Karaoke Forums

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So awesome.

Sorry for letting this thread linger when my initial intent was questioned on more than one occasion. Part of the reason I didn't chime in is that the information I gleaned from everyone arguing their perspectives was invaluable.

However, I have learned one important thing, you guys love to argue. I mean, there was some pretty healthy debate in the thread, but I don't think anyone actually disagreed with anything anyone else said. Everyone seems to agree with the following:

Are SGB songs all of high quality? No
Are there some good tracks? Yes
Is it a cost effective set? Yes

I guess where it breaks down is in the following question:

Should someone buy the set?
I'm surprised by how people react to this question. It seems like there are two clear camps on this: "Not if you have a lot of money to spend on karaoke" and "It's a good value for a beginner." What surprises me is that there would be any argument between the two sides. I don't think anyone would disagree that if you have thousands of dollars to spend on songs, there's not a very compelling reason to buy the SGB set.

Beyond that, I think most of the confusion comes from the use of the term "core." When I said it, I meant it as a varied and extensive base collection of music, from which I will continue growing from and replace as needed. I guess some people see "core" as the songs I will use and add to only when I don't have any version of it (or not at all).

Regardless, even though a significant portion (if not majority) of casual karaoke singers wouldn't notice, or be sufficiently put off by, SGB versions of songs, you'd be a fool to run a business with SGB and nothing else, with no future plans to upgrade. But really, for the price of 2-4 "quality" discs, you can get 78 frickin' disks, and there are admittedly some gems contained within and you have them if you ever need them.

As for me, these purchases are for home use. Someday, I might consider "going pro" but I recognize neither my system nor library are adequate for that yet. That said, prior to buying the SGB set (which I did), I had spent about $400 on music. I more than doubled my collection with a single $60 purchase and I'm pretty happy about it.

Hmmm, that ended up being kinda long, sorry. Thanks for all your comments, I really appreciate all the insight on this set as well as others!

You're the only person who acknowledged this, and it's the most salient reason I've seen not to buy the set. Do you have a source to verify this? I really want a legit collection, and if mine are pirated that will make a difference.

I was told by Debi Stovall when I met her in November at Sound Choice that the SGB set was bought out by Chartbuster. Nothing was mentioned that any sets out there now are pirated. The Chartbuster SuperCDG's are not licensed to be distributed at this time nor will they be in the future.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I think that statment says something in itself, 90% of the people singing bring in their own discs - why?

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

Now I'm getting even more curious as to what the complete list of SGB songs is and how many of them are good.

I know one SGB song that "ambushed" me was the jazz song, The Way You Look Tonight. As I recall SGB does it at a really fast tempo which I wasn't prepared for and didn't really like. Now I've got the Rod Stewart version on Top Tunes which I like much better. But I know I've sang other SGB songs that sounded ok, though I can't remember which. And the MM 6293 is a good disc!

For a home set, yes get a big selection for your own parties and what not. As a cheap "starter set" for a karaoke host, I would say no!

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

Ripping it at a lower bit-rate does not make it sound less loud.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

It was sort of a unique crowd. The host as well as a few others were also songwriters and would bring in their own backing tracks and do original songs. Others just wanted to have a song that no one else did. People who couldn't sing were always made to feel welcome but in general the bar was set a bit high as there were also some people who sang professionally who would come and sing just because they liked singing. So people would want to practice at home in order to do as well as possible. The singers all were into music and seeking out versions of songs they loved. It was back in the days when stores had a big karaoke selection and people would go in and study all of the discs and have their own collections.

It was the first show I ever attended so I always thought that was how it was done. I don't think I looked at their books even once. I would just think, "I want to do that song," find it, buy it, practice it and bring it in. One person even bought herself a Sound Choice Brick. Some took to making up their own song lists so people could borrow their discs. It ran 16 years with the same set of hosts then the main hosts retired last year and some of the co-hosts took it over. At the transition, they took the system out of operation for a week to do a self-audit but the show didn't miss a beat as everyone just brought their own songs. A few weeks ago, the place burned down. It had been in the same family for 70 years.

Wow, interesting story.

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

You can email Debi Stovall at dstovall@bigmama.tv and ask her yourself. I would think she would be the best person to ask since she owns it!

(So there isn't a possibility that there are some leftover sets floating around on ebay land? I imagine Debi doesn't have the rights to SGB sets previously printed under appropriate licensing. This would mean that people couldn't legally sell their old SGB's. That doesn't reasonable, or accurate.)

As for the thread subject, I started out with SGB's and the Backstage set. Thankfully, the venue was none the wiser of what a "good karaoke collection" consisted of, and were patient enough to allow me to grow the operation, both in terms of the customer base and my personal cdg collection. Over time, 99% of the SGB's were replaced, but for the first year or so, they were an integral part of my collection, and I wouldn't have built either a customer base or a cdg collection without that set. Tracks such as "Longview" by Green Day, "Boyz In The Hood" by Dynamite Hack, Electric "Layla" by Eric Clapton, "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC, and "Dazed And Confused" by Led Zeppelin are a mere 5 examples of tracks which are in my collection on account of this set. And none of these 5 mentioned tracks would be considered "clunkers" by the KS members here who have essetially trashed the set, or the notion of owning it.

I can't speak to the legality of the sets you speak of. Like I said: Get it straight from the horse's mouth. Email Debi.

I should have read your post better, I thought you had some inside scoop on it, similar to the bootlegged Dangerous sets that keep popping up on ebay.

Who owns the rights to publish the catalog presently should have little to no bearing on what happens to the gazillion or so sets that were released prior to SGB folding.

Much like people selling those SoundChoice discs that SoundChoice no longer has the license to sell.

Not to say that probably aren't bootleg versions of SGB discs floating around.. but those are likely the CD-R discs with inkjet printed labels.

Pirates aren't very likely to go through the effort or expense to silkscreen label and press commercial discs to sell the set on eBay for $60.

My guess is the majority of the sets floating around were old stock that was liquidated when SGB closed its doors.

But if as some are saying Chartbuster owns the SGB series and they start filing lawsuits as well then any pirate using SGB would have that many more violations for them to pick from. To be honest none of us are even sure of who may own what out here today What if Monster Hits, MM, Pioneer, DK, etc. are now owned by Sound Choice or Chartbuster? What does that leave for a pirate to pick from without buying a lot more disc or run the risk of getting hit with a lawsuit?

I'm speculating the reason CB bought the catalog in the first place is because it is part of the illegal hard drives and now they would be able to claim the SGB as CB property and would know if the disc sets someone displayed in an audit (if they had any discs to begin with) would be able to be added to the lawsuit under CB property infringement.
Since everyone says they will pull the discs from the manus that sue kj's for running computer and have the gall to ask for an audit, this would be another set that they would need to pull. Rumor has it that Sound Choice has purchased another defunct line as well also PHM has as well.

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

How can a legitimate karaoke manufacturere buy the rights to songs that were produced without licensing and then file law suits against people who bought the same tracks on a hard drive from someone else. Why can CB buy the same "illegal" tracks and get away with it?

Because they paid the licensing for them.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

As we've established in that other thread.. the manu's aren't suing people over the MUSIC, because they can't. They're suing over the unauthorized display of their logo.

Irregardless of who currently 'owns' the manu's catalog, as long as the disc you have isn't a bootleg or stolen, i'd say you're fine.

If Chartbuster bought the SGB catalog, my guess would be that their motivations were to simply swallow up a smaller competitor, and perhaps pick up additional licensing contracts for use with their current and future catalog.