Karaoke Forums

I have to admit I've never seen a karaoke performance stage this nice in our area. It has a huge performance stage and concert-quality house sound. This showroom in the downtown entertainment district has those "dueling piano" shows on the weekends, but the rest of the week it's pretty dead.

They've had a couple of decent karaoke hosts in there over the past 6 months for Sunday nights - but they have not had success in building a critical mass of regulars. It's a large venue, so even with 20-30 people it still looks kind of empty.

I've spoken with the owner previously, but didn't connect with them until they brought in a new manager who really wants to make a name for this place as a karaoke spot. His idea is to offer 25 cent drafts all night. The challenge? To make the numbers work, they will be charging a $5 cover.

Now if you do the math, if you just have 2 beers (and who doesn't during a karaoke show?) including the cover, you pay $2.75 a beer. Three beers net out to $1.91 each. Four beers become $1.50 each and so on.

My observance was what if you're not drinking beer? (I like martinis myself!) Would you come to a karaoke spot - even a really, really nice one - and pay a $5 cover?

Anyone have experience with venues who also charge cover? Any advice I can pass along to the new managers?

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In essence, no I wouldn't pay a cover for karaoke - even a top of the line type of venue. I don't drink beer myself, so that would be no advantage for me neither. Now if the cover I paid, was redeemed with a $5 token that I could use towards my bill, then I may not have an issue. The niceness of a place wouldn't be much of a factor IMO, and the cover would turn me elsewhere at the door.

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I'd go with the "minimum charge" strategy like Lonman. Instead of $5 cover with quarter drafts, go with a $5 minimum and offer $1.50 drafts and $2 well highballs, with the $5 applied to the bill. People are less inclined to hightail it the other way, and enjoy their "free" drinks.

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Dave's not here.

I live in an area where a cover charge is the "norm". But I believe that 5 bucks is a little steep for a cover for karaoke. However, if they are only charging that for the beers, then it actually might pay off. I have heard of a place or two that charged 10 bucks for a cover, and it was "all you can drink beer" inside. They made money hand over fist in the end. Although they served food too, so they made money on the food.
I think it's a good concept, but dunno if it will work in your area. From my stand point, yes, I would pay a cover, but then again, i'm used to it. Like Lonnie, I don't drink beer (or any alcohol for that matter) so I don't feel bad for a venue for trying to make a profit off even the non-drinkers like me.

It really depends on the vibe of the venue. I would go to and have gone to those rare cover charge karaoke shows.

In the early to mid- 1990s (before I got in the business of karaoke), when I was a karaoke junkie going show to show, the biggest karaoke spot in MD was the Corinthian, which charged a $3.00 cover (which later grew to $5, then $7, and then $10)! It had a massive Friday night crowd and was more successful than non-karaoke cover charge shows. It was red-smokin' hot at the time and it was my favorite karaoke spot of that era.

By the time the cover reached $7 - $10 though, a competitng bar/lounge saw the success of the Corinthian, offered multi-nights of free karaoke and finally derailed the Corinthian's karaoke business. By that time, too, the Corinthian had gone through a number of different host (who had replaced the original host who had that hot streak for years) and it wasn't the same.

I stopped going when the cover reached $7.

I would not pay a cover. If I have to drive 20-plus miles, pay for parking (steep in downtown Seattle), pay the cover, and pay for drinks (I don't drink beer), I'd rather save my $, stay home and go sing on another night. (I don't know what kind of a crowd you will draw in that area who are locals - seems like there are fun places to go to rather than a beautiful venue and the first hit you take is a $5 cover.)

Interesting that they would focus on BEER if the venue is this nice. What kind of crowd are they hoping to attract? I'm sure there are a lot of places around that don't charge a cover but have decent beer prices...and I'm not so sure I'd try and run a bladder buster show in this venue as you describe it.

Weird. Good luck. Consider parking $10-20, plus fuel to drive 20 miles, $5 cover, and 3 drinks at $6 to $7 each: Expensive night out for me and not what I would do on a Sunday night especially. Fact is most people will have spent their weekend budget by Sunday night - like on Friday and Saturday night.

I've only played one place where they charged cover and it was a small town with not much else to do. For me to pay a cover charge to sing karaoke the show would have to be legendary! Of course we're all trying to get there right?

Consider yourself lucky if you only have to drive 20 miles. ALL of my shows are at least 65 miles away, one is a hundred miles. A small cover to pay for entertainment really isn't that much to ask I think. Yeah, I like the idea of the the amount of the cover going toward a persons tab/bill, that sounds very plausible. That way the water drinkers are at least paying "something". We have been over this issue about cover charges until we are blue in the face, I just believe in some circumstances they are warranted, and others they aren't.

If you charge $5 at the door then sell 25 cent beer all night just think about the caliber of the clientele that you'll be attracting. It may work numbers wise but look at the BIG picture. Having the wrong crowd can ruin the rep of a venue. Just my opinion.

Mojo

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The greater Seattle area probably has 300 karaoke shows -- you can go and sing on any night of the week - most people are within 5 miles of a karaoke show in our area. So for me to drive 25 miles to go to a karaoke show is kind of silly. Granted, the quality of the shows varies widely but I can think of one good place on any night of the week. None of them charge cover. I don't know of any place in the almost 20 years I've been doing karaoke where I have ever paid a cover charge.

I think DD's place should dump the cover charge and dump the 25 cent drafts, again because of the clientele you will attract with that (imagine a room of 20-somethings who've spent $5 each on beer - no thanks to that!) Tack an extra $0.50 on to each drink and try and draw a different demographic. Is there food available? Dan, didn't you try and do a show in downtown Seattle not too long ago on a Sunday night? Or was that another night? I'm thinking you're going to run into the same issues with this new place. Who goes to downtown Seattle on Sunday night?

Me too but in Tacoma!

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A $5 cover and $0.25 beers ? .......That's extremely cheap for BEER DRINKERS

The scenerio Dan explained is VERY rare in Karaoke -- SURE we all think our shows have GREAT STAGE - CONCERT TYPE SOUND but the truth is MOST karaoke show are in small bars STUCK somewhere in the corner with no stage and or real show quality presence and or sound. Of course there are some exceptions.....

But paying $5 cover to insure a "better than the rest" karaoke experiance is a GREAT DEAL. It's only $5 and you SHOULD Be spending that anyway at a bar .
They should give a drink ticket with the cover which is sort of standard and forget the 25 cent drafts. If the bar can hold on until the cover charge takes off they should end up with a better "clientele" of singers.

This place isn't really a "bar" as much as a "performance hall". Their bar only takes up about a third of the place; mostly seating and stage.


Me too. And that's why I wanted to take the temperature here on karaoke venues having a cover charge. I'm hoping that the quality of this venue might attract some serious singers. Like Jamkaraoke, I wouldn't mind paying $5 to sing on a big stage with real lighting and big time sound (with monitors!) I don't know of any place with that kind of stage and sound doing karaoke. Maybe between that audience and the beer drinker bargain hunters? (Yes, they also sell food.)


Sounds like my Wednesday night show! This promo is not my call, but I'll certainly pass along everyone's thoughts. I agree that in this area of town it's a challenge to get a crowd on a Sunday night, let alone to a venue that charges cover.


Yes, but that was basically a lounge leasing space in a hotel where the hotel management didn't like them very much. So that meant we couldn't promote the show well to the hotel guests. This venue is known as a party spot for their weekend live shows...perhaps some of those people can be enticed back for Sundays?

Hopefully they will promote this in the local college newspaper for the $5 beer angle. The new manager said it packed the house at his previous club in Tennessee. I know Seattle isn't Tennessee, but college kids everywhere DO like beer. The manager's thinking is where there's beer, there are shots to be sold! I'll certainly hype them on the mic.

And if it doesn't work? Hopefully they'll be nimble enough to tweak their promotion while there's still new buzz about it. Stay tuned!

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I think $.25 beers are dangerous in any bar. Sure it may only be a portion of the people that get too drunk to stand, or get in fights but just one can ruin a night and soon the place's reputation.

Personally I would avoid such a place like the plague. Twenty five cent beers attract hard drinkers, not serious singers.

Your serious "drunks" usually have moved on to hard stuff, so what this will attract is a lot of 21 year olds (or 19 year olds with good fake IDs) who are getting wasted among their first times. I think for liablity and likely damage to the club it is a bad business plan.

What you are turning the bar into with this plan is an all you can drink establishment. Too many people walk away from the all you can eat buffet table with a sore stomach because of this concept. Applying bear to the same model the consequences are much worse.

As for a cover, it may work if you have a HUGE crowd already and are driving away peope due to occupancy limits, or you are the only venue nearby that offers karaoke. Otherwise most people will say no to a cover for karaoke, even if they pay it for bands. A $2-3 fee per SONG might go over better, as the people can go into the club and see if they want to pay to sing or not as opposed to having to make the decision in advance, but even this will hurt the core business a lot.

We have a local group that uses an old Cinema and other local establishments to promote an "America's Got Talent" type show.

If there is a large draw area for this type of venue, why not try to set it up as some kind of long term contest event (monthly winner maybe). Then you can charge an entry fee or cover without much problem. (No need to reprice drinks). The crowd might be a little less unruly also.

Have a semi finalist from each round with an overall winner receiving a top prize of a recording session in Nashville or a weekend in Miami (use your imagination). You could find other groups throughout your state to really make this thing big.

A lot of your entrants might also come on other nights if they have the ability to practice with the house system and host. That way they get a mix that works for them for the contest. If food is served, they'll make an evening of it.

Advertising will be crucial, but sponsors will come along. Get the local TV and radio stations on your side also (they know how to deal with legal issues).

This sounds more like a great opportunity than an immovable mountain. Put a steering committee together and start sharing ideas.

A couple of decades experience forces me to throw a "nay" at a "cover charge"

Many Karaoke singers feel that THEY are the entertainment- you wouldn't expect band members to pay a cover at their own shows, would you? Some have gotten REALLY ticked, and I've seen it kill a show or 3....

A minimum on karoke night isn't such a bad idea, as long as the venue serves something besides booze. In NJ, at least, you can't have a booze minimum- but if they sell food, other stuff......

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I wouldn't have a problem with a cover charge for a good venue with a great host, especially since it would make it simpler to support a karaoke night for people like me who don't drink alcoholic or carbonated drinks .
I can completely understand why some would not want to pay, though.

Cover Charge for Karaoke is a death sentence waiting to happen..

That and Charge-per-Song.... unless you're going to one of those Karaoke Bars where you pay by the hour for a booth.

I agree - death sentence before the victim is even dead. It might be different if that was the norm in this area, but like I said earlier, if there are 50 shows that you could potentially hit, I think Dan's place with the cover charge will be dead in the water. It's a matter of principle now, and with the current economy people are cutting way way back. I would think paying $5 for nothing is not palatable to most people.