Karaoke Forums

I guess that's more or less what I was getting at as well. I wish the manus would focus more on the "specialty discs" as you call them, and quit pumping out every song that hits the top 200 for 5 minutes. Most will not last and you'll never hear them again and probably be glad you didn't. Let's get some quality songs done up.

The thing about Coffee houses ... People go to the one they like and don't complain about the other. If you like STARBUCKS you don't complain about Dunkin Donuts

We all know that piracy is one of the CAUSES for many mfgs having problems.
The other was supply and demand. How many discs can you guy with CRAZY on it by Patsy Cline?? -

I think the reason more and more RECORD companies don't produce karaoke is the money they make charging companies like SC for rights etc.

I didn't say I drank it - can't stand the over roasting of the beans & the semi sweet chocolate they use for mochas. I have several favorite independant houses that I utilize. DD would not be one.

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Funny thing is I know of two Starbucks that will use MY chocolate if I bring it in....... But.........

Again a manufacturer is going to put out their own 'core' set to keep those 'brand loyal' kj's from going elsewhere to get the songs, so I can see why there are so many versions of Crazy - 1 from each manu probably equates to over 50 versions at least.

I think they would actually sell more if they released their own karaoke versions. Instead of suing all the karaoke manus that DON'T pay for the licensing. Which almost all manus have been named in those types of suits at one time or another. SC has stated in the past that if a song was rediculously high (cost of licensing) that unless they could see it really lasting or had MAJOR requests for it, they would pass.

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I have the release, and yes it is the original backing tracks. The karaoke tracks, however, are not on the original disc.

As Jian has informed us, in Asia most karaoke releases are backing tracks of the original artists effort.

Perhaps the real problem for manufacturer came about when the industry shifted to CDG's from cassettes and was faced with syncopation rights? While I would imagine that there were syncopation rights due for the laser disc format, that format generated a lot more money per disc than a CDG. However, think about how many fewer laser discs were sold twenty years ago compared to CDG's today. You'd think that the syncopation costs would be manageable today? But, obviously, they're not!

I am no expert, but my understanding is that the fees due from karaoke manufacturers for syncopation rights were an unexpected consequence of the statute that was created to give "additional" recognition to composers when there music became part of a movie. Is that correct?

Well, as you know, Pocket Songs is releasing a lot of tracks without graphics. And you need, of course, to be careful that when you purchase one of their CD's you are aware whether it includes graphics or not.

What if in addition to releasing backing tracks, the karaoke manufacturers developed a technology that provided KJ's with a separate program for projecting the words on the screen? And when you buy the audio disc, you have the option to buy the words separately? And, BTW, the words would be complete and correct because no one would be "playing" around with them to circumvent copyright issues!

And when the KJ plays the audio tracks, he has the option to project the words on the screen. And while this approach may technically make each KJ liable for the syncopation fees, I don't think the matter will ever be pursued. Do you?

BTW, while I do use download sites, I still purchase discs. In fact, I was just in the market for some newer country tracks and checked them out on a download site. Before making a purchase, I also wanted to consider what might be available on CDG. I ended up looking at the newer CB releases, specifically. And checking the desirability of tracks on some of the current CB discs, and comparing the cost per track to the downloaded versions, and considering the known quality of Chartbuster, I decided instead to make a larger investment in my library and purchased four CB country discs, including the Nov 2009 release, instead of cherry picking downloads!

What if all the lyrics were displayed at once on a large screen, no synch at all? That would be fine with me.

I am not sure if that will actually make any difference, though logic would lead you to belief that such a configuration would be no different than singing along to a cassette with a printed lyric sheet in your hand.

And please consider, from my understanding, the use of the term "syncopation" actually has nothing to do with the coordination of the graphics (lyrics) with the music. Movies playing music must pay syncopation fees even if music has no lyrics or the lyrics are never displayed.

I would imagine though the compositions written specifically for a movie are contracted for in a different fashion than popular songs subsequently used in a movie.

Tov - the proper term is synchronization rights.

Synchronization in a recording contract is when the recording artist's music is synchronized to a video: music video, movie, television ... at. al.

A CDG lyric crawl is absolutely video intended to be synchronized with the music.

I think it is a big part of being a more mature industry. Karaoke disks dont really wear out that fast.

As karaoke was beginning a lot of KJs were buying compelte sets of music to get into the industry. Now it is a lot easier to buy the same disks second hand, and many of the same KJs that started out 10 or more years ago are still using the same disks.


Established KJs are not going to spend the kind of money on songs that they spent when they were just beginning (once they have been in the business a couple of years).

The Karaoke market is very saturated at present with a lot of KJs out there with many legit purchased songs. Since there is less demand for new KJs in most markets, there is going to be less money spent on the startup libraries.


As the industry was beginning it was a lot more profitable.

While the home market can account for some sales, most home rigs will have a starter set or two and then very targeted songs. The volume of sales is not going to be the same as for KJs.

The home market is also saturated by the cheap "grey" market disks out there that are really cheap that can be bought off the internet (for example the SGB sets)

I can't understand why the same rules don't apply in the US as here in the UK.

You apply to MCPS and provided they say the song is registered to them you can produce the song. This includes the sync rights.

At the end of each quarter you submit your disc sales and they bill you accordingly it is about 12% of the trade price per disc.

This means manufacturers don't necessarily need to keep massive stock levels.

Wonder what the legalities are of a US manufacturer registering the songs in the UK.

I know that it is possible the other way round because some of the Zoom discs were registered in the US as they were unable to get authorisation from MCPS to make them, but had massive upfront costs to pay to the relevant authorities.

Thanks for the correction



I'm not so sure that there aren't plenty of new KJ's out there. It's just that too many of them have never purchased a CDG. I know several KJ's, too many, who fall into that category. Most, though, have learned of the download sites and purchase new releases and/or fill in (requested) tracks in that fashion!

And I am also not sure there aren't many more multiriggers these days than there were 10 years ago?

Just this weekend, totally by accident, I attended a show of a KJ I had never previously heard of. I had originally gone out to attend a different show of a "friend", but quickly discovered it was no longer in existence. When I arrived at the venue, someone directed me to this other show down the road.

Upon arriving I kind of got "the lay of the land". This show was the KJ's only show. His song catalog was the biggest I had ever encountered. Nonetheless, I wanted to sing a particular CB track which wasn't listed. I then asked whether he'd played my disc? He told me that it wasn't necessary to use my disc because he had every disc ever made and if I hadn't found what I wanted in the catalog, not to worry, he had it! Well, I wrote down the version of the song I wanted, and sure enough, that's what played when my turn came!

He even had newer stuff like Lady Gaga, Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift tracks. Aside from having quite a collection it was clear that he was somewhat new in the biz considering the newer tracks that WERE included in his core books, not listed as "new additions"!

And sadly, he is at least the 4th "new" KJ with a loaded HD that I have come across in the last few months!