Karaoke Forums

I would like to add and/or clarify before "signing off" that:

I can and do play discs, but not always!

The thread didn't distinguish between KJ's who "CAN'T" play customer discs vs those who "WON'T"

The thread didn't distinguish between discs burnt by the customer vs manufacturer's disc.

The thread didn't distinguish between "obscure" tracks on a discs vs "popular" tracks on discs commonly found in most libraries

I know of many people who take their libraries of burnt discs to every show and who scan their libraries throughout the show without EVER looking at the KJ's library. It's as if they want to draw attention to themselves and to maximize their self-importance. I HAVE NEVER TAKEN MY LIBRARY to another KJ's show! I take a few burnt discs just in case the KJ DOESN'T have what I prefer to sing that night! But I begin by looking through the show's library

It may be polite to hang around and sing at a show you don't like, but I would rather hear from the customer, if they don't like something about my show. I might not do anything different but constructive criticism is always useful. I just don't need to be called "cheap" if I decide not to play someone's disc

I AM DONE!

One thing that will make all groan BUT CD&G is the media on which karaoke is legally sold in this country at the moment. It seems strange not to have a way to play it.

What????


Again, it costs very little to be able to plays discs on a lappy

An illegally burnt disc is just as illegal as any other illegal media

And my experience is that 98% of the discs I am given to play by customers are burnt

Not all burnt discs are illegal!

1. I have written permission from the manufacturer of my backing tracks to make copies of them for my use.



2. All of my backing tracks are licensed for public performance (which is more than I can say for most original karaoke tracks)

3. All of the discs I take to a karaoke show are capable of being played on any standard CD drive without the need for specialised software add-ons.

4. When I go to a show I have not been to before, I take copies of the receipts for my tracks and the permission to copy.

5. It is a 99.99999% certainty that any KJ will not have a karaoke track of the songs I wish to sing

6. If a KJ declines to play my CD, it is most probable that I will never return to that show. If a KJ straight out lies to me as to why he cannot play my CD, I will definitely not return and will inform the bar management as to why.

A bar I used to regularly attend, spending on average $30 - $50 per night has only seen me twice this year, once during their karaoke show and once when I was meeting a friend for a few drinks. The one karaoke show I turned up to, I found the regular host was not there (she had recently given birth). The replacement KJ would not play my CD, and lied to me in giving his reason. Furthermore, he played favourites and preferred to sing himself. On leaving the bar (after staying for a night of un-enjoyable karaoke). I left that night informing the management of my displeasure and have not been back since for karaoke. No loss to the KJ, but certainly a loss for the bar!

The majority of hosts and customers don't give a rip (no pun intended) as to the il/legality of a disc. What the heck does it matter? Let's not take this to a technical level that is totally unnecessary. Play it or don't. Provide the equipment to play it or don't. Can't? Won't? Hosts prerogative. Greater or fewer customers? Result of the choices made by the KJ. Greater or lesser profit? Result of the choices made by the KJ, and by the venue for keeping that specific KJ or letting them go. Cause and effect. I'll play peoples' discs for them. If at some point there is some sort of magic spell cast on the country and the playing or possession of all burned/illegal discs is at once deemed punishable by death, then I'll stop.

Murrlyn,

This is "Karaoke". You are suppose to see the words, and it has been clearly discussed that the audience LOVES to see the words too! Do you mean to tell us that all of your legal songs to sing, are so much better in some way, that you can not find a single song to sing in anyones song book, that have "words" that show up on a monitor! Stop denying your audience the enjoyment of being able to sing along (or at least read along). Like I said before "-".

Mrmarog

Very good point Murrlyn. If i refused to play my customers discs that would result in a huge loss to the bar over time and affect my job security. My number one priority is to make THEM as much money as possible.

Limiting your service because of small "inconvenience" that could cost your venue monetary losses may not be the smartest decision. It's not the customers responsibility to look through a kj's book to see if they have the same version or not...that's just silly.

Karen, stop being so DAMN RIGHT and eloquent in your posts! I believe you're right-on in everything you've said.

Hey, I try.

This thread is very interesting. Most of the people seem to think that playing a customer's disc is a necessity but Jamkaraoke seems to have an axe to grind with me personally and he's trying to beat this dead horse in an effort to disparage me and the home made songs that I make for myself to sing. How many KJ's have karaoke discs made by All Hits, Backstage, Dangerous, HelluvaDisc, Doctor Music and a variety of other karaoke manufacturers that have gone out of business once the legalities of their products were brought into question?? JamKaraoke wants to make a big deal out of my "MoonShine" tracks but he probably has no problems playing other tracks that were sold commercially with no sync rights being paid for. If I made a few hundred tracks (20 discs) and distributed them through a karaoke store, people who purchased them would treat them as legal discs just like they do with other karaoke discs that have never been completely licensed. It's obvious that Jamkaraoke would not appreciate me coming to his show and based on his attitude towards people who bring their own music to sing from, I wouldn't ever go to one of his shows or recommend them to anyone else to go to.

Out of curiosity, do you have a few examples?

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Karaoke doesn't mean it's 'supposed to show the words'. Up until the late 80's or so with the coming of laser disc karaoke, karaoke was nothing more than cassette tapes with people singing either from memory or from printed lyric sheets. It actually put a lot more focus on the singer itself since there were no other distraction. Karaoke - by definition - means 'empty orchestra' - music minus vocals.
However, yes it is nice for the audience to be able to see the words, but not a requirement nor a need if a singer has a song without words. Even some karaoke manus create some songs without graphics because they cannot get the sync licensing to create them so just create the music instead since this license is much easier to aquire.

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People do like to sing along with the karaoke singer when they are listening at their seats. A friend of mine has written quite a few of his own songs and would frequently sing them at karaoke. People would be looking at the monitor so they could follow along but it was just a plain blue screen. He came to my house with recordings of his songs and I turned all of them into karaoke tracks with graphiics and both he and the audience get much more enjoyment from those songs now. He has even had a few people now ask if they could try to sing one of his songs now that the lyrics are available to them. JAM and Gemini seem to have a problem with a guy like that who wants to sing his original songs at karaoke. I think that the two of them have serious control issues.

As Lonman has pointed out, karaoke translates to "empty orchestra", meaning that the singer's music is supplied by a band/orchestra that is not there. There is no requirement for lyrics to be displayed to make it karaoke by definition. And I find that even though my backing tracks have no lyrics displayed, people do still enjoy it when I sing those songs... I know that from the comments I get, from seeing them get up and dance and even from those who know the words and sing along.

But of course, without the lyrics in karaoke tracks, many would be denied the enjoyment of even being able to get up and sing as there are many who cannot remember the words of songs they wish to sing.

As to not being able to find a single song in the songbook.... hmmm I will leave you to re-read the post I made and see where I made that comment.

OH WOW --now we have ARTISTS that want to get up and sing their own songs
SURE WHY NOT ---hey can you bring your guitar TOO ? AND MAYBE YOUR FRIENDS DRUM PADS ?????-- Heck maybe tell a few jokes up their becuase its KARAOKE NIGHT and that means ??? The KJ should give you 4-1/2 minutes to do whatever you want. What's next POETRY READINGS ? Why not ??????

BBFL - I would appreciate you at my shows --I don't play cdgs --obvisoulsy thats a requirement for you and thats ok ....... I would as I always do -politely apologize that I choose not to play cdgs and hand you a book with a pencil and slip. And you are correct in that I have had ALL HITS and the like in my library for years that were legally purchased and I continue to use if need be. Most are duplicated by other manus and the better brands are played first unless REQUESTED by the customer.

It seems you are an EXCEPTION that can't be considered in a general business plan
SPECIAL BACKING TRACKS without lyrics !! Titles so obscure 99.9% of shows would not have them ???? -- This goes along the "special cases" ....When you were a regular and the REGULAR KJ knew you ..it was no problem. Get a NEW KJ who is not familiar with you or your needs and all hell breaks loose. INSTEAD of you explaning to this NEW KJ you get insulted and never go back ( I UNDERSTAND THAT THE KJ HAD BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN NOT JUST PLAYING YOUR CDG)

[quote="jamkaraoke @ November 3rd 2009, 3:17 pm"][quote="BruceFan4Life @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:42 pm"]This thread is very interesting. Most of the people seem to think that playing a customer's disc is a necessity but Jamkaraoke seems to have an axe to grind with me personally and he's trying to beat this dead horse in an effort to disparage me and the home made songs that I make for myself to sing. How many KJ's have karaoke discs made by All Hits, Backstage, Dangerous, HelluvaDisc, Doctor Music and a variety of other karaoke manufacturers that have gone out of business once the legalities of their products were brought into question?? JamKaraoke wants to make a big deal out of my "MoonShine" tracks but he probably has no problems playing other tracks that were sold commercially with no sync rights being paid for. If I made a few hundred tracks (20 discs) and distributed them through a karaoke store, people who purchased them would treat them as legal discs just like they do with other karaoke discs that have never been completely licensed. It's obvious that Jamkaraoke would not appreciate me coming to his show and based on his attitude towards people who bring their own music to sing from, I wouldn't ever go to one of his shows or recommend them to anyone else to go to.[/quote]
BBFL - I would appreciate you at my shows --I don't play cdgs --obvisoulsy thats a requirement for you and thats ok ....... I would as I always do -politely apologize that I choose not to play cdgs and hand you a book with a pencil and slip. And you are correct in that I have had ALL HITS and the like in my library for years that were legally purchased and I continue to use if need be. Most are duplicated by other manus and the better brands are played first unless REQUESTED by the customer.[/quote]

You come off like a hot dog seller who only provides mustard. It would be so easy to provide ketchup, onions and many other condiments but you only want to cater to the mustard people. poor business model in my opinion.

No I'm a hot dog seller who sells " Brand X hot dogs in Brand X buns ...
Now you come up holding your own HOT DOG AND BUN from BRAND Z because you like the taste better and can't get understand why I won't cook them for you.???

Take you hot dog and find another vendor who will accoomodate you --SIMPLE

for the record - I understand singers wanting to sing their own versions of songs
I just don't understand why you can't see KJ's who don't feel the need to offer that service ??? and Why YOU stated they must be cheap and or pirates ??

Well, sorry to burst your laughter, we get many local bands that have created their own karaoke tracks for themselves & bring in their own music to sing on. It's a quick way to get their music heard from others than just their mainstream followers. I know my band created several karaoke versions of our own tunes to bring in to places as well. It's still karaoke format, they remix the cd to not have the vocals. Some go as far as to create graphics on screen, others don't.

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