Karaoke Forums

The fact that the owner has come to you and told you DIRECTLY that Karaoke is only making a MARGINAL(at best) impact on his revenue is THE BIG SIGNAL that hes about ready to pull the plug. And that its time for you (Post Haste) to start finding a new venue!!

This place is GOING NOWHERE FAST.

Custies whining about how much each other spends, owner complaining about the MARGINAL IMPACT you have.----time to get ready to find another place ASAP.

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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

Agreed. Time to find a place that you can not worry about. Easy to say, but a bit harder to find. They are out there though, so start ASAP!

We all have been down this road many many times before.

Do you want a shoulder to cry on or do you want to listen to our (combined) hundreds of years worth of experience?

There are very few jobs that last for many years. Stop looking for jobs in places that aren't bars as the primary income source. Drunks are your friends.

THIS JOB IS GOING DOWN THE TOILET FAST. BAIL OUT SOON OR DROWN. IT'S OVER.

Tell the whiners how you run your rotation. Don't back down. Grow a set. Your whining isn't going to help if you don't want advice.

Your choice is: GET FIRED or WALK OUT BEFORE THAT HAPPENS. If you like getting fired stay there till it happens. If you want to maintain control and be able to hold your head up. WALK NOW.

Don't do it before telling the whiners how you run your rotation fairly for all.

Whiners, prima donna, and entitlists aren't welcome at my shows. I have no problem showing them the door. I don't give a rat's xss what someone spends as long as the till is sufficiently filled at the end of the night. Someone might spend $5 a show 6/7 times, but I know when they come into some cash they're going to party it up. We're seating challenged to begin with.

HELLO, IS ANYBODY IN THERE?

Nobody likes to lose a job. It happens all the time. They can end instantly for many reasons that have nothing to do with you or your show.

Bars usually aren't run as efficiently as possible. Most bar/restaurant owners are clueless to good money making business practices.

Ride this job out until you find another one, but don't expect this job to last forever. Move on and start looking for a BAR close to this place so when it ends the crowd can follow you down the street. Don't waste time.

Are you working for a percentage of the tape?

When the times comes for you to quit, be nice to the owner and thank him for the opportunity, but things just aren't working out. Over time from losing other jobs it will get easier. You won't like it anymore but it gets easier. Chalk it up to experience. You will also start to know when it's time for you to walk away from a dead end job.

It does not get much clearer than this.

Keeping this job may impact your future income.

While I am still considering all of the advice that has been offered and am anxiously awaiting to see what Thursday brings in regard to the whiners. In short, will they be back?

I do feel that some important "issues" have not been recognized by those responding.

Karaoke jobs don't grow on trees to be picked whenever I am ready for a new one
The "whiners" have been around since the start of my show and had become used to singing two or more times during each show, which no longer is the case
The crowd at my show has been slowly growing and the future appeared over the last few weeks to be good, in spite of some earlier bad results mentioned by the owner
If I ignore the whiners they may be gone reducing the show's take by $120 while the latest additions to the regular rotation (4 singers) adds $20 to the show's take

I spoke to the owner and he told me that what I described is not a problem in his mind until he finds that he has people waiting too long to get a table. He didn't respond, however, to how losing $120 would effect my show.

I will speak to the "whiners" this week to see if there is anything I can do to placate them? Hopefully they'll be around to talk to. If they don't return I probably will have to look for another gig within the next 3-5 weeks.

So, any ideas that may make me successful in my discussion with the whiners is much appreciated. Paying lip service about maintaining the integrity of the rotation is liable to fall upon deaf ears and be viewed as insulting. These people are clearly unconcerned about the fairness of the rotation. In my mind they are looking at the sensibilities and fairness of their overall experience and why four people in particular have changed what had been a satisfying experience for them up until recently.

Post Re: Has anyone experienced this?
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:32 pm
Food for thaught.
Corny or what.
How do you think it would go if karaoke request slips were given out by the purchase of whatever.
The big spenders would get what they want and the small spenders will get what they want only smaller.
You do your normal job and no-one can complain.
Can they ???

Maybe not.

You are ignoring all our experience. We each have been down this road before. You need to know when to cut and run. If the crowd is slowly picking up, will it be fast enough for the bar owner?

Be nice, explain your situatiion about the fair rotation and don't overly kiss their A&&. Don't start playing favorites or you will lose the rest of the crowd. If they do quit coming there will be open seats for the next singing customers.

Jobs don't grow on trees but staying at a losing proposition just to have a crappy job isn't really a job.

Hello, Pot!

Is there's a waiting line of customers? Maybe the owner might want to consider cancelling the the "Pitcher & Pie" on Karaoke nights. This could open up seats for customers who are willing to spend more. But then again what if those people are waiting for the "Pitcher & Pie"? I guess it depends on what the owner feels is drawing the most customers, and then offer only one on any given night.

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EveningStar Entertainment & Events
JR & Michele LaPorte
Peoria, AZ

Be nice.

Here's the skinny.... If you give into those whiners now you will be forever at their mercy. They are playing you, man. Can't you see that? Next thing you know they'll be telling you to get more songs to their liking, telling you how to run your board, etc. It's not worth it. If the owner doesnt see the value in keeping you when they "supposedly" walk then so be it.
I know times are tough and money is scarce, but you gotta draw the line somewhere. Be firm and fair like most are saying and I bet those whiners will still patronize your venue and the owner will see the light.

There's not much I can add to this discussion until after my next Thurs show

Clearly no one responding to my OP has encountered these circumstances.

Guess I was indoctrinated with the concept of the "Golden Rule" - he who has the gold ----rules.
I have eight people who contribute $120 or more to the receipts during my show. If I could be allowed to put words in their mouths, I think that they believe that the four singers who buy the pie/pitcher special are gaming the system.

It has been suggested that if I slight the "cheap four" who are buying the pizza/pitcher special it would damage my reputation. But maybe if I don't do anything about them my reputation will also be tarnished?

Regardless of what happens, it is I who wins or loses when all is said and done.

I have never seen the "cheap four" before. And nobody from this venue comes to my other shows!

Since nobody here has done karaoke for more than a month, you are right we clearly haven't encountered your experience or circumstances.

We have never seen bar owners get mad about small crowds. We have never seen cheap customers or customers that complain. We have never been fired or quit jobs before. So i guess we can't help you. You should look somewhere else. We're all unexperienced idiots that don't know a thing about running karaoke shows.

I would suggest you give them all your equipment. Let them do whatever they want. Ignore everyone that doesn't spend what you think they should be spending. Let the people that pay the most sing every song. Take bribes and play favorites. You'll be rich in no time. Take a pay cut or play for nothing. Pucker up and practice kissing lots of behinds. I'm done. Anyone else?

I'm with Angel on this one. I only drink soda due to a couple of reasons -
1 is medication
and the other is that alcoholism runs in my family's genes and I don't want to become my father.
So I would be one of the ones that is not paying the amount that the OP would want paid. That said I usually have friends with me that make up for what I don't drink. If I found out that I wasn't getting up the same amount as anyone else I would not come back and neither would my high spending friends who like to hear me sing.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

In other words, you're willing to lick the boots of someone with money, and ignore those who don't.

So go ahead.

You can be proud of it?

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Dave's not here.

Typical of Eric's thread

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

Well, since your response implies you have had a similar experience, why not enlighten us all in detail on how you so successfully handled it and retained the job?

"Take a pay cut or play for nothing."

You forgot to mention to him to do PAY TO PLAY.

Its sure to be a big hit!!

The owner will love him.

BE A TREND SETTER!!!

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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