Karaoke Forums

It seems to be a prettty common situation where a bar has more than one KJ doing nights at the gig. These KJ's are NOT business partners, part of the same team. In fact are often time from different KJ companies or non-related outfits. As in other threads, IE "Bar Burned Me" one or the other KJ gets screwed and loses thier job or other similar underhanded experiences. How many of us out there have had to live with/deal with this kind of situation and what were the circumstances and what happened with it??

Myself, I think I would avoid that kind of arrangement like THE PLAGUE!! Either I and MY TEAM has the entire gig nights or I'd just pass it by. Dont need the constant drama, skullduggery and backstabbing and manipulation by barowners.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

I only had it happen once. I didn't care because I was offered the night first and didn't want it. Plus I knew the guy he was hiring and knew his equipment was subpar. When it didn't work out the bar owner never tried it again. I'm already at this venue 3 nights a week and think 4 nights is an over kill for this type of venue.

This isn't a good example, but it is the only time it's happened to me.

If it was a KJ I didn't know or someone I'd feel competitive against I'd probably have to find another venue. It would make things to uncomfortable. It is like having 2 cooks in a kitchen. I'd respect the owners decision to do so and hope he'd understand why I would have to leave.

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

So far I was never in a situation like that and hopefully never will. IMO if you have a gig at a venue and the owners are satisfied with what you do, they don't need to go with another company, if they want to add another day. Exceptions apply, see Bab's posting.

Nothing wrong with that. I would never put all my eggs into one basket. What if they change things up and there you are gone. We do three different bars six nights a week. One bar we work Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday, has another host Friday and Saturday, while we play at another bar.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Wow, pretty full of yourself, and then the English...... Either my team or I So who cares? Don't you shop at multiple places or is it just Walmart and nothing else?

Well my friend ALL STAR it sounds as if YOU ARE THE PERSON THAT IS FULL OF THEMSELVES---LETS GET THAT STRAIGHT RIGHT NOW!

Clearly you DID NOT get the point I was making that I would avoid that situation completely. I would not CHOOSE to share a gig with another company. If that is what a bar owner offered then I would CHOOSE not to take that gig. My own simple choice. Simply my preference.

IF you find that to be high and mighty then I think you need to:

GO BACK AN READ MY POST AGAIN, THIS TIME A LITTLE SLOWER FOR BETTER
COMPREHENSION!

And if you have any further questions about where I am with this or where you're coming from please feel free to PM me or you can call me on my cell phone:
503-757-5263

Now as to a contrasting opinion--Timberlea is very comfortable with that arrangement and has several gigs with that situation. It clearly works for him. He is very successful with that system and I understand he's been KJ'ing a long time doing shared gigs. In fact if I ever get up his way I'd like to go to one of his shows.

But for me---Again, I would choose to pass it by.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

I agree with Kurt actually. Either you use my company exclusively - unless there are nights that we are not available - but even then I would try to work a deal for maybe another night, or we find a new place altogether. Multiple companies in one location tend to not work - or the bar is just 'shopping' & one will eventually be dropped anyway.

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I have had happen twice. In both cases I wound up doing it all the time due to customer request.

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I have been booked to KJ a gig once, only to dind another DJ there (owner didn't know I also am a more than competant DJ). 100% mistake and oversight. We were both getting paid, so we had fun with it.

I'm actually in this situation, the bar owner was and still is a karaoke addict, and hired the two KJ's he was friends with when he took over the venue.

In some cases i would have a problem with it, but this works well. The other host, is an excellent MC, years of experience and offers a karaoke show from a cabaret perspective. He calls people up that he knows initially, for two songs in a row sometimes, and as the night progresses will call people up who make themselves known to him, he also talks far more that I would. The show in my opinion is hardly like karaoke at all. Still very enjoyable, but a show I would never consider going to if i wanted to sing, but as nights out go, it's a really well organised performance from a variety of singers, and as a non singer I'd really enjoy it. He also hosts the competitions in the venue, something i'd never want to do.

My show is more runs far closer to the standards the majority on this site expect. I start on time, tell people how they can sing over the mic (none of my customers have to figure out how to play the game by asking with me) run a strict rotation, one song at a time and after a brief introduction I talk only to fill the time between tracks loading and customers arriving on stage. I also suspect my sense of humour is "dry-er" than his.

The stark difference works well, in this circumstance, in my opinion, and customers come to both of our shows and appear to enjoy them equally for different reasons.

I think it truly depends on the situation. It obviously works for some people. My first impression is the owner is shopping around like Lon said, but that isn't always the case. I'd say each person has to way it out for themselves.

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

In some cases the owner or manager is following up on complaints. Not saying the KJ is doing anything wrong, for in one situation I remember very clearly, the regulars wanted the kj to do things THEIR way, and the KJ clearly said "no".

WHen they tried out another kj on another night, those that wanted their special treatment were very happy with it. But the others that wanted a cleanly ran show complained to the owner.

He came to me very frustrated. I told him that the situation was with the spoiled rotten regulars that wanted preferential treatment. Let them go, and the venue would stabilize.

They stuck to their guns, replaced the newer kj with multiple nights from the kj that was getting ready to be outed, and it turned into a good, decent show...

then the owner sold the bar a year later! ! New owner hated karaoke, and his business all but disappeared. He ended up suffering through it, and they do a good business, but not near the levels it was doing!

Kinda funny, actually!

I've worked in a situation where the bar did multiple kjs from different copanies, and I hated it! Walked away VERY quickly. The problem was the regulars were VERY upset that some songs were available with some guys, and not with others!

Our Monday night gig has two other nights of karaoke by different hosting companies. It works fine for us, 3 years now. All the customers know that each company is different and they apparently come in on their own night for differrent reasons. Of the 3 nights, Monday is the most difficult draw night but we hold our own there.

I run multiple systems but still book various KJ's at my local Eagles Clubs. I also help my fellow KJ's when they need a break. Go on vacation etc. and still know that their venue is going to be taken care of. I recognize, as do my fellow competion that working together gets us a head quicker. We have an ageement not to take each others gig's over. Clientel also enjoy the change every once in a while also.

I started at my current main venue this way. I was added to do Sat shows that the other KJ coundn't do. The other KJ and I were friends, so there was no problem. Then the owner added me on another night. The other KJ became a meth addict and p*ssed off the owner so much that she fired him and offered me his nights. He eventually lost ALL his gigs, and I even picked up another of his at another bar.

As it stands right now, I can't do any more gigs than I have, so if an owner wanted to add another night with another company, I wouldn't Have a problem with it. I'm confident enough with my shows that I definately would not feel threatened. I even had one owner ask for another day from me, and when I said I couldn't, he said "If I can't have you here, we will just do something else instead of karaoke that night".