Karaoke Forums

From the new GEM FAQ on their website:

11. Can I license an individual GEM disc?

At this point we do not intend to license the individual GEM Series discs. We are working with a third party to bring back custom discs and our customers could once again use them to "fill the holes" in their Sound Choice collection. Watch for an announcement on our home page, or subscribe to the Sound Choice newsletter on the right side of this page to stay up-to-date on Sound Choice karaoke news.

Woo hoo!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I notice there is no mention of whether they are for professionals to use in clubs or restricted to "home use only."

I don't see why not, they are publishing in the UK anyway. According to UK laws they don't have to get approval of the songwriters there (unlike in the USA) to sell a karaoke song. They only have to pay a set royalty rate.

If they are publishing according to UK laws there is no reason that they can't publish any songs in their former catalogue including all the many songs long out of print.

If not for legal reasons there can't be much of a reason for SC to print their disks in the UK. The physical cost of printing CDs is pretty minor (pennies a disk) and it is unlikely that the cost in the UK is going to be enough less to pay for shipping and coordinating with an overseas production, as the average labor cost in the UK is similar to the costs in the USA. Cost of publishing 1000 cds is about .80-1.50 each in the USA.

I don't expect to see the custom disks anytime soon though, and when they do they probably will have both unreasonable restrictions and price of $4-5 a song.

Hey guys.
Like to buy a UK hard drive.

Nahhh!!! It'd probably be that funky PAL format stuff that won't work on our wonderful state of the art NTSC format. Or even our squirrelly attempt at HD. Besides your ac is wonky and the plugs look funny and won't work here either.

Besides they'd probably be filled with stuff from people no one over here has ever heard of, you know people like the Beatles, Elton John etc....

On the other hand, if you're interested in some real Red Blooded American Music on an GENUINE US of A Drive (made in China), I know this guy........

haha.....you used wonky. that's awesome

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

??? Wonky.
We use it all the time.
What don't I know?

Seriously, if Sound Choice doesn't slap the "Home Use Only" tag on these things it would probably be the smartest move they've made in a long time. I've long complained that Sound Choice's biggest problem with proffits has stemmed from their own policies. Their inability to keep up with the demands of KJ's as a result of new technology. Forcing KJ's to buy a disc packed either with songs they already have or songs that no one knows just to get those one or two specific songs they need has been an issue for a long time. For a while I think it did drive their profits up because legitimate folks like us had no choice if we wanted to be competitive. However, as piracy became easier and more prominent, I have to believe that many who were motivated to go the legitimate route saw the price tag and chose the illegal option. This is what happened to the RIAA and despite many studies and industry suggestions that releasing MP3's as individual tracks at a reasonable cost would drive proffits, they refused for years to do it. The end result, they sued a bunch of kids and Limewire addicts and eventually what did they do???? They began releasing individual tracks as MP3's for a reasonable cost.

Imagine the proffits Sound Choice could reap if individual tracks were available as MP3+G's on Amazon.com for a reasonable cost (say $1-2 per track). I really would love it if this custom CDG idea could be the first step toward SC getting up to speed with the 21st century.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

This was announced on another forum about three months ago, and Kurt himself give it about three months time. I am still waiting... I know the legalities take time, but dammit, I need "Pepper" by the Butthole Surfers NOW.

Seriously, though. The custom Sound Choice CDG was the greatest thing, and I spent a mint just getting disc after disc. I hope they resolve this soon.

As far as MP3+g downloads go, don't hold your breath. If the legal "experts" around these forums can't agree on what's legal, imagine to court system.

BAH! I just want my music!

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Wam bam thank you m'am.

I agree you you 100%. Those of us who got into the business in the mid-00's had to compete against the older guys and gals who were able to buy so many SC discs that are now out of print and impossible to get. When people would come to my shows and see that I wouldn't have certain songs, they would always say "Well, so and so has it." And then they would stop coming to my shows. I would lose business because there was no way I could fairly compete. I still get this with "Take Me Home Tonight". Now, I could go to pirate route, but I chose to stay above water with my business. So now I may be losing those customers looking for hard to find songs to pirates, but then what the heck am I supposed to do? I cannot get the song legally, and just sit on my duff and wait for it to show up on eBay for triple what it was originally worth. And, yes, having people able to sing the song they want to sing is important to me. This frustrates me.

I know there are legal hurdles that created this issue, but I just wish there was some sort of communication or promise by the karaoke Manu's that they are trying to help us KJs out.

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Wam bam thank you m'am.

I'm one of those guys. I consider myself very lucky for being in the business for 20 years. I've been buying SC discs since, and I made it a point to buy them as soon as they were released. Some were pulled out of circulation a month (or less) after it came out.

My only complaint - some of those discs were so old that they are incurring some tiny pinholes probably from degradation (low quality cd). Some are no longer playable due to scrambled lyrics on the screen. Can't return it to SC for replacement because they're either out of print or some of the songs are not allowed for release. That's when the copied discs comes into play. I have original cd with pinholes and the copied discs behind it. That's the one use, or the laptop.

25 years I started with tape.
The tapes and any bad disks I simply download as a torrent.
I have the original.
Don't knock torrents.
It has been a way to get back what I have paid for after it failed.

Also it's my only way of downloading windows versions for my job.

OMG... I format shifted Tape to Mp3.
You are all cordially invited to my public hanging.

I will have a good light show for it.

I have bought broken records tapes and Cd's
Once I have the broken original I download them as a torrent.

Don't buy good karaoke disks.
Buy faulty. Cheaper.
I must be brown aled to tell you this.

E-mailed Al Clark from Clark Music Australia, and he said that you can in fact oder custom CDGs with Sound Choice songs. They are updating the website at mykaraokecdg.com in the next couple of days, and it might be live by next week! In fact, you can order stuff from him right now! I am asking about the pricing, haven't got a response yet.

And before anyone goes on and on about the legality of ordering from over seas, and Sound Choice hypocrisy, blah blah blah. I don't care. I am just happy to be able to fill my collection with songs that I have been looking for for years.

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Wam bam thank you m'am.

You're all excited ....wait to you see the COST

Custom discs ..WHY NOT INDIVIDUAL DOWNLOADS

I know the cost. Before it was 5 bucks per song, plus shipping. Not cheap. But oh well.
I figure I make about 30-40 bucks in tips per night, that pays for a few right there. Do you know I charge 5 bones for people to sing "Don't Stop Believing"? That's the only song I charge for, but that money goes straight to new music for the book.

As far as DL, there are a lot more legal hurdles to go through. The agreement from the rights holders of the songs is that if Sound Choice is going to offer them, they have to be on disc. Sure, then ripping those discs to a HD could be considered breaking copyright, but again, I don't care. I paid for it. I have a 1:1 ratio. I'll deal with it if it ever comes to me. I have a ton of custom Sound Choice CDGs from the past, and I'm happy about this.

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Wam bam thank you m'am.

Even at $5 per song, it's worth it to me - I fully am prepared to pay for quality. There are several songs I bought from other manus that I couldn't get through SC that I need to replace because they just do not cut it.
I prefer a physical disc for personaly reasons anyway. But I am willing to bet that downloads for kj's will be coming, just a feeling.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

[/quote] 25 years I started with tape. The tapes and any bad disks I simply download as a torrent. [/quote]

Jerry12x - Pardon my techie ignorance, but what is "download as a torrent"? Does that mean I can download the bad SC titles I have? Can you please post the link?
Thanks!

I believe he means using something like Limewire or the likes (basically illegal download sites) to download the songs on his unplayable disc - to have playable songs and still have the original.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Yes these sights are regarded as bad because people that don't own the original can still download.
Thing is though.
People who bought the original can download. Also.