Karaoke Forums

Hi Karen:

I have a question for you. We were in __________ visiting some friends and went to a bar called ________ and they had Karaoke. There was a table of guys that were total jerks and kept singing extremely offensive songs.

Are there any standards that you have to go by being a Karaoke host or can people just sing whatever they want to?

The host just let them keep singing these terrible songs, song after songs. It was awful, we left I was so disgusted.

I know this is discussed often but I just got this note this morning from a person who is a pretty steady customer of mine. I wonder how many people feel this way and never say anything? I basically told her I guess it depends on how much money the obnoxious singers were leaving at the bar...as that is all that counts for a lot of these places.

KJ's that allow this to go on, is an perfect example why "Birth Control" pills were invented.

It's very venue specific I think.... maybe that type of behavior was NORM for the place and your friends were the odd balls ?

It's up to management to set the TONE of the karaoke show and the KJ should be there to enforce that tone. That being said the KJ should be in total agreeance with MGT regarding the type of songs and the type of singers allowed to sing them. If you don't want songs with VULGAR language in them REMOVE THEM FROM YOUR BOOKS. If you don't want HIP HOP / COUNTRY / SHOW tunes etc .

Take them out of your books. As far as just RUDE behavior you can't fix STUPID

I was just thinking of posting something on this subject. I am going to be implementing some rules at my new show, for this very reason. My new venue is a HOTEL LOUNGE, and I just started this show. That being said, the crowds have been great, the manager loves our show, she even stayed for the entire show last Friday. So, there's this table of guys and girls that came in, (very nice people), BUT, EVERY song they chose to sing were in the top 10 of offensive songs. So, I would announce that "for the next 4 minutes, the song content may be offensive". Well, that got a little OLD. They also asked my girlfriend (co-host) if we were able to play discs if they brought them in, which she replied YES. So, since the Manager was there, and she didn't say anything, I let it go. After getting home, I started tossing it over in my mind, and decided to be PROACTIVE, instead of REACTIVE, and although NOBODY complained, I've decided that THIS particular venue is NOT the place for those songs. I won't be pulling the songs from my book (YET), but instead will put an ATTENTION in the front of the book, and also will have it on my SCROLLING marquee. Songs with offensive, sexually explicit content are not allowed at this venue. I feel it's better to do it this way, rather than wait for my crowd to suddenly start to dwindle, and wonder WHY!! I will try to talk to the people that were singing these songs, and keep them as customers, as I said, they seemed to be very nice people, AND good spenders. I hope it all works out, as I am DEFINITELY sticking my neck out on this one.

Rosario
Serenity Now Karaoke

I know we have beaten this equine to death several times, but this is the first time I've actually had a singer contact me specifically with a question about what should/can be done.

Being proactive is what you have to do Serenity - I, like you, believe a hotel lounge is NOT the place for some songs. Funny how the loud voices of a few can ruin it for many.

Worst part about my friend's post was that she continued on to say that one of these guys was motioning behind her back, etc. Talk about lowlife. She said they weren't the only ones in there who were offended. I guess my question would be is the sum total of the purchases from the offenders' table going to offset the sum total of purchases from the two rather large tables of people being offended?

You want us to fill in the blanks? Is that what you're after......cool game, Karen...

Other than the obvious (like Tenacious D's "F Her Gently") or other songs with the "F" or "S" words, what would be considered an "extremely offensive" song? Is that judged strictly by language or content? If I sang "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails and replaced the "F" word with something else, is that still offensive?

If it's strictly a language thing, I don't see anything wrong with allowing singers to choose whatever song they wish, then telling them when they get to the stage, "I'm sorry but this venue doesn't allow curse words. Do you still want to sing the song or can you replace those words with something else?" I wouldn't take them out of my book, but perhaps put as asterisk next to it saying, "Contains adult language or content". But I see that mainly as something that should be discussed with venue management BEFORE you start gigging there.

Interestingly, I've had singers come ask ME if they could sing the curse words in their chosen songs, "Because some places don't let you do that."

That being said, you're not in a church. You're in a BAR that sells adult beverages to adults...many of whom are IN a bar to hook up with a member of the opposite sex to have adult "relations". So why should the KJ take it upon themselves to prohibit adult language?

Something tells me this table of "jerks" was ringing the register and not creating a "problem" for anyone else. To a bar, money talks! Those who don't want to be exposed to (gasp!) bad language should not be in a karaoke BAR, but go to an all-ages show at a restaurant or coffee shop.

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[font=Lucida Console]DangerousKaraoke.com[/font]
[font=Lucida Console]"Sing for the day, sing for the moment, sing for the time of your life!"[/font]

When ever I go to a new gig, I ask the owner/manager what they want. Then if someone has a complaint on either side of the fence, I just say "Tell (owner/manager), because they made the rule."

Just CMA people...CMA.


and CYA too.

Dan, these are not people who are normally easily offended. They have been attending karaoke shows all over our area for years and years. They are 40-something money spenders who love to go and socialize and spend money. They are not unaccustomed to cussing. Her point was that of all the people in the place, this one particular table was just rude, obnoxious, and annoying as hell. And her table wasn't the only one. Her question to me was is there some sort of industry standard for karaoke or guidelines, or is it whatever it takes to build the take. This could have been her first experience with the crooked-hat-crunker crowd but in any case, they left. I just found it interesting that she cared enough to contact me and find out if there was some sort of standard. Talk with your feet was my advice.

I just cut some of your post to make it a little easier to read. Does your reaction to "offensive" material make ANY sense? Sounds to me like you're intending on tweaking a winning formula for nothing but your own aversion to offensive material. You're in a HOTEL LOUNGE. That's a GOLD MINE. No matter how terrible your show is, you're gonna have out-of-towners that have no intention of wandering further from their hotel room than the lounge. AND, no matter how bad the show is, word of mouth won't kill the show either, because guess what? Next week, 100 more travelers will be in town who don't give a hoot about how bad last week's show was. Not to mention that the manager loves the show? Why would you ban "offensive" material at a show with a built-in revolving door of customers?

We have a show in a dive with bras hanging from the ceiling and pictures of semi-naked women all over. The owner LIKES the Rodeo Song, etc. and one here and there isn't too bad but when people start trying to pick one after the other it gets about as exciting as hearing "He Stopped Loving Her Today" 3 times in the same night. But people who come in a place like that aren't going to be easily offended because they know what kind of place it is.

On the other hand, if we had a show in a Hotel/Lounge, I would take those songs out of the book in order to make the show comfortable for the broadest spectrum of people. It is sort of like saying you wouldn't be offended to see a lap dance in a strip club but it might be offensive in a nice lounge.

To make it short, it is all in the context.

Karen, please forgive me for the (short) hijack. Lehidude, I "personally" have no aversion to offensive language, but was concerned about the diversity of the crowd. But, I do have an UPDATE. I had a meeting with the bar manager, and after tossing different ideas around, WE decided to ALLOW the songs to be sung, and to judge the crowd at each show. If we get a crowd of seniors, or any crowd that might get offended, maybe we will just ask the people singing these songs to wait for a later time to sing them. As my girlfriend (co-host) is constantly greeting, and visiting with the crowd, she can get a pretty good idea what the crowd thinks. Sorry for the hi-jack.

Rosario

Srnity: This is exactly how it SHOULD be....glad you had the meeting and came up with that decision. Our goal is to please the greatest number of people in the room, which is what keeps them returning.

BAD BAD BAD IDEA!!!!!!

Either you allow it or you don't no middle ground, no decision making, no interpretation, no confusion whatsoever.

Now someone can complain to the manager, the manager will say it was your decision & you should have known better. And 1 week later one of the pirate KJs walks into the lounge and scores a new gig cause the manager has NO BACKBONE, and the owner is tired of complaints, and the pirate is $25 cheaper.

It's hard to just LOOK at someone and know if they will get offended by songs containing offensive language. You really can't tell by age either as some SENIORS are as raunchy as it gets.

And you shouldn't have to worry about minors in a Hotel Lounge either.

You have to make spot decisions I guess. If I thought a "group" were singing songs just for the SHOCK value. I would probably ask them to pick something else or sing the songs later in the night.

Talking to the Manager is ALWAYS a GREAT IDEA and you may have to do so a few times during the night to make sure no complaints and everything is going good

My feelings On the matter are... some folks will take offense & some won't give a hoot but I think it all boils down to self respect & having respect for others. If u r in a public venue, is there really a need to use foul words in a song even tho that's how the original is? I personally would never belittle myself like that but that's just me.

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MUSIC+DANCE=LIFE

I was fearful of the hijack as well, thanks to Karen K for the arena to discuss this.

I think that's an excellent idea in your situation, Rosario.

Fact is, those of us who are long-term hosts have hopefully honed our ability to read a crowd - use your judgement.

I agree with that... I was surprised once, when I went to a show, and some 70 year old woman came up to me and asked me to sing The Pussycat Song (because she heard me sing it somewhere else).

I am not a long term host. Neither am I very street wise.
My regulars know if a song will break or not.
Unfair I know but I go off what I think is acceptable.

Then... I have a day job.
Makes a difference.