights or more (where equipment doesn't need to be moved constantly). Used to be in this area that the good companies would charge $200 and up for a 4-hour show, but the flood of karaoke pirates (who don't have the investment to cover, and thus will give away shows) and hard economic times have brought down what places are willing to pay - rather than pay and await the crowds that build with a good show, they will experiment with other forms of entertainment and/or krappyoke. In the end that is always MORE expensive in lost revenues. There are as many new and inexperienced club owners around as there are new and inexperienced karaoke companies - they deserve each other, in my book.

k

I don't mind them bringing up a beer or drink and sipping it during the instrumental breaks. I just hate it when a smoker blows smoke in your face, accidentally or not. I've made NO secret of that dislike when they do it.

"DO YOU MIND? SHEESH!" while I'm waving it out of my face.

easy, no drinks at the mic, smoking, sorry that would hard to do for the most part...
people do bring cd's to play, all this can be a pain, simply because some are lost in there own world....once you play a club regular you can build personal song list for customers, trash the cd gig and go laptop when you can, I hate cds, people have taken them during break, scratches, replacing them, all stinks..... take others ideas but you will learn best yourself... good luck remember there are a lot of so called pro's, but to me its not how many songs you have, how big you stuff is, or how cool you think you are.... its about fun, consistant shows, and you being a part of there club, personality, personality, personality..... you will be fine with a few more mile behind ya....

As has been mentioned, allowing a customer to use their own CDs is a good part of customer relations. As Lonman has stated, the poll on this gives a pretty good indication of the ratio of customers who are likely to avoid your show because they are unable to have their own music played and therefore are not able to sing what they want to sing.

A case in point... I was at the Rhino bar in Newport, RI on Tuesday. The KJ arrogantly informed me that no way he was going to play my disc because that would mean he would have to close down the program he was running on his laptop and run another program just to be able to play my disc! Really? I was under the impression that playing an audio CD (not a CDG) was not a big deal on a laptop.

This guy's song selection really sucked and there really wasn't anything he had that I wanted to sing... I wonder how many singers fro KS reading this will bother to check out that bar for karaoke now!

We have a tall small table in the back of the stage. This has been discussed before but I would like to bring up one point. Nobody should leave their drink unattended. For every rule or law passed creates more problems which require more rules or laws.

Bars are more regulated and policed more than any other business. Why do you want to add some more petty rules to somebody's party?

When I go into a bar as an adult I am responsible for my actions. I do not need 40 dozen rules to regulate how I think what predjudices to have or what I can say or not say. I have been in the meanest port bars in the world including an opium den in Turkey. I have been on shore patrol trying to control vets fresh back from Nam. You do not make up a bunch of rules for drunks and try to enforce them. You stick with the basic rules and laws which results in arrest and court proceedings. Over the years I have had to fix or replace mic cords. One time at a boat club in the dark I lost the grille off a Shure Access and never could find one. It is my all time favorite mic. Hang your rules..

_________________
Join The Karaokle Singers Social Network. Upload Your Music!!

I think a lot of this depends on how much room there is to work with. I'm on a stage that was built for bands and I'm several feet away from the singers. I've set up the singer's monitor on a long rectangular table with two ashtrays on either side and room for drinks.

I'm with Karyoker here. The fewer rules the better. But I have that luxury because of the physical layout of the joint.

I do not allow drinks or smokes while singing, my reasoning:

1. Smoke and moisture ends up in the microphones and stinks really bad.
2. I want no distractions with regards to handling the microphone. I use expensive mics
3. The bars that I'm at generally do not think this looks good and don't allow it.

I don't have a rule book, but I just politely ask them to set their drink or smoke down during their performance. I have an area for this so that nobody messes with their drinks.


As to the customer CDG or Audio Disc.....Of course I will play theirs! It's absurd to not offer it if you want to relate to all customers needs. Out of all the KJ's here you will find 2 that will tell you otherwise, the majority offer it to their customers regularly.

_________________
FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

It's probably found a new life as a sea-water strainer for some boatie's engine cooling water intake!

Only reason I do not allow drinks & smokes is I had a couple incidents - yes accidents so no cops were called - where they accidently dropped a drink which soaked the monitor speaker on the floor - happened a couple times in the past. Cigarette falling onto the monitor speaker cone burning a hole in it almost setting is on fire. That was when the rule came into play. So no more drinks or smokes on stage. Set it on the table next to the stage.

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