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So a couple weeks ago I'm pulling into the club where I'll be mixing monitors for one of the bands we work with. As I turn in, the marquee in front of the building catches my eye. It says "Friday Nghts: Free Jukebox". Seriously, is this what it has come to? Bars now either can only afford this as their entertainment or think so little of DJ/KJ/Live Band entertainment that they think they can replace it with a free Jukebox night?

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Many places have free jukebox, its a good idea when you need entertainment and budget is small.

We have free jukebox on Sundays and Mondays.

Sure, Sundays and Mondays I can see. Very quiet days with not much going on so break out a low-risk promo to try and help bring/keep people. In this case however they're advertising it as the regular Friday night entertainment for this bar and it's anything but a small bar. Their band room can host 300 guests alone. So things must be really tight for them or they just don't value live entertainment all that much. It just made me shake my head.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

It may be free for the customers but I'll bet the bar is paying out the rear end.
They still have to cover their ascap/bmi fees plus the rental of the jukebox and not only that I'll bet that somewhere in the contract there is the a clause that says you have to pay so much for each song played. I'm sure that there is some kind of counter built into the jukebox that records what song has been played and how many times. If their giving it away they are not making any revenue.

Heck they could make out better by giving away a drink with every 2 bought.
If you don't think so check out these figures.

A large bottle of Jack Daniel's cost about $43.00 (to a normal retail customer and believe me I know I buy a lot, I'm sure the bar pays less) and there are about 30 or so shots in a bottle so that means that bottle sells for any where from $90 to $150 depending what they charge for a shot (I figured anywhere from $3 to $5 a shot).
What a money making deal.

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Free Jukebox !

I find that odd to advertise, but it sounds like that isn't the only bar doing it. I really have to wonder though - Does that really bring people in? I can't see people wanting to go out because they are excited about free jukebox night. I can get free jukebox night at home.

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pssst( here's the truth) If I owned a bar -I would never ever hire a DJ to play music. Today's jukeboxes are the best for customers. You can download and listen to almost any song ever made ...and the CUSTOMERS don't mind paying for it !!!!!!. A jukebox is a money maker ..period.

Now I guess --offering a free jukebox is cheaper than hiring a DJ ???
But a jukebox can't do a good job at karaoke ......OR COULD IT ?}}}}}}}}}

Picture this --- sometime in the future a juke box filled withed 100,000 karaoke songs --little monitor and a kick azz sound system. 2 shure Microphones connected to the juke box and a charge of $2 per song. You walk up - select your song put in your initials and wait you turn. automatic rotation software annouces or shows who is the next singer ... a clock ticks down on the big screen showing when the song will start and the next thing you know AUTOMATIC KARAOKE

Jam - Cavs used to make such a thing, but it didn't sell so they discontinued it. It was on the market for yrs. I don't know if it was the expense that detoured buyers or that they just weren't aware such a thing existed. Anyway it didn't catch on. Thank goodness. I think there is something to say about having a DJ other than a jukebox or a karaoke host instead of an automated machine.

I know I'd rather have a DJ at my wedding than a jukebox. A host offers so much more than a metal box. You need a person running the show to orchestrate a mood, increase entertainment, and motivate atmosphere.

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Babs I agree with you to a point. Yes you need personal touch of a DJ for Weddings and Parties. DJ for CLUBS of dance type places ..but just to play background music is some smoky bar NAH!

I remember the Cavs all in one unit ...Maybe just ahead of the times ???
Don't get me wrong -- I BELIEVE A GOOD DJ OR KJ makes a huge difference in sparking energy in a place ...I just think some bars are not looking for energy

Who's going to run that kick (@$%&#!) system though? Can't really automate that as far as mixing volumes in relation to vocals & music, adjusting the amound of eq, changing up the effects.

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With karaoke singing rooms you adjust everything pretty much yourself...

Right but very 'basic' adjustments, nothing really 'kick (@$%&#!)' about them. Although those karaoke rooms are very uncommon around here, there are a couple that I can think of but mostly in the local Asian communities. Not much as far as selection either - one still uses the Pioneer & varying different language laserdiscs only as their selection.

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What makes a good karaoke show, along with good sound engineering skills, is its M.C. talents & audience interaction...

Audience interaction by house bands are more entertaining to me in a small venue in my opinion.

I wouldn't know about DJ skills since I don't do that. I suppose the mixing & beat aspects need the human touch of a Pro DJ. Something a Jukebox can not offer unless lengthy Pro-Mixes are available to keep people dancing.

They already have this but not with 100,000 songs. It's a standalone touch screen computer system with a bill acceptor. I saw it at a DJ show some years ago.

As for the free jukebox, with internet jukeboxes now being able to play any song, some bar owners get free or reduced cost placement of the gear because between songs the jukebox plays COMMERCIALS!

The best bar DJs aren't human jukeboxes. They are interactive on the mic, do continuous beatmixing of dance songs, sometimes do giveaways or different kinds of audience participation. But like karaoke hosts, they are relegated to $150-$200 a night and they are always undercutters who download a bunch of free tracks from Limewire or Bit Torrent.

Unfortunately anyone who entertains in bars (DJ or KJ) isn't going to get rich, but it's not a bad way to earn some bucks.

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Jam I don't know what kind of DJ's you see in the clubs by you but they're obviously not the kind of DJ's I've seen. A true DJ, as others have mentioned, is not a human jukebox but rather a full fledged and very skilled entertainer. There are technical aspects of beat matching and such, there are the emcee skills and just overall personality. A real DJ interacts with the audience between songs and during songs, encourages dancing and specific movements and ultimately must read and react to what the audience needs (sound familiar).

Lon, as far as this hypothetical kick butt automated karaoke, don't count it out completely. The automation in ProTools HD is capable of doing just about everything you questioned (auto adjusting signals based on strength, identifying hot spots that need EQ, etc). Maybe it's only a matter of time before we're all replaced

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

May be so, but I'll just say this: When I contemplate going someplace to sing on an off night, my first criteria is the host. Some I won't give a passing glance, no matter how great their selection or sound is. The host is such an integral part of a show for me. Some I can't stand their attempts at "dj" voice and prattle; others spend too much time talking. The good ones create the rapport and bond with the patrons -- machines don't do that. It's still a people business. Can't see a virtual KJ working at all.

Try and tell a kiosk or jukebox to play a fair rotation.

Or for that matter how do you make sure that one guy who shows up first does not dictate for the whole night the music on the jukebox.

The problem with jukeboxes is that people experiment with what they THINK they want to listen to. This may be a song that they may not have heard for some time or never have heard yet. The bar wants a song 90% of the people like not the favorite song of 1% that is disliked by 90%.

A good DJ on the other hand bases the music choice on experience about what works in the setting, and has a good feel for the songs lots of people like.

A lot of the question is timing as well. A dj and a customer may choose the exact same song list, but a good DJ will put them in an order that builds energy, while a less experienced person may actually drain energy from the crowd with the same song list, all based on order of the songs.

I know a lot of people that are GOOD DJs, that know how to build crowds. Others with very similar music taste just do not have that talent at all.

A good DJ will mix in new music to educate the crowd, but not too much of it. A good DJ can make an unknown song locally popular. BUT they also need to know which songs they can succed in doing that with.

All of those things just cant be done by a BOX.

A box may work with a karaoke room (for rotation), with a set of friends who will take fair turns and treat others in their group fairly, but at a bar with many different groups (and lone individuals) how can a box be fair (on rotation). (Fingerprint scans???? for song requests to get in line?).

As for the volume and other controls that is just asking for trouble to let that be in the hands of the singers. It would last just until the first serious drunk tries to turn the system up to 11.

A complex system with lots of settings will get messed up by individuals so much that they will have to go call in an expert to reset everything periodically. Most singers dont want to learn a complex set of equipment they just want to sing. BUT they may not want the reverb set by the last singer who sang Motorhead when they are doing Nancy Sinatra.

Karen I guess you missed the sarcasm in my post. Yes ProTools can do it, but I couldn't agree with you more, I don't see it ever having any real draw the way a good Karaoke host or proper DJ does.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Got to disagree with the idea of replacing a DJ with a jukebox and I won't even count hosting skills, personality, contests, beat mixing or any of that .

If you've hosted karaoke you should have a darn good iidea of just how little clue most people have about what kind of music makes a party. Ballad hell is ballad hell whether it comes out of a jukebox or a series of karaoke singers.

Maybe DJs play too much of the same proven crowd pleasers, but at least they're good songs. On my day job, people are constantly fighting because they absolutely hate the music other people play and some of it is just unspeakable crap!

If the bunch I worked with walked into a free jukebox night in a crowded bar, there'd be a brawl in less than an hour!

Sounds eerily like autokdj. Quit stealing my ideas jam.

http://www.youtube.com/toqerkaraoke#p/a/u/1/1JSIA3ersLo

It wasn't long ago when you got up to sing you were handed a LYRIC sheet that looked like someone chewed on it .... The music was on CASSETTE TAPES