KARAOKE SCENE MAGAZINE ONLINE! - Why does SoundChoice.... Public Forums Karaoke Discussions Karaoke Legalities & Piracy, etc... Karaoke Scene's Karaoke Forums Home | Contact Us | Site Map  

Karaoke Forums

Karaoke Scene Karaoke Forums

Karaoke Scene

   
  * Login
  * Register

  * FAQ
  * Search

Custom Search

Social Networks


premium-member

Offsite Links


It is currently Fri Jan 10, 2025 12:51 am

All times are UTC - 8 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 234 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ... 12  Next
Author Message
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:47 am 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster
User avatar

Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:41 pm
Posts: 4094
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Been Liked: 309 times
You know I think I've heard most of the excuses in the world for committing illegal acts but for karaoke you take the cake. Not only do you steal music but you think it's a right. Then you are naive enough that if you get nailed that all you have to do is delete the illegal music and it will all go away.

Actually after reading this, I think you are a troll and you are writng a bunch of BS. If you are not, then you are a complete idiot.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:53 am 
Offline
Extreme Plus Poster
Extreme Plus Poster
User avatar

Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:24 pm
Posts: 5576
Location: Cocoa Beach
Been Liked: 122 times
Lone Wolf wrote:
Smoothedge69 wrote:
I have no want or need of sympathy from you. I am just telling you the facts. If I get caught, I delete everything and they have no case. Trust me, I own nothing so they will get nothing from me if they sue. LOL. I have no money, and if I can't do this, I have no prospects of obtaining money. Them going after someone like me is just as ridiculous as when the RIAA went after little kids and their grandparents for downloading music. They go nothing from them, either. You can't get blood from a stone.


It' not IF you get caught its WHEN you get caught.
Deleting everything won't work as others have tried and still gotten sued.

Owning nothing will not work either, if a judge sets a judgement against you they can take what you have and if it isn't enough they can take what you WILL have. If you ever buy anything they can put a LIEN against it (car,house,etc.).

Save yourself a lot of headache and delete all illegal music.
Start you business as a side job if you have to (I and many others did and still are).
Admitting you have Illegal music here will get you NO sympathy and will probably get you investigated sooner. You are in Florida? All ready been lots of cases started there, so don't say they won't catch me.

Starting in this business is just like starting any other business. If you don't have the immediate capital save for it. If you only bought 2 discs a week it wouldn't cost you more than a couple of Pizza's.
Which do you want more, a business or splurging on fast food?

You can even do it on a string, now.

1. Get CompuHost -- $200
2. Buy KJ Media pro -- $200
3. Unlock songs as you need them, $1.50 each time. Max exposure every week, about $150, decreasing quickly over time.
4. Supplement the deficiencies in alternative and 90's music with Zoom and Sunfly downloads.

That's it -- you've got 13,000 unique songs with a wide selection, for a beginning investment of under $1,000.

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


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:14 am 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster

Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:59 am
Posts: 3011
Been Liked: 1003 times
Smoothedge69 wrote:
The thing that annoys me about the whole thing is that someone who is just starting out, now, has to worry about how and where they get their music from. I know the downloading of free tracks is bad, but it gives up-starts a chance to compete in the market, at least until they start to make some money. In this economy, who has the money to purchase a huge amount of disks to start a business with? I am trying to start my own karaoke business. I have 36 disks, that I bought for my own use. That isn't enough to start a business. I borrowed a set from a friend of mine, that were given to him by another friend, and ripped them into the computer that I will be using, not knowing that all this piracy nonsense was a big issue. Some of it is SC, most of it is Super Core and SGB. I don't like the quality of them, but they are usable, until I start making money. I see all this talk about undercutting Legal guys. I am not interested in hurting other people. I am in it to make a living for my family since there are no jobs out there. I am not looking to created a giant company. It's just me, and my fiance. I will be running the show, she will do the business stuff. I run a show for a friend of mine, on occasion, and have been for years. Now I want to do my own thing. I have accumulated most of the equipment that I need. All I need now is more music. If I am not allowed to borrow disks, and I am not allowed to download stuff how am I supposed to get started?? Those of you that have been in this business for years have had all that time to accumulate your music. Most of you bought it while it was coming out. I have to play catch-up. I have every intention to buy my own music as I can, once I start working, but I need a way to get started. What do I do?? I don't have any certified KJs anywhere in my area. The nearest one is 80 miles north of me. I am thinking that SC and CB aren't too interested in my area, because there are no big companies or big venues here. Any suggestions that you might have would be appreciated. Thanks.


You may not be aware of who I am--I am James Harrington, and I am an attorney who represents SC in litigation all over the country. Florida is one of my areas of responsibility.

Like a lot of people, you've been careless with your personal information all over the internet, so between that and what you've posted above, plus the fact that Florida is incredibly open with their public records, I already have your full name, location, and an admission from you that you've got a hard drive with pirated material. I even know what kind of car your drive.

SC actually treats its customers very well. Yes, some people who are good customers have been sued because they were making commercial use of unauthorized media-shifted karaoke tracks. In those situations, we get it cleared up right away so that we can focus on the outright pirates.

It's great that you want to be in the karaoke business. There is always room for people who run a good show, as long as they do it legally. Essentially what I'm saying is that you can do this the right way, or you can do it the wrong way.

The wrong way would be: pirating SC's material, playing shows for money without acquiring your music legally, and if you get caught--make that when you get caught--deleting the material from your hard drive. By the time you know you've been caught, it will be too late. We will already have evidence that you had SC tracks. When you show up with an empty hard drive, we show the judge the evidence we gathered and ask him to penalize you for destroying evidence. Defendants who do that usually end up losing their cases, which means a big judgment and an injunction. In your case, I can tell you we will almost certainly send an investigator to one of your shows as soon as we know where you're playing. You won't know who our investigator is, because they are trained to blend in to the crowd. Then you'll get sued, and your venues will be notified that we've sued you (assuming you don't come clean and settle right away), and they will be sued if they continue to allow you to play pirated material on their premises.

The right way would be: get ALL the music you use legally. There are lots of ways to acquire legal music. If you like the SC brand, you can license the GEM series, up to 6000 unique tracks. The best pricing happens when you pay it all up front, but, for example, you can get the Diamond set (3,000 tracks--the core of a great karaoke selection) for $378 down and 18 payments of $131 each. Your credit doesn't matter. If that's too pricy, you can find great deals on eBay and elsewhere to acquire discs, whether they are SC or another manu.

But whatever you choose to do, don't make the assumption that we aren't interested in what you're doing. Like it or not, you're on our radar now.


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:33 am 
Offline
Senior Poster
Senior Poster

Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:03 am
Posts: 133
Location: Boston Mass
Been Liked: 0 time
What does he drive James? I'm curious. I'm Guessing a Dodge Product, Perhaps a Minivan or Maybe a Nitro. Am I close?


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:05 am 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:34 pm
Posts: 3616
Location: Toronto Canada
Been Liked: 146 times
Paradigm Karaoke wrote:
is it any different than stealing beer to open a bar, or stealing a car to start a cab service? what makes it acceptable to you to steal music to start a kj service?
anyone else hear rumbling? was that lightning too?



Exactly what I was thinking. I don't have enough money to start a chain of hotels, so someone owes me money as I should have the right to start a chain if I want!

Might not have been your message but that's how it came off to me. I had to start from scratch a few years ago, bought used pair of laptops, lower scale PAs, lots of used discs and then every nickel I made went to upgrading my library every week (mostly from eBay). Then last year bought a new laptop, rack, more music, newer lights. Of course somewhere in there I upgraded my PAs. In this manner I avoided financing and learned the business one show at a time.

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


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:25 am 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:34 pm
Posts: 3616
Location: Toronto Canada
Been Liked: 146 times
ripman8 wrote:
Paradigm Karaoke wrote:
is it any different than stealing beer to open a bar, or stealing a car to start a cab service? what makes it acceptable to you to steal music to start a kj service?
anyone else hear rumbling? was that lightning too?



Exactly what I was thinking. I don't have enough money to start a chain of hotels, so someone owes me money as I should have the right to start a chain if I want!

Might not have been your message but that's how it came off to me. I had to start from scratch a few years ago, bought used pair of laptops, lower scale PAs, lots of used discs and then every nickel I made went to upgrading my library every week (mostly from eBay). Then last year bought a new laptop, rack, more music, newer lights. Of course somewhere in there I upgraded my PAs. In this manner I avoided financing and learned the business one show at a time.


Forgot to mention, I bought the KJMP here so now I have access to all CB songs one at a time, live at my shows.

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


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:30 am 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:34 pm
Posts: 3616
Location: Toronto Canada
Been Liked: 146 times
All right so now I have been thru all the new posts, I'm almost speechless. I don't think we will see Mr smoothcriminal69 here again. Needed to do his homework before coming here and advertising his methods and his philosophy on why he should be able to be a pirate.


Does anyone have a right to be a karaoke host? Probably so, but there are no legal shortcuts. He was given some very good advise on how to make it happen without breaking the bank.

Got me thinking though, how can I make that chain of hotels happen without spending more than $500?

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


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:38 am 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster

Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:59 am
Posts: 3011
Been Liked: 1003 times
ripman8 wrote:
Got me thinking though, how can I make that chain of hotels happen without spending more than $500?


Buy a Monopoly board.


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:27 am 
Offline
Senior Poster
Senior Poster

Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:03 am
Posts: 133
Location: Boston Mass
Been Liked: 0 time
HarringtonLaw wrote:
ripman8 wrote:
Got me thinking though, how can I make that chain of hotels happen without spending more than $500?


Buy a Monopoly board.



Dam James I didnt know you had a sense of Humor, I thought you were a Robot.
Remember songs you sing?


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:30 am 
Offline
Super Poster
Super Poster
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 10:39 am
Posts: 884
Location: Tx
Been Liked: 17 times
HarringtonLaw wrote:
ripman8 wrote:
Got me thinking though, how can I make that chain of hotels happen without spending more than $500?


Buy a Monopoly board.


:laughatthat: you got jokes!!

_________________
My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:53 am 
Offline
Super Poster
Super Poster
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:07 pm
Posts: 607
Been Liked: 1 time
I'm amazed! Almost feel sorry for Smooth'criminal'........
Nah, if he's smart enough to use a hard drive, he's smart enough to know that being illegal is gonna pi55 some of us off! And then... not to know there's a lawyer here.. .OMG.. AMAZING!

Loved the joke re: Dodge hehehe...oh, AND Monopoly!

Got my morning entertainment! Thanks Everyone!!

:clapper:

_________________
Image SoundChoice Certification coming soon!


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:24 pm 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster

Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2007 1:05 pm
Posts: 3376
Been Liked: 172 times
HarringtonLaw wrote:
ripman8 wrote:
Got me thinking though, how can I make that chain of hotels happen without spending more than $500?


Buy a Monopoly board.


Just hope you don't land on Sound Choice or Chartbusters, and have to pay rent....... :)


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:28 pm 
Offline
Super Poster
Super Poster
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 10:39 am
Posts: 884
Location: Tx
Been Liked: 17 times
johnny reverb wrote:
HarringtonLaw wrote:
ripman8 wrote:
Got me thinking though, how can I make that chain of hotels happen without spending more than $500?


Buy a Monopoly board.


Just hope you don't land on Sound Choice or Chartbusters, and have to pay rent....... :)


There's always the Chance Cards.

_________________
My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:30 pm 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster

Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2007 1:05 pm
Posts: 3376
Been Liked: 172 times
Go To Jail!.......don't pass goal.........do not collect $200... :bawling:


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:58 pm 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster
User avatar

Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:41 pm
Posts: 4094
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Been Liked: 309 times
thewraith, I'm betting he drives a Yugo.

You can open any legal business you ike as long as you can afford it. I woould love to have the money to open a Popeye's Chicken franchise up here.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:14 pm 
Offline
Extreme Poster
Extreme Poster

Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:59 am
Posts: 3011
Been Liked: 1003 times
thewraith wrote:
What does he drive James? I'm curious. I'm Guessing a Dodge Product, Perhaps a Minivan or Maybe a Nitro. Am I close?


Humor aside, I think it's outside the rules of this board to post personal information, so I will refrain.


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:21 pm 
Offline
Super Extreme Poster
Super Extreme Poster
User avatar

Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2001 3:57 pm
Posts: 22978
Songs: 35
Images: 3
Location: Tacoma, WA
Been Liked: 2126 times
Smoothedge69 wrote:
thewraith wrote:
Smoothedge69 wrote:
The thing that annoys me about the whole thing is that someone who is just starting out, now, has to worry about how and where they get their music from. I know the downloading of free tracks is bad, but it gives up-starts a chance to compete in the market, at least until they start to make some money.

Didnt you just start out as You say? Sounds like it to me, But yet Way back in 05 You knew of these forums. Heck I've dabbled in karaoke for awhile But wish I found these forums back then. Very informative. But you tell more stories than Disney I'm Afraid

You spoke as If you were just starting out and need Music Blah blah Blah. Now because of folks like you Some get sued for no reason.

I JUST downloaded a bunch of music this past week. I haven't used it yet. I have the same 36 CDGs that I bought back in '05. I JUST bought my equipment, and sorry, but I forgot about this site because I stopped coming here. This is my first time back since '05 or'06. I had no need for this site. I found out LAST night, from SC's website about the piracy stuff and what they were doing. I didn't even know that SC stopped making discs until last night. So before you people start flaming me, how about waiting for the facts!! I have been out of work for the last two years, thanks to our lovely economy. My fiance helped me out with the purchase of the equipment. I just get started, and have every intention of buying plenty of disks as the money comes in. Personally, I would rather run my karaoke off my laptop, but if it going to be a big hassle, I will just use a player. I'll make CDGs and use a player, UNTIL I can buy real disks. I would LOVE to rent disks from another company, but guess what, we have no large companies here. Never have since I have been here. It's all one man shows around here, and most of them use computers, with stuff they downloaded. I was told, by a few of them, that there was no problem with it. What do I know?? Whatever. Now I need music. I WILL buy it as I can. But, for now, I gotta do what I gotta do. You want to get all pissy with me, that's your prerogative.

So stealing to get your business started is great? I think we should all do that!!!

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


Top
 Profile Personal album Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:33 pm 
Offline
Extreme Plus Poster
Extreme Plus Poster
User avatar

Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2005 11:31 am
Posts: 5397
Location: Watebrury, CT
Been Liked: 406 times
Lonman wrote:
Smoothedge69 wrote:
thewraith wrote:
Smoothedge69 wrote:
The thing that annoys me about the whole thing is that someone who is just starting out, now, has to worry about how and where they get their music from. I know the downloading of free tracks is bad, but it gives up-starts a chance to compete in the market, at least until they start to make some money.

Didnt you just start out as You say? Sounds like it to me, But yet Way back in 05 You knew of these forums. Heck I've dabbled in karaoke for awhile But wish I found these forums back then. Very informative. But you tell more stories than Disney I'm Afraid

You spoke as If you were just starting out and need Music Blah blah Blah. Now because of folks like you Some get sued for no reason.

I JUST downloaded a bunch of music this past week. I haven't used it yet. I have the same 36 CDGs that I bought back in '05. I JUST bought my equipment, and sorry, but I forgot about this site because I stopped coming here. This is my first time back since '05 or'06. I had no need for this site. I found out LAST night, from SC's website about the piracy stuff and what they were doing. I didn't even know that SC stopped making discs until last night. So before you people start flaming me, how about waiting for the facts!! I have been out of work for the last two years, thanks to our lovely economy. My fiance helped me out with the purchase of the equipment. I just get started, and have every intention of buying plenty of disks as the money comes in. Personally, I would rather run my karaoke off my laptop, but if it going to be a big hassle, I will just use a player. I'll make CDGs and use a player, UNTIL I can buy real disks. I would LOVE to rent disks from another company, but guess what, we have no large companies here. Never have since I have been here. It's all one man shows around here, and most of them use computers, with stuff they downloaded. I was told, by a few of them, that there was no problem with it. What do I know?? Whatever. Now I need music. I WILL buy it as I can. But, for now, I gotta do what I gotta do. You want to get all pissy with me, that's your prerogative.

So stealing to get your business started is great? I think we should all do that!!!

NOT lol!

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


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:57 pm 
Offline
Extreme Plus Poster
Extreme Plus Poster
User avatar

Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:12 pm
Posts: 5046
Been Liked: 334 times
Personally, I would like to thank Smoothedge for his post. I do believe he has created the first united front ( or at least a thread where everyone agrees) that this forum has ever seen! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Seriously, I can't believe somebody would post something like that on a forum full of Karaoke Hosts..... The way I read it was:

" Hi there. I'm a track thief. I plan on stealing some more so that I can compete with you for lower prices. Can you help me with this?"

HUH?

When I switched from LD to CD+G ( after previously switching from cassettes and lyric sheets) all I started with was 66 SGBs, 12 SuperCores, and some MM and other odds and ends. Maybe 1400-1500 tracks to start. I may not have had top quality, but I had enough of a selection to learn what my singers liked, then gradually added higher quality discs as I went along. This way I didn't waste money on low usage discs.

There is no need for a huge initial investment in the library. As a matter of fact, over-investing initially is a major reason for the failure of start-up businesses.

BUY a larger selection at a low price ( sources were posted earlier), THEN upgrade as you learn what types of tracks are preferred in your area. A couple of hundred bucks can get you well over 1000 tracks. Then you can add more slowly as you earn.

There is no need to do what you are doing, even with lousy finances.

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:20 pm 
Offline
Super Plus Poster
Super Plus Poster
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:21 pm
Posts: 1609
Location: Earth
Been Liked: 307 times
HarringtonLaw wrote:
Like a lot of people, you've been careless with your personal information all over the internet, so between that and what you've posted above, plus the fact that Florida is incredibly open with their public records, I already have your full name, location, and an admission from you that you've got a hard drive with pirated material. I even know what kind of car your drive.
..............{snip}..............
Like it or not, you're on our radar now.


Smoothedge69 wrote:
My fiance helped me out with the purchase of the equipment.


I'll bet HarringtonLaw also knows what you've registered for at the Bed and Bath store.

Maybe your fiance will get a chance to help you with your legal fees as well.

It seems you are no better at starting a marrige than you are at starting a business.

_________________
KNOW THYSELF


Top
 Profile Singer's Showcase Profile 
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 234 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ... 12  Next

All times are UTC - 8 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 97 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group

Privacy Policy | Anti-Spam Policy | Acceptable Use Policy Copyright © Karaoke Scene Magazine
design & hosting by Cross Web Tech