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I try to reprint a 'new song' section as soon as a full order comes in - sometimes from multiple sources - so one disc may come in this week, 2 others next week & another in the third week. Or something along that line. When I get the complete order (usually it's within two weeks of the actual order), I will reprint the new section so that the book is completely up to date at that point - not the entire book. A full reprint is maybe 1-2 times per year job, depending on how many new discs I get or if they just plain need redoing. But like stated, until I get that section updated, I will have people look at the discs themselves because they are not in the book yet. So I don't find that question weird at all, I think many kj's get this question regularly.

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I fully expect to get dinged as an SC investigator, then. I travel quite a bit, both with my father and with my wife, and often go to karaoke alone because they prefer to stay back at the room and sleep or watch TV. I usually arrive early. I do go and chat up the host beforehand if it looks like they have enough time to talk, and sometimes ask questions not unlike the ones asked by the guy with the Brinks shirt.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

At least that's what they wanted you to believe ............

As for song books being up to date, yes many good KJs do it, but it is not at all the industry norm sadly.

You would be surprised how many kjs do have books that are completely out of date. Unfortuately the ones of us that do have our books up to date get lumped with the others. Maybe it is due to the many pirates out there that can't possibly print thier complete books and still have something that does not need a forklift to use.

But even without them, I know several KJs who have gone years between book updates.



My point is that yes we are paranoid, even those of us that are legal about SC songs (or think we are). Just the hassle of proving ourselves legal is frightening. But we are in a business that interacts with the public and if we panic any time something does not fit with the normal pattern we can't do our jobs as well.

I was the Regional Manager of several security companies in south east Wisconsin, and can tell you for a FACT, that this guy was NOT an investigator for Brinks, or any other security firm. One of the first things that we teach security officers, is that they (do not) wear their uniform either when off duty, OR in any type of drinking establishment. So, what this guy sounds like to me is a (regular) security guard that was off duty, and didn't pay attention to the rules, and came straight to the bar, instead of going home and getting out of uniform. When security firms are acting as private investigators, they are dressed in "plain clothes", and as Timberlee stated, would sit back and observe, THAT'S how investigating is done. Observe, and report. Sorry, but in my opinion, NOT AN INVESTIGATOR.


Rosario

It's a shame that because of a few pirates, that much the karaoke industry is quickly becoming like Poland in 1939. Innocent people becoming fearful and paranoid while just trying to do their jobs as HONEST KJ's. Maybe "Dean" was an investigator, maybe not. But it's ridiculous that someone has to stand there and be asked a barrage of questions about their business, and their library by anyone NOT associated with the venue, in fear that they may be under investigation, when they haven't even started their show!

TopherM, I think you handled the situation well. If it were me, after the third question I would have asked "Are you thinking of getting into the business? because if so, I offer a karaoke consulting service, but I DO charge for it!" If they say that they're NOT interested in stating up their own karaoke company, I would then say "Well why not order up your favorite beverage, and pick out some songs from my LEGAL selection, because I have to finish getting ready for my show!"

If he's just being nosy, he'll probably get the hint . If he's an investigator, he'll probably get the feeling that he's been made, and will POSSIBLY get the hint. If he was indeed an investigator, and with me being an honest KJ with NOTHING to hide, I'd put them through the hassle and expense of having to drag my a$$ into court, and then I'd quite possibly look into the possibility of suing them for harassment, once it's been proven that I've been running a legal operation all along!

This may seem harsh and extreme to some folks, but I'm sick and tired of having to pay for other people's mistakes, and lack of sense of responsibility while I continually bust my a$$ to do what is right, and I REFUSE to have my ethics questioned by ANYONE!

OK. I'm getting down from my soapbox now.

I had never seen them before but the bar owner knew them. Now if they'd been using cell phones to take photos........

But we use discs and the stage is so small that any singer can see the label on anything we put in the player so I doubt if SC would see anything in us worth investigating.

I don't think we can assume that maybe this guy wasn't acquainted with the whole SC investigation (someone else pointed this out above) and was curious.... Or, he could be just interested in who is putting on shows because he may have a friend who's getting into the biz, or maybe he is himself....lots of hypothetical scenarios here. It is plausible, however, based on the questions, that he could be just a normal joe out doing some investigating for SC alright. Paranoia will destroya.

"Paranoia, Will Destroy Ya" - Various

BT it's not a matter of a few ruining it for the many. It is the exact opposite, the many ruining it for a few. Maybe there should be a poll like in your area, what is the ratio between legit hosts (either disc based or 1:1 with original discs) to pirates (copied discs/harddrive without original discs).

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You can be strange but not a stranger

The Brinks shirt was to throw you off the scent. Everything he did and said smelled of an investigator. I have no doubt you were check out and passed.

Yeah, hardly any KH has their books completely updated 100% of the time. So why would they ask about it? Because maybe this KH has a couple hundred songs not in the book or this one is missing 76. The pirates (at least the ones I've run across) will telll you that if you want a song, just asked. It might not be in the book and they will always have the song you want. So their books are either comparatively thin against their "have every song" mentality and/or an extreme mess. In theiir minds, the books are a pain in the azz and no reason to update. This is what the investigator is looking for!

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

timberlea, I don't totally disagree with you. There are tons of illegal shows out there, causing a huge pain in the a$$ for the rest of us. When I said a few, I meant here in my little corner of the world. I'm sure piracy is much more prevalent in larger markets.

I would however like to think that on a whole there are more honest karaoke jocks/companies, than there are dishonest ones.

Dr Fred introduced the term "paranoia" to this discussion. Paranoia includes a baseless or excessive suspicion of the motives of others. Many picked up on that as being the way some are responding to having SC investigators in our midst!

In the above quote, Topher related both what he thought and how he reacted. I personally could find nothing in his thinking that was baseless or excessive. I know that if nothing else, I would have been suspicious of a guy behaving the way Topher described Dean. So, I saw no paranoia displayed through Topher's post! JMHO, you might, on the other hand, see it as Dr Fred did!

Gee maybe this is a good way to get rid of pirates. SC has laid the ground work all we need to do is go out from show to show where we are not known and start asking a lot of questions not only to the KJ but to the bartender, waitress, manager. I don't see anything wrong with asking questions and as long as you don't say you are and investigator, PI or whatever you are just someone checking out an establishment for future visits.

Legal KJ's will be OK with it but maybe pirates will get the jitters and pack it up.

Don't tell me it's illegal to ask questions about an establishment or it's entertainment it's done all the time.

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I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

Not to hijack the thread, but this isn't necessarily true.

Some months ago I went to a karaoke "menu" system - a restaurant-style menu cover with multiple pages listing my most requested songs. There are probably about 800 titles in it in larger print categorized not by title or artist, but by genre (70s, 80s, rock, Top 40, etc.) I got tired of the expense of reprinting 200-page books with pages of songs no one would ever select. I call it the "Engelbert Humperdinck" factor - that artist usually has 30+ songs in every larger KJ library, yet NO ONE ever sings them. Same with listing 60+ Elvis songs when people usually sing one of 5 titles. I call my menus "karaoke quick picks" - if a singer wants to know if I have another song they can come up and I'll search for it via my software.

Back to the OP, I'm not sure this guy was an SC investigator...didn't SC already file a lawsuit in Florida? So far they have not filed multiple suits in one state; usually file one with multiple defendants then move on to another state.

So what was this guy's motive? Maybe a KJ himself or a wannabe. Perhaps a nightclub owner. Or just an enthusiast.

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

I guess the problem is quite extensive in FL because Kurt Slep of SC indicated on another forum that just one of the pirates who settled with SC provided Slep with the names of another 13 pirates, and I doubt the SC will pass up collecting another $85,000, or so, in Florida

I guess there's no honor amongst thieves.