Karaoke Forums

I'm just curious as to the amount of songs people have in their library, and what brand of cd they are using. This could be with or without the w/vocals versions.

I have 9532 songs.

Disks used are: SC, DK, Pioneer (CDG), THM, PHM, Legends and the dreaded SGB set.

They are pretty much listed from "most to least amount" - ie: 216 SC, 72 DK (original set), 69 pioneer etc.

I tried to stay away from the crap that is nothing but a horrible digital version of a song with some words on the screen that aren't even in sinc with the music!!

Do you list all versions & is this counted into your total??? Duplicated song titles can't be counted for an accurate count.

Size doesn't matter as long as you have a good solid set of songs that most people WANT to sing. You will NEVER have "everything" people want or even close to it due to discontinued discs.
I run 2 systems 1 has close to 9,000 individual titles & the other has a little over 3,000 individually - carefully chosen titles and never have complaints - I get requests at both shows. I have several customers that bring their own discs, more & more are having custom discs made through legal sources.
I can't afford to buy all the flavor of the week discs to have them lie dormant in 2 months once that flavor sours. I do a main buy once every 6 months with the most requested tunes.

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Of the 9532 songs, 1696 are the duplicate "w/vocals" songs. There are a few other duplicate's that occur on either DK, SC or Pioneer, but I left those in. I've found that some people find it a little reasurring that you have more than 1 version of the song they want to sing "jsut in case" the first one doesn't work, even though all mine do. Between those 3 versions, in my opinion, there is very little if any difference between them as they are all top quality.

That's fine if you leave the duplicates in, that's personal choice either to give the choice for your customers or to make your book appear bigger or whatever. But to COUNT these duplicates into your accumulated total is misleading. To say you have over 9,000 individual song titles is something. To say you have over 9,000 songtitles but many are duplicated is misleading. I know for a fact their are several dups between the Pioneer & DK libraries. These were the main cores for the first years of karaoke so they tried to cover the same songs to be competitive.
You already admitted to listing 1,600+ duplicated titles with just vocal tracks (why you would list these anyway - but...) which brings your total down to 7,900 (and this isn't taking into account the dups between the Pioneer/DK/SGB (which that set has many of the same titles as well).

If I counted all dups & vocal tracks i'd be boasting well over 12,000 songs, but it wouldn't be an accurate or true count.

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I just pulled my library up in KJ pro, deleted the duplicates and ended up with 6415 individual songs. That still isn't bad. I don't keep the duplicates in just to make the book look bigger, I do it to give people a choice. Some songs are alot better on 1 version than the other. Take the song - "Mack the knife" for example. I have that on DK and SC. If you were to listen to both versions DK has the complete full band instumentals on that song and is by far the best version. However, some people actually prefer the SC version over DK. Now If I have 5 versions of 1 song, like - Frinds in low places, I only put in the SC and DK versions and deleted the rest because there is no point in havng them all listed. My duplicate songs I do have listed are only the MOST POPULAR ones. I have a seperate section with all the songs that have the vocals with them just because if it is a new song, people may want to sing it, but are afraid to try it for the first time without a little "help".

Also, when I was putting my library together, I did the research before I bought the disks. I found the SC, PI, or legends disks that had the most songs on there that I could utilize, meaning that there would be 4-6 songs on there that I "needed" as opposed to going out and buying 4 different disks to get 4 different songs. I've been adding the THM each month and they don't duplicate what they have on other disks as long as you don't get the Platinum, or the best of disks. By doing this I have been able to get about 85% of the most popular songs on a minimal amount of disks, thus keeping my costs down.

In my humble opinion, one apect that clearly differentiates a great KJ from an okay one, is the ability to know his collection. In other words, if you list all versions of the same title (SC, DK, CB, SGB, Leg, MM, etc.) in your book, and a singer chooses the "stinker" a good KJ will either automatically substitute the superior rendition or verify with the singer that they intentionally choose that version. When things get busy this can be hard to do. Hence, it may be better to just list what you think is the best rendition. Most singers who insist on a certain version, bring their own discs to the show.

This brings me to another point. If you are going to list duplicate song titles, your book needs to reflect what brand or label the selection is done by. If it does not reference some sort of mfg. code, the duplicates do not really make sense. You and your best regulars may know that song # 252-01 is the Sound Choice version, but for everyone else its just one of multiple listings of the same song with a different number.

You will save paper and reduce printing costs. Of course, you will still need to keep your master listing with all tracks just in case your preferred disc will not play or for the customer that asks if you have a specific version of a song.

I use the CAVS digital Jukebox, and hav 10,255 songs, with about 500 duplicates. I also carry an additional 70- 80 discs I had built up before I had a show.

I agree with Stevie- knowing the versions you have for the most part is very important. Even tho I don't have that many discs, I know the most popular songs that are better on my discs then in the unit.

One drawback I have noticed- some people are OVERWHELMED with such a large selection, write out several slips, never hand them in, or take 3 hours to decide just reading the book. For karaoke people- they love the selection. For all others, so many songs is just confusing. I can see getting a backup system with fewer songs- just incase....

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

I do know the good versions from the bad, that's whay you won't find any MM, SAV, NAV, Nutech, party tyme, tip top, backstage or any of the other lower end cd's in my library.
I have SC 8125 so I don't need the bks version. There is also no need to list the same song that's on 2 different SC disks, and I don't do that. The only dups I do have are the "Choice" between, DK, SC, Pioneer, which isn't really much of a choice because they are all very close versions of the songs, however some people prefer SC over DK and visa versa. I have a seperate section for the songs that are "with vocals" and those are either the SC Start series, PHM, or THM. I do this, (as I already explained) for the purpose of giving the customers the opportunity to practice a song with the help of the guide vocals. That amounts to about 1600 songs or so, printed on both sides of the paper makes it about 20 pages total. I am not too concerned about the whole .11 cents I spend on a few extra sheets of paper because I am not that cheap, and I want to be able to offer everything I have to the customer(s). That is the number 1 rule of running a good show - Keep the customers happy. Doing that keeps them in the bar and keeps them spending money, which in turn keeps you employed at that particular establishment. Naturally you need to run good sound, but in the end it all comes back to your song selection and being able to give people a choice. Personally I'd rather give them a choice between the top MNF's of the cd's rather than go out and buy the low end cd's in the first place!!

waitaminute!!

SOME of the "MM, SAV, NAV, Nutech, party tyme, tip top, backstage or any of the other lower end cd's" are perfectly acceptable! They also fill many holes while you are waiting for the availability of songs on "better" manufacturers!

SAVP29 is a golden gem, as are many of the later "Sweet Georgia Brown" discs...

I also am quite proud of many of the Music Maestro discs I have.

Glad you have SC8125. It's a golden gem. It's also worth a fortune! I wasn't blessed with that kinda moola, so I've had to use the Legends and BS versions of their songs!

Matt

I bought my SC 8125 about 7 years ago so I didn't have to go to doo-wop.com and spend 250. I wouldn't have done that anyway.

16,300 total,
11,011 non-duplicated

Spans all sorts of brands, DK, Sound Choice, Pop Hits Monthly, Lost Classics, Music Maistro, etc...

- FutureMon

Is that like in one system or in all 9?

It's a little redundunt but ya guys crack me up!!

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Brian D.
(BHB)

You guys sure have a lot of songs in yours list. but from a singer point of view the length of yours it not that important: What is important to a singer is that you have his songs in you colletion. As a singer myself I always bring my own dics along just incase.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

I have over 14,000 songs, 11,000 in my primary system. the other 3K are lasers, that I don't carry around with my mobile.

and of that 11K, over 7K are non dupes.

I'll let ANY singer Bring a CDG/DVD as long as it is a Factory Original Media item. Professional or Amatuer, ONE EXCEPTION: The song they bring up is an original track and they own it. and I'll definately preview it first before I play it. and definately warn the audience in a classy manner during the introduction.
(In all my books we have a disclaimer saying all original tracks must be accompanied with lyrics/lead sheet and a photocopy of Licensure or copyright ownership.) We tend to get about 6 original artists. It seems to keep the illigals at bay. and i hve only confiscated one burned CDG at a show in the last 4 months. because the guy kept on insisting that i play it.. i turned it over to the bar manager at the end of the night so they could return it to him after they explained that it was ours and thier policy that no burned media would be played on the premises.

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Brian D.
(BHB)

Good house rules you have Brian Sir. I only bring along those discs where i know that the House do not have and only original copies. Very diff to find piriated copies in my country nowadays. I have mp3+G flies that i made myself ( as opposed to ripped)in my pc system , but they are for practising at home.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Personally I don't mind the PC-jockeys as much as long as they keep the originals with them..

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Brian D.
(BHB)

Well that is mighty generous considering you said on other posts that you also have PC based systems. Altho I kinda consider it an insult to be called a PC jockey.


I have 19,459 tracks legal on a PC, 12,370 non-duplicates

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I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !

Dr D
I only do it with one manufacturer's media.. i'm in that classification too..
so don't be offended

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Brian D.
(BHB)

I'm not really offended, it's just that "pc jockey" sounds kinda Derogatory.

However Do you as I do feel like the Priddis line is superior because of their fair use policy as well as having some of the better quality background tracks.

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I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !