Karaoke Forums

[quote="jamkaraoke @ November 3rd 2009, 4:38 pm"]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 ??[/quote]

What is your reason for not WANTING to provide that particular service then????

I've been to so many PC run karaoke shows. MOST of them are being run by pirates. These pirates hate to spend money on karaoke music or karaoke hardware. Rarely have I been to a computerized karaoke show that had less than 60 or 70 thousand songs. Over the years I have been to hundreds of karaoke shows and I've never been to a disc based karaoke show that provided that number of songs. I'm beginning to think that you protest too much about this issue. LOL Is that an eye patch I see? Polly want a cracker? I'm gonna have to drop in to your show some night just to check out the size of your library. That might explain why you are taking the stand that you are.

Hey! I can't afford a CDG Player. I just spent $700 on a hard drive with 100,000 song on it. LOL :D :) :lol:

Where do you draw the line ? If I walk in with a cdg of Poetry can I rap to it all night long ? - How about home made music parodies ? are they ok ? - Lonnie if you know the local band you're using your judgement whether or not to play the disc. But I doubt it if someone you DON'T KNOW hands you a disc they made and gets up and starts screaming something they produced that makes even you cringe --DO you let them get up again ??? I think we are streeetching the Karaoke SHow concept when we start talking about auditions for bands and artists. NOT THAT ITS BAD ..but its not Karaoke Show as we all know it to be .

You paid about $400 too much

BFFL

It's not that I don't WANT to provide the service -- I can't seem to say this enough times ..I just don't have the NEED TO hook up a CDG PLAYER at this current venue.
Over the last 10 years I've been KJing I have had shows that required a CDG player for customer discs. This VENUE does not. I have 3 cdg players at home and keep all the wires in my case with me anyway ( ab swicths etc etc ). It would not be a problem to hook one up. ----NOT A PROBLEM

If things change at this place --I could very well start to hook up a cdg player again.

But I have to take offense to be being called either a CHEAPO or a PIRATE for not having a cdg player currently.

And for the record..... I have nothing against any KJ's who run loaded hardrives.
That just isn't important to me nor do I feel threatened by other KJs libraries whether legal or not.

Wow, I still only sell mustard and haven't had anyone ask me for ketchup.

Hope you all are doing good!

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Well, I'm still a big fan of relish, but I don't see anyone offering that these days...

_________________
♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

...and a little sauerkraut ....

The line is drawn when it is no longer a karaoke format - it must be music without vocals that the singer is going to provide - I do not care if there are words on the screen or not. If the home made music parady is created, then sure - as long as the language doesn't break the club rules - yes it's fine. You are creating unrealistic scenerios with 'poetry' that would never happen, or with comedy - although I have had people ask if they can do a stand up bit, I tell them no. And come to think of it, they DID in fact make 'comedy karaoke' discs for a short while - sold at all major karaoke retailers at one time. These were famous comedy skits that would just play the words on the screen & the person got up & read the screen. One of the stupidest things i've ever seen, but this is not technically karaoke & I would not allow this either.


No I don't know many of the local artists that come in - some I get to know really well that come in frequently, but I do know many create their own karaoke tracks & yes I will play them. Some to most are really very good, some are - em well IFFY! But no different than a really bad singer, so yes AGAIN I would welcome them & do welcome them to my shows. It isn't auditions, it is a 'karaoke performance' with someones personal music. Where is it written that karaoke music HAS to be of a known artist? Which is where it seems you are going with this? I could care less if the karaoke music is from AC/DC or a local band no one heard of, as long as the disc they hand me has music minus vocals which equals karaoke!

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Maybe those that don't ever get people bringing discs in is because they assume you can't play them since most computer kj's can't. Maybe if you advertised the fact that people could bring in their own discs, then people would start flocking in saying "WOW a place that can actually play my karaoke disc." Just a thought! I've always pushed the fact that I have the ability & announce it and get people bringing in their discs almost nightly.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Come on people.

Every show has a different crowd.

What some of you need at your crowd I, I do not. With 1 CD brought in in 120+ shows I DO NOT NEED to be able to play cds.

I can find something else better to do with my time to get 1 more person at the show that are a lot more productive for ME in my setting.

I am not a bad or lazy host because of it. And it is a long way from making me loose a hundred singers.

A lot of us do DIFFERENT things that they think are essential for their shows. For example some of us allow profane language others do not. Some of us provide tamborines for the crowd, others think that is a bad idea. We run or rotations differently, we use different computer programs, we negotiate with the bars DIFFERENTLY.

What matters at the end of the day is if you have a crowd at your shows that is enough to keep you and the bar happy, and enough of them come back to keep you and the bar happy.

I can understand getting angry about someone doing something that is illegal, but to insult a KJ by saying they are "Not Good" or "Lazy" because they don't have an item that they do not think they need is just silly.

I know my show would lose a lot of singers if i didn't have 87 different songs by David Bowie. For my crowd that is very important. I seriously doubt that would matter to most of your crowds. I don't call you a bad host because you only have a couple songs if any by David Bowie, it probably wouldnt matter for your crowd.

Now don't respond well your singers can "bring" their Bowie CDs if I could play them, well the answer is no. I am the KJ because I did the research to find all those different Bowie songs, and to do so would take a lot of time and money for the singers to find the songs scattered around the various sources. The effort to find all those songs was considerable.

We each have different settings in which we run our shows, just because you see something as being important in YOUR show it may not be at all at mine.

Personally I see the situation where a lot of singers have their own CDs suggests that they were not happy with the song choices at the local KJ shows, either in variety or recording quality. Maybe that is where the problem is, not the abilty to play a CD. I talk to my singers, keep track of what is sung and buy more songs similar to what people at MY SHOW sing.

As a KJ it is our job to provide the songs the singers want, it is not their job. I know places to find obscure songs that might take someone else hours to find.

My singers are very happy with the song choices I give them, they do not feel the need to go out and buy their own disks. None of them even know that I cant play thier disks, because none of my regulars have EVER asked. I take that as a sign that for this part of the KJ job, I am doing very well.

I had this guy come in with his backing tracks one night.

It was . . . astounding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNaCgXChvlw

_________________
Dave's not here.

grumble grumble grumble . . . c'mon server - put a zip in it willya?

_________________
Dave's not here.

Can't tell from the recording but this is a perfect example of needing a compressor with a limiter on the vocals. Actually had to go seek out an actual recorded mix to listen to what it might actually sound like. Would be an interesting karaoke performance. I've had people scream like that through songs that normally wouldn't be screamed to so this wouldn't be any different than that.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

People who really love music will often seek out rare or really good recordings to sing to. Priddis has some really nice ones. If you want to write a parody, those are good to use as you can choose not to have the backing singers.

We are also very used to people bringing in their original songs. Where we used to sing the host even had some of his own and they were extremely good. There was a young hip hop artist who also came sometimes and did originals. My boyfriend's son writes songs and makes his own backing tracks and does it at karaoke. It all boils down to people being so into karaoke or music that they enjoy being creative or unique and strive to put on a good show. For me it adds a lot and makes you feel like you just witnessed something rare and special.

Oh-- and my comment about CD&Gs being the legal format for karaoke was not referring to cusotmer's BURNED discs. I was stating that right now CD&G is the only legal form that karaoke is sold in so it seems bizarre not to have something to play it on.

And I hate to side with Bruce but I have also been to some hard drive shows that had a bizillion songs but nothing any more recent from when the KJ whom they copied from went out of business. I am not referring to all computer hosts--am talking about the bizillion song shows where they got the music for cheap and don't want to spend any more on it or buy more than the bare minium of equipment. They do exist but it's no reason to accuse anyone who doesn't have a CD&G player of being one.

"And I hate to side with Bruce but"

It must be something really BAD for people who HATE to agree with me, agree with me anyway.

I really can't, for the life of me, come up with a valid reason for a KJ to not hook up a CDG player, especially if he or she already owns one. How long can it take to plug it into the outlet and hook up three RCA connectors to an A/B switch? Some people get into the DJ/KJ business because they have a need to be the center of attention and maybe some of them are threatened by people who bring something different to the show. A KJ like Lonnie realizes that something a little different is a good thing to have at his shows. I'd rather hear a guy sing an original song than hear the same two people, who can't sing their way out of a paper bag, butcher "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" week after week. The friend of mine that I make karaoke tracks for from his original songs has a voice that is unbelievably good. Everyone in the bar loves it when he sings his original songs almost as much as when he sings songs by JOURNEY. Some KJ's are just intimidated by someone like that so they decide to not play customer CD's to keep from being upstaged by a guy who has been making music for decades. Some KJ's want all the bad singers at their shows so they can appear to be the best singer in the place. They lose a little of their MOJO when an excellent singer shows up so they try to make the person feel un welcome so they won't ever come back.

As far as Gemini 's show is concerned; I have never been to a show where I wanted to see more Broadway tunes in the song book. That would never be a deciding factor for me to frequent a show. In my opinion, one show tune is too many. If someone decides to sing one, which is very infrequently around my area, I still sit and listen and clap when they're done. A good selection of Show Tunes would never be the reason that I went back to a karaoke show. In fact, I used to go to a bar where there were quite a few people that hung out there that were involved in community theater. There was such a majority of show tunes being sung on a regular basis that I found a new place to go. I'm sure that there are some people that would prefer this type of show but I don't think that the majority of karaoke singers would choose that type of show; at least not around here.

Surviving The Life (live version)
Stargazer (live version)
Glory Road (live version)
Brooklyn On A Saturday Night
It's A Trip (Go For The Moon)
American Popular Song

Just a few examples of Neil Diamond songs I have not seen in any karaoke books. Yes, there are many ND songs in karaoke at venues I have been to and I have probably sung 'em all.... but I find most of these karaoke versions have fade-out endings which I find do not fit well with a live performance.

I fail to see how playing a customer's CD cannot be considered in a general business plan, whether the KJ is PC-based or CDG based. There are many shows I have been to where the KJ has been graciously accommodating in playing my CDs and they have not had to have a special business plan to do so. What does it matter that track titles are "obscure"? T he track is on my CD, I know the words, and the audience seems to enjoy the variety of songs I sing, regardless of whether they can see the lyrics or not.

It was no problem for the KJ BEFORE I was a regular and the KJ did not know me... she just happily played my CD. The new KJ did not insult me. His attitude was what I perceive Jamkaraoke's would be.... no way was he wanting to play my CD. However, I would hope that Jamkaraoke would tell me the truthful reason why he would not play my CD, and not hide behind a lie like this other KJ did. It is the KJ's choice as to how the show is run and I have no problem with that... there are plenty of venue choices of which I can decide is best suited to me. A venue that does not play my CD is not one that suits me so I do not go there, it's as simple as that!

In a land where tipping for service is regarded as almost mandatory, I find it quite interesting that many KJ's such as jamkaraoke do not extend a simple service to their singers. Who knows, the singer might be appreciative enough of the gesture that a nice tip may be palmed to the KJ at the end of the evening!

If you came to one of my shows with a CDG in hand I would TRUTHFULLY tell you that I apologize but I don't have the ability to play your disc. It's that simple !!
I wouldn't have an attitude - in fact I would be over accomodating trying to help you find a song in our book that you may like. If you never came back to my show or left right there I UNDERSTAND --you got to do what you got to do !!
But since we are being honest --Hopefully you wouldn't walk away with a feeling that I was CHEAP or a PIRATE as indicated by others. I'm just a hardworking KJ who chooses not to play customers cdgs (CURRENTLY) -- NOW if we talked and you mentioned you liked the show and venue and would be back --The next week I just might have a cdg player for you .... That's how I am. On the other hand if YOU gave me some ATTITUDE --I would tell you to "f" off ... That's also how I am.

As long as I remember PLAYING customer cdgs has been under discussion --even before the MP3+G craze. I assume that many KJ's go to COMPUTER based shows to do away without players and discs. Many still hook up a player for customer cdgs and that is COMMENDABLE. Many do not but have software that allows them to play off of their laptop drive. And then again many also choose not to. SOME KJ'S JUST DON'T HAVE A NEED TO. THEIR CLIENTELE IS ONE THAT DOES NOT HAVE A CASE OF THERE OWN CDGS WITH THEM EVERY NIGHT. If you're a singer who carries there own music ...fine ( hint) go to shows that play your cd? Why are you crying about the shows that don't ????. Maybe there a singers that have songs on REEL to REEL TAPE ??? --do I need to hook up that also ???. You walk into a show and if the KJ can't play your CDG ..just walk out ..why must some singers have to get on here and start BASHING the KJ and their show. DIFFERANT STROKES FOR DIFFERANT FOLKS....Just find a SHOW you like and zip it !!!!

AMEN!

Apparently there are singers who insist on having everything their way and would rather WORK at trying to convince a KJ to change what he does rather than find a different show that is more accommodating. And in the process of attempting to facilitate the change they desire from KJ's, some singers who have responded here have resorted to name calling and other demeaning tactics!

For me this is the bottom line. I am responsible for and need to be in control of my show. If nothing else, when I put a disc into my equipment, I AM THE ONE WHO IS PLAYING THAT DISC and I must answer to the management for what comes out of my speakers. If some A...H... hands me a disc replete with vulgar expletives, perhaps directed personally at the management or the establishment I have no defense for that occurrence!

I know a DJ who was dismissed on the spot at a C&W establishment because upon a request from a customer, he played the "Rodeo Song"! You may not agree with that decision but that DJ never worked again at that establishment!

The upside to playing a customer's disc is to satisfy the customer. And frankly, depending on the customer, that may or may not provide a benefit.

And while I am inclined to play customer discs, again, it is something I would rather avoid. And I completely appreciate the viewpoint of those KJ's who won't play customer's discs, regardless of their reason(s) for not doing so! When I started in the business I couldn't imagine NOT playing customer's discs and have all types of equipment designed to facilitate that. I no longer have the same viewpoint!