Karaoke Forums

Me too, Babs....yup, didn't do the band thing for money. I had a band teacher who told me years ago that you don't get into music for the money, you get into it for the love of the craft. That applied 35 years ago and it still applies today.

We occasionally have signed band guys show up and some of them, after much urging, will get up and sing something. They're almost always embarrassed (if they've never tried it before) because it is NOT as easy as it looks, and frankly there are very high expectations. It almost always makes my regulars feel pretty darn good about their singing, and of course that makes me feel good, too. Most of our singers know my hubby is lead singer in a band but he seldom sings at his own show (only first song) and I have to prod him to sing at mine. Thankfully people are not intimidated by him because he is so self-deprecating about his talent.

What has tended to kill live entertainment in the Milwaukee, WI area has been the stiff drinking laws that the State legislature has handed down over the years. In the 60's and 70's people followed bands and would drive 50 or 75 miles to see their favorite band. That doesn't happen so often anymore because many people are concerned about getting a DUI and losing their license.

Each year there are fewer venues that feature any kind of musical entertainment. Karaoke and DJs tend to be less expensive than live bands and bar owners are feeling the pinch of decreased business. I play in a band and understand how musicians feel about being replaced. The fact is though that it's a matter of economics and not whether one form of entertainment is better than another.

I started hosting karaoke shows from time to time a couple of years ago. All in all I would rather play in a band. But I have always considered myself an enterainter rather than a musician or singer so as long as I'm entertaining someone with something it's okay with me.

I agree with some of the other comments here; the show is about the singers not the host. I sing some; more when the rotation is small. But I don't run the show for me. I run it for the people who enjoy going out for an evening to sing and have a good time. As a KJ I've met some terrific people, had a lot of fun and made a couple of dollars in the bargain.

Quite a few of the musicians I know wouldn't be caught dead at a karaoke show. That's okay. I didn't understand it either until I went to a few shows and sang a couple of times. It's different and it takes some getting used to.

I attend a local karaoke show fairly regularly because I love to sing and it gives me a chance to sing songs that my band doesn't do. It's another outlet for me and it's more relaxing because I'm not performing all night.

It's a fact that live music, karaoke and DJs are all competing for many of the same venues. Regardless of what type of enterainment we're involved in, it's up to each of us to create value. That's why we get hired and why we either get re-hired or replaced. I don't think karaoke has hurt live music. I think that in many cases live music has hurt live music. There isn't much difference between a bad band and bad karaoke. Yes, the economics of live entertainment play a part in all of this. But frankly in this area there are very few musicians or kjs who are making a living at it. So we work day jobs so we can afford to be "rock stars" or whatever on the weekends. It's not really about the money because there isn't enough money to justify doing what we do. We do it because we love it and most of us are pretty satisfied with that. From a dollars and cents standpoint we just hope that we can earn enough to support our equipment habit.

Larry

Larry

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"Life is too short for diet soda and lite beer"

I have always enjoyed karaoke, and have never believed that it 'takes away' gigs from musicians/bands/vocalists. Karaoke and dj's are not to blame, but some people seem to enjoy using it as an excuse for not being good enough to get work playing live music...ever notice it's the musicians and singers who don't seem to make much effort who b!$$%# the most about karaoke, yet many of the more talented ones aknowledge the competition of kj/dj, but either enjoy it, are kj/djs themselves at some point,or at least have no problem with karaoke at all?