Karaoke Forums

They are still trying to close the barn door and using tactics that have not even put a dent in the problem. This hasnt worked for years and ut still isnt working.


So what NOW?

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You hit the nail on the head. For as long as i can remember, someone has come forward with a cheaper show, more songs, legit and illegit. It hasn't changed what i have been doing for 35 years, 15 using tracks. I haven't lost one single job, worked for any less than i ask for, and have been getting top dollar from the start. I don't care if a pirate with 100,000 songs or a legit kj with 100,000 steps up on the playing field, nothing has changed for me. I have bought my cdgs for 15 years, have aabout 18,000 songs. Don't need more, just more current. I worked about 140 shows myself, one man show, last year and will do it again this year. I turn down work.
I'm against piracy, but piracy hasn't hurt me one bit and never will. The manus should get in on the rapidly advancing technology and practise what they preach. Basically, all manus are against computer generated karaoke shows, Stellar Records still believes it is illegal.
I believe all the best KJs are in the same boat with me.

Our pirate competition does not come from pre-loaded hard drives but from copied hard drives and illegal file sharing sites.

Yes, we lost one potential job because the venue wanted a larger library--they went pirate.

It appears that some small dives have gotten away with not playing by the rules themselves be it ASCAP or the Health Dept. Promoting a legal library to them is not always a selling point.

Pirates rule our area at the moment and aren't in decline. The economy has given them a bit of a boost as bar attendance is down and owners are reluctant to commit to paying big bucks for a good company.

We continue on. We have started to have more good nights than bad nights lately and are getting compliments on fun and not just sound and rotation. But we can still lose people to drink specials next door.

Oh--paranoia sets in. The KIAA has become active down the road from us and last night a singer I had never seen in before kept wanting to make sure that the songs we put up for her were Sound Choice. Then this guy kept taking pictures all night. I finally asked the bar owner if he knew these people and he did so it was just coincidence but it gave me a start for a moment. We are still disc only so didn't think we had to worry but we do have a laptop there with bumper music on it and have been mistaken for being computer karaoke before. I thought it would be funny if we ended up being the ones investigated while the pirates carried on as usual.

The suits in AZ are the brainstorm of the founder of the POOP. There are probably a few people in the ranks of the POOP that have show hopped and compiled a list of suspected pirates.

I highly doubt the POOP has the resources to be traveling the country auditing, investigating, or in anyway legitimizing local scenes.

My library is around 17,000. My owner wouldn't know the difference. I have an established relationship with said owner, and the crowd. No one's displacing my shows unless the owner decides to sell and the new owners change options, or I hang 'em up.

It's been awhile since anybody asked us how many songs do you have? It's always do you have so-n-so? I my ads now or in promotions my wording is a good selection. WE dont need 150,000 songs We need what is requested 90% of the time. If we dont have something we try to get it. On the web site the search engine has different types of request lists so we can get songs before they are needed.

Yes piracy has hurt our business to a certain extent. But as long as it is portrayed as the main cause or continues to receive all the attention, no solutions will be found. Any solution of a problem takes an honest evaluation of everybody involved. Pointing fingers and misplacing blame is used by the dishonest faction that stands to gain by this smoke screen.

Discussions on this forum about solving major problems that we face right now concerning the economy and many others should not be dominated by piracy. It is prevalant yes. It is not the cause it is a symptom of other problems.Putting a band aid on a major bleeding wound is useless.

My motives are not personal or ego driven. I share the same concerns as most here and the Manus. We have some old chronic issues that is going to require new innovative solutions.

I am not against KIAA However when I join forces with somebody it is on mutual terms and not onesided and I do not sanction their methods. I am very familiar with these roads I have been down them before. If anything I hope I have instigated some new dialogue which generates some new ideas and plausible solutions. Do I have the answers? NO. But I have some ideas and Im not sitting on my ARSE doing the same things we have been doing for years. I have posted until I'm blue in the face and most here still mistrust or do not even try to understand or want to go forward with something even if it takes work and perfecting as we go....

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Well, I am with you Karyoker on thinking that easier access to downloads would take away the song number argument. I also see how it would help promote the karaoke companies and make it easier for our singers to fall into karaoke addiction. Even if it is hacked eventually the fact that KJs could now easily and more affordably provide any song a singer wanted would define the competition again by sound, hosting, quality of show, etc.

The only reason songs are an issue in our area is because the pirates were here first. There is only one other legit show besides us. So we aren't defending our show against pirates. We are trying to get a toe in the door in an area where pirates have defined what karaoke is. And we have a library of 5000 when tens of thousands have been the norm.

As for the KIAA not having resources to come to our little town, I thought that too. I don't know that they will come down the road to us but they are helping a member company just an hour from us.

Just showed up today on PDX CL.
portland.craigslist.org/nco/sys/1372783227.html

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CHECK YOUR ATTITUDE AT THE DOOR, STICK AROUND YOU JUST MIGHT HAVE SOME FUN

This ad showed up on the Reno NV Craigslist today also but has already been flagged and removed. Don't know who is doing the flagging--someone who thinks it's a real hard drive ad or someone who doesn't like the KIAA and is in a Cat and Mouse game with them. This is the ad that is also on the MySpace of the company in our area that joined the KIAA.

So I too advertise on Craigslist. My campaign is offering karaoke as an extra to DJ services and for those who want a combination of the two. A majority do want the combination.

A potential customer glances at the KIAA ad sees the word karaoke & hard drive and without knowing the purpose of the ad associates karaoke and those with computerised systems as highly profiled criminals. Not only am I dealing with pirates on a direct basis now I have an organisation that is lumping me into the same sess pool and their suggestion is that I and my venue pay them for protection.

What do you suggest I do?" Eliminate the word karaoke from my ads and strongly deny that I use hard drives? Can you explain to me how this is reducing piracy or helping the legal operators? All it is doing is casting more suspicion and provides negative publicity for us that are trying to promote and sell the fact that we can provide a viable honest entertainment for all venues. They have no regard for me or could care less whether I succeed or not.

Do you really wonder why karaoke does not get the respect that it deserves?

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I still think an education campaign is the least thing that could be done but it has to be done in an intelligent manner.

What is happening now in our area is the one company that is working with the KIAA is advertising that they have the only hard drive show sanctioned by the karaoke manufacturers. While I don't begrudge them publicizing their legality, I do think it makes it seem like ANY OTHER hard drive show is illegal. Almost puts the pressure on everyone else to join.

Just can't get any respect......

Anyone can say anything about how legaql they are or their "POOP" affiliation but at this time I don't see any listings on "POOP" for karaoke host or companies. If it were me I'd just say yeah... me to... you can check us out on the "POOP" site now you have leveled the playing field. And for this matter right now anyone with an ilegal HD can say whatever they want because this is no info on the poop... about host, clubs, venues or companies.

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CHECK YOUR ATTITUDE AT THE DOOR, STICK AROUND YOU JUST MIGHT HAVE SOME FUN

You can be a pirate, join POOP, and continue to be a pirate. Just be sure to lay your money down. One prominent PooP board member is paying the POOP fees for venues in his area and says he also has a slush fund to help the venue out with his BMI=ASCAP fees if they need it. What a company, eh???