Karaoke Forums

I am now in the hosting business, sort of unexpectedly. I have several rigs, and have been shooting my mouth off about starting in the business employing some of them. I would need reliable and competent host to do it, since I can't commit to week-in and week-out duties. I don't think I believed I would ever find one.

I met a guy with all the qualifications some time ago, and gave him my card. He didn't call, so I figured I was off the hook. Turns out he had lost my card, and found it the other day. We talked, and I said "OK, let's look around for some gigs". I guess I didn't expect it, but he was ready with two within hours. We actually booked one starting Friday, with the other a strong possibility for a few days from now.

So now I am tasked with developing a quick corporate philosophy on hosting. Given my environment, which is almost exclusively small rooms and bars, I think I will be looking at:

Overall goals:

* Singers will know how they stand. Defined rotation. Host sings until 10 singers, then out except for requests. New singers added in #5 in rotation when busy.
* Standardize on CompuHost. Obtain one more dongle for a ready spare.
* Traveling library, on a laptop, with only one gig per night for now. Look at obtaining another library of core songs, but for now I don't anticipate buying two complete libraries. Since I am a software programmer, I can look at ways to divvy up my 1200CDG library among multiple rigs, but that is probably not in the cards right now.
* emphasize downloadable content to obtain songs on the fly, using available wireless connections or the AirCard. Write some software to automatically rename songs and manage additions.

Sound / technology goals:

* Good sound, better sound, and great sound packages. Wired mics by default, $25.00 per night charge to deploy good-not-great quality wireless mics. No wireless mics to drunks. $100 extra for the "Big Thumper" package, 2000w and more.
* Always at least one speaker on a stand.
* Always a monitor speaker available. Use a HotSpot on a stand if space is limited. Tell the singer how to hear themself.
* Good quality mics, Shure, Senn, Audix, EV, AKG. SM58 standard, others as available for KJ/second mic.

Host training:

* Always introduce oneself every hour (or every rotation if more than 10 singers). Make support your local bartender announcements, and learn their name.
* Learn singers names, and greet them when they come in if possible. Introduce them when they sing, and ask for applause.
* No rotation preference.
* Multiple songs accepted at once, put into CompuHost.
* No drinking on the job.
* No prolonged dead air between singers. Filler music at hosts discretion.
* Encourage non-singers to sing when possible. Keep at it, some will eventually.
* One free duet per night, after that it is their turn. (with very small rotation, i.e. 3-5 or so, this is suspended.)
* Start on time. Every time. That means allowing enough time for setup. Traffic is never an excuse in our area, so if you are going to be late call Mickey and let him know. We will either show up and do the gig ourselves, or inform the bar owner that we will be late and tell them they will get a reduced fee.

I want to print and laminate the rules page before the first gig, and will be accessing our many rules postings for ideas.

Thanks to everyone here for everything you have shared about the business. I am sure my time here will make our first gig a lot more professional than it would have been.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Oh Mcky - That is awesome. You are going to be great at this !
Good luck !

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

I also think it's fantastic, because you have such a passion for this. But don't overwhelm the poor guy with a whole bunch of stuff right away! Give him a little rope and constructively criticize as he's learning the craft.

I'm also not sure your club surcharges for extra gear is going to fly. All the places I've ever worked expect me to bring appropriate gear for their room without paying extra for it.

Corporate Philosphy on Hosting should be the BASICS.
#1) Decide if your show is a) KARAOKE ONLY b) KARAOKE DANCE c) KARAOKE AND READ THE CROWD TYPE OF SHOW.
#2 ) Whichever you choose keep a FAIR and Consistant rotation philosphy
#3 ) Up to date and good condition Books for your host
#4) Sound is important - need a GOOD sound as you know, you don't need a GREAT sound to have a good show ....doesn't hurt but ...

The HARD part is not the SHOW but becoming an EMPLOYER and BOSS

Congratulations on your decision!

For 1 gig you MAY wish to do it yourself for awhile to build profit, and THEN expand to employees?

I only mean that in terms of any start up business, it is always good to keep your initial expenses low.


One suggestion: It may be a good idea to skip the 25.oo "good mic" fee. Most venues won't go for it, which means that if you use inferior mics it will be your show that suffers.....

Best of luck on your new enterprise! If you love it like I do, I'm sure you will be a success!

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Dont forget undercutting , pirating, trash talking your fellow KJ's and the most importantly hot tea with a slash of honey and 20 minute vocal warmups. good luck and keep it simple

Thanks for the reminder about not trying to do too much at first. I tend to be a bit on the "open mouth, insert firehose" side.

The mic charge is because I don't want to use wireless mics. If it is an extra charge, then I figure owners will not insist on it. Mic quality will be good -- wired mics will be an SM-58 plus a second mic, one of EV Co9, Audix OM-2, Sennheiser E935, or another Shure (Beta 58A).

I am going to try for a "stage" area everywhere. It may not always be possible, of course, but happens to be in my first two venues. I personally don't like the wireless mic dynamic as much as I do the wired mic with a place where the singer stands.

With regard to making the business go, I have the luxury of time and patience. If it don't lose too much money the first three months, I will be happy. I am not relying on the income at all, and am willing to spend some money to make some money. If it doesn't end up working out, I just quit and sell a bunch of stuff.

Thanks for the encouragement! We go to case the joint tomorrow, then light it up Friday.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

This made me realize I've never had someone hire me and ask what kind of equipment I have. Sad, but true. All they care about is if I can bring in a crowd. Most owners of an establishment wouldn't know what I was talking about any way. Although I think they can grasp the idea of what wireless mics are, I don't think they'll care. I only give them the basics - I have a good sound system, a large library of songs and a loyal following. That's all they need to know.

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

Like Babs I don't think that you will have owners say anything about this either. Personally I would never introduce wireless without a thorough knowledge of the room first. In my home room of heavy drinking younger singers, they would slow things down considerably, as they are reluctant to give it up already even though they are tethered to the stage.

many small venues do not have Stages so I would say that they will not be receptive to the idea right away particularly if they have never had karaoke before. Most bars just want you to do the show and are not interested in showcasing it....sad but true.

Once they have experienced a sharp increase in business and you have developed a relationship with them they will be more receptive to the idea.

One thing I had to learn in the early stages of doing Bar gigs is that even though I spent many years going into bars as a customer I did not have a clue on how they operate and how the owners approach the business. Boy did I get an education..

I think your approach to the business will net you success. I think we all enter this business bubbling over with ideas and that is good! As Bill says don't try to do too much too soon.

You have established a Mission Statement and if you filter all of your business decisions through it in the future it will serve you well. Whenever my business has gotten off track it has happened because I allowed my decisions or the influences of others to lead me astray of my Mission Statement.


I wish you many years of success in the business!

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

This one asked about it already, apparently -- it was because the previous gigger (who left 6 months ago) had one.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I really think you'll do fantastic. You are starting out with strong business skills that most don't have. Let us know how things are going? I wish you the best of luck !

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

This goals document is for me. And it is sadly lacking (at this point) in the promotion/crowd-building aspect. I need to pay attention to that.

We are an interesting and very rural area. Promotion is word-of-mouth and happenstance pass-by-the-venue. There are no entertainment papers, and no web sites (except for my own). I know quite a few of the singers in the area, and I can talk to them, of course. Some of them are everywhere and will spread the word for me.

I won't go to other shows and tell people about my shows. If they ask me, I will tell them. But I won't be glad-handing and promoting at other gigs. It isn't right.

I also believe it is up to the venue to promote at their place. I will also add what I can externally, as building a crowd is probably the primary job of a karaoke provider. There are two ways to do it -- 1) please the ones that come and keep theim coming back, or 2) keep bringing in lots of new ones. 1) is a lot more certain, but you also need 2).

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Word of mouth is huge in any area. I think it contibutes the most to my business. Around here karaoke people are kind of their own club. There was a bar about 30 min. from mine that lost their KJ and hired a subpar one. I have inherited most of their singers even though they have to make the drive. It took one person from that group to find me and tell the rest. An advertisement would not have gotten them to make the drive, but word of mouth did.

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

I agree Babs. Word of mouth is EVERYTHING.
Especially with Karaoke singers.
Most of my venues are filled by word of mouth.
I tell my singers where I'll be and they WILL drive the half hour to come to another of my venues. It's great!

Well, it's been an interesting couple of days. I hope you all don't go through the kind of drama that I have!

The gig my new host booked was one that had stopped in May. The venue complained at the rate and that they weren't making money. They stopped using a KJ (who I have never met). So I was told.

My guy assumed that it was finished and he went in to talk to the owner. He quoted the price I set for basic karaoke -- no lights or wall-thumping DJ power -- and were hired on the spot. Then he ran into the original host who claimed that they were going back there now that fall was in the offing!

I was ready to drop everything and bail -- I was not going to steal someone else's gig. But I talked to the owner, which I hadn't done until then, and they said the whole thing was bollocks. They had absolutely no intention of hiring the original host back.

Come to find out that the one who was there before was a "DJ/Karaoke", the kind that plays a song, lets someone sing, plays a song, lets someone sing. I firmly explained that is not what my show is going to be about, to protests from my new host that it was what people expected. Now I know different because I have been to many karaoke shows within 20 miles of the place, but that is what their experience has been. I also now realize that the women who used to do it has been let go from several places in our area because her DJ/karaoke style didn't work.

Bottom line is that we are on, and I have been spending a couple of days dealing with the details of trying to arrange for someone else to load out my equipment. I finally settled on a storage unit (dirt cheap in our area) which will be used for the exchange. It should pay for itself the first month in reduced car expenses, as it is 15 miles from any of our target areas and 7 miles from my host.

Luckily I have a tolerant partner who is OK with the fact that our business has probably lost (in me not working while I do this) as much money as I will make in the next quite a long time.

We will see if I survive the first week. Once my host saw my equipment, which is my spare second-line rig, he was ready to make big plans about where we will go next. We already have solid leads, ones I have seen evidence of, for two or three more shows. We will see how it goes....

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

You sir have tremendous patience and love of the craft to be doing this after all the hurdles that have been placed in your path. Best of luck to you and your partner and I hope the worst is behind you.

Well, my first show is half over and I am not even there.

But it is in good hands. The new host, Chad, has skills to be sure. He will do a great job. I left him after about an hour of the show. The sound was great, the rotation was going into double digits, and the owner was all smiles.

The owner supported it by advertising, and got a half-dozen calls about it during the day. So it was primed. The bar was pretty full by the 10pm start time, and only one hour into the show there were no chairs left.

Setup took a while as I showed him the gear, but he was obviously picking it up as I went along. When he said he had been doing sound for a long time, it sounded good. Now I absolutely believe him. Assuming my gear, money, and laptop show up in the storage unit tomorrow, all will be looking pretty good for one gig.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

it can be pretty tough letting your rig go out with somebody else at first. when I did it was with a guy who had worked with me since show #3, Had brought in many shows that we did together, and Ive known since i was 17.
Ive NEVER had any trouble with him not paying or trying to scam me. He needs the money he makes and doesn't chance loosing the deal. He does more and more of the PR and booking. He does not have the capitol to put a system together so its win win.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

Chad did a great job. We booked quickly and couldn't cover this coming Friday night, and apparently everybody was groaning about that as it is a local festival and they wanted to call their friends and get back at it the next week. But we start in every Friday after that, and everyone, owner and customers alike, is ecstatic about the way things went.

The storage unit method worked well. I paid him a small bonus for booking the gig, with more bonus due after the fourth week and 6th month. I also have a line on a Saturday gig for him, and he is working on a Sunday gig. I may book a Wednesday one for myself, assuming I can find another occasional host to help out when I am out of town.

I already realized the 400w/4ohms powered mixer is not going to do a Friday gig with a wall-to-wall packed bar, so I have put my EP2500 power amp in his gear list to fully drive the speakers.

I am a businessman, and it has been a while since I really enjoyed working at my business. This is a new baby for me. I am going to be working on promotion and a companion web site. We will see what we can do with it!

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.