Dr Fred @ Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:42 pm wrote:
I just found this from the artist Jonathan Coulton, a minor artist I had heard of a few times before. His version of "baby got back" is a riot.
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/store/karaoke/I doubt I will get more than a couple of his songs, but it is refreshing to see an artist realy go out of their way for the karaoke community.
I think this shows how an artist can get their songs into karaoke without the economy of scale needed to make a karaoke song get made when done by cover artists and a distribution network. (and legal department).
I'm actually trying to get a classic rock and roll band to release some of its minor hits on karaoke. They have one mega-hit (in the Rolling Stone top 100) but actually never had a number 1 and most of their hits were minor. There are only three songs out on karaoke by them, and one of those is out of print. It would be childs play to release a disk with lead vocals removed, with backing from the current touring band. The tracks are already there, it is just packaging. I think it's a long shot, because the reaction will be "where's the money". I think a reasonable forecast might be 1000 disks at $15.00 apiece, which isn't going to overly excite anyone. But the rights-holder also has rights to about 15 other more minor bands, so it's possible that the concept could be extended. You never know -- we will see what happens.