Karaoke Forums

For those of you that don't think that what Sound Choice is doing has an impact, I encourage you to read this. This is a small victory, but it is a victory.

Two days ago I received a call from a downtown Seattle pub. They were looking for a karaoke host to do a show. I met with the owner of the pub yesterday and now have a new show.

Come to find out, they were looking to replace a karaoke host that had been named and apparently ignored the lawsuit. I don't have all of the details, but it appears this other karaoke company was served PRIOR to starting karaoke at this venue and never notified the owner. The owner was notified about the host after the fact which prompted their search for a legal host.

The owner found me by going to the Sound Choice certified hosts page. I asked them how they knew to go there, and they told me they had seen the Sound Choice logo on screen during songs and there was Sound Choice info in the notification information they received.

No matter what you feel about Sound Choice the fact of the matter is this - I would not have picked up this gig if I had not gotten certified and been listed on the Sound Choice page.

The cost of certification (time and expense) will be paid for in the first weekend.

As a result of getting certified I now have a 2 nights at a high traffic venue, in a very competitive area of downtown Seattle. I believe that I can leverage this to pick up additional shows in the area. The new show is smack dab in the middle of "pirate host land" and I will be making sure that everyone knows that I am a legal and certified. There are several other venues/hosts within walking distance that have been served. One of those venues has delivered karaoke 7 nights a week for 10+ years.

This is exactly the result that Sound Choice and legal hosts are looking for. It may be a unique case of everything falling into place, but it did fall into place.

Based on previous history, there will probably be a bunch of negative responses to this post from the usual suspects and this thread will likely devolve into a Sound Choice bashing session. This positive will somehow get twisted into a negative with Kurt Slep, Sound Choice, and legal hosts being the spawns of satan out crush the life out of all living things.

I am happy knowing that I have invested in my business. I have certified voluntarily at my own expense. I have done the right thing by the industry, and I am now able to reap the rewards. There is another legal show in the area working for a living wage.

The fight has to start somewhere and I don't plan on giving up any ground.

-Chris

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-Chris

Congrats Chris!

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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.

This is totally awesome Chris!! And exactly what I hope will happen in my area... though I don't expect SoundChoice to come here anytime soon Small city. But I do plan on making it known that I am legal and the consequences for those not legal and those that hire illegal. You are proof that it works as it should and I truly congratulate you!

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SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

First, let me say that I'm glad you picked up another night- congratulations!

However, the way I interpret this post, you make the pirate seem like he was the better host. He was the original hire ( outselling his competition), and you are saying that you never would have gotten hired if it weren't for his legal troubles. It makes you look like second choice.

I know it doesn't look that way, but this is not an attack on you or even SC. What I am trying to say is that if one is able to outsell and out-host the other guy, one wouldn't be dependent on another company for their livlihood.

Forgetting SC for a moment, it is my firm belief that hosts have been slacking off. Competing in business is like being at war. One must hone one's skills and use one's PERSONAL resources/weapons to do battle in today's ultra-competitive environment.

What I have been seeing and hearing:

1) " I wait by the phone and nothing happens".

2) It's the venue's responsibility to bring in customers- I'm just the entertainment". HUH? If the venue could bring in more customers on their own, what do they need to pay YOU for? The customers would already BE there spending money.

3) "My shows used to rock, but now I wait and it stays slow". I've been at this for decades, and I have a good rep, but I don't depend on it for patrons. I STILL advertise ( Text, E-mail, F-book, and occasionally in the local night life mag) for every single show at every single venue- just like they are the first show at a new venue. PUSH! There are no guarantees in this business. You have to WORK at it.

4) " I don't ( fill in the blank) anymore because it's too much of a P.I.T.A.". Really? News flash: We get paid to WORK, not make our lives easier. Think of every single service that you can offer your patrons, and OFFER it.


5) My all time favorite, in reply to a request for a key change from a patron: " Um....key change?"

This one's actually a two-parter. Another time a patron asked that the KJ drop the key, the KJ just added more bass......

If you want to start a business- ANY business- learn it first. In addition to skills that can be learned, hosting requires a personality that is fitted to it. Be sure that it is.


NO ONE HERE on EITHER side of the SC debates likes pirates or even legal undercutters. However, they can't be blamed for all, or even most of our woes.

The fact is, the economy bites, and there are literally hundreds of thousands of folks who can't find jobs, yet have to eat. Since the use of MP3s and laptops in public venues began, many have discovered that adding a couple of powered speakers to the laptop they already own along with a mic and monitor can put them in an income producing business. They do not have to be pirates to do this, as many inexpensive disc sets are available for use as a starter library.

That's an income producing ( meaning they can put food on the table again) business for under a grand.

Great equipment? Nope. Great library? Nope. But they MAY have great skills- at least some of them, and we have to compete against them.

It's time to step up, forget what the other guy is doing, and EARN a place of success on your own.

Chris, again my congratulations and wishes for good luck at your new venue. I just think that you probably COULD have gotten it without anyone else's help.

Dam- OK, I'm out of breath, and both of my typing fingers are tired....

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Or the bar never had karaoke before and the pirate was their first experience and just jumped in with the first host they met, that's another way to look at it. Have seen this happen many times where selling or outselling the competition had nothing to do with it. I myself in the past had have cold calls from bars looking to try karaoke for the first time where I landed the gig just because - whether I 'sold' myself on the phone remains to be seen, it could have been any kj they called.

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Joe I don't think Chris was saying who couldn't have got the new show without SC.

I think Chris is saying that due to the KJ being named, the venue being notified, him being certified and listed on SC's website it delivered him a gig he hadn't even started to pursue yet.

I'm not a big fan of what SC has/is doing, but in this case it's worked in Chris's favor.

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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.

It does happen, just not as a rule.

Well the reason they hire entertainment is to bring in more customers, however a bar DOES need to put some money out to advertise, otherwise no one is going to know about the entertainment then the bar blames the entertainment for not bringing people in to begin with.

Economy, unemployment rate and now gas prices are what's driving business down, if people cannot afford to go out, no amount of work from any bar or entertainment is going to change that. But do agree you never stop working as hard as you can as long as you are working.


Yep!


Funny!

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I look at it more like Congress. It is difficult to unseat the incumbant, especially those with the means to dirty trick an opponent. Sometimes it takes them finally getting caught at enough unethical/illegal stuff to unseat them to open up a slot. Otherwise, there isn't going to be a chance for someone to prove they can do a better job.

Now what Chris did was do some research into the situation, see the direction things were going and then he positioned himself to pounce on opportunity. I'm not sure that doesn't fall under the businessman part as you like to define it. Now we watch to see if he can deliver which is part 2.

Thank you!



I knew it wouldn't take long to go south

I can't speak for the hosts skills. I have done a little research and it seems they were well liked and put on a great show.

It also appears that they were initially served just before they picked up this show. Likely they moved shows as a result of being served and did not notify the venue. Thus the venue got served and that is when they found out and began a search for a new host.

Since I met face-to-face with the bar owner and we spent about an hour talking with each other and they still said yes, then my salesmanship seems to be satisfactory.

In that context, I have no issue being second choice.



I understand what you are saying and don't see it as an attack.

I am hardly dependent on Sound Choice. I have been pitching to other gigs where there is no karaoke and I have some that are very interested. I have not gone after pirate gigs yet because i am still figuring out how i want to approach those. I hope even you see that taking a gig from someone, even an illegal host, is probably harder than starting a fresh one (unless you are pirate in which case you simply undercut)

There are really 3 factors in me getting this gig. 1) Sound Choice started suing illegal hosts AFTER warning they would do so and giving people a chance to clean up. 2) The original host made a choice to be illegal, got served, lost their gig. 3) I made an independent choice to get certified and as a result, I picked up the gig.

A butterfly could have farted and things could have gone a different direction. (Chaos Theory reference)



I have no opinion on the first sentence there. Not enough experience. I agree 100% with the remainder though.




I am a new guy so little of that applies to me. I am working my tail off to build my business. I am just now at the point where I can truly focus on expansion.

I can key change



100% Agreement



I hope I have demostrated that I have made a significant time and financial investment in my success. I can only say I am a good host against you all witnessing me as a good host. Time will tell if I hold this gig in a very competitive area. It may have been dropped in my lap, but it will be the quality of the show that keeps it. (and how much money the venue brings in!)



We will never know. I wasn't pitching in that area and since I am not pitching against existing shows anyway, it would have been unlikely that I would have stopped in to see. I am happy it worked out this way and still feel that it came about as a result of what Sound Choice AND legal hosts are doing. This venue wanted karaoke so they sought it out. We all know that isn't the norm. At least not in my limited experience. If someone else walked in with a pitch or one of their regulars suggested someone else, I very well might not be posting this now.

-Chris

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-Chris

You didn't really post anything here about whether you know the KJ you just replaced. This, by itself, does not really say whether the KJ you replaced is a pirate or not... just that he was operating illegally. You just happened to make an investment in your business (getting Certified), and it paid off for you. Congratulations on that.

Now, if I were pitching for a gig there, based on what you posted (above quote) I wouldn't have qualified, because I am:
1. Not Certified - to my knowledge, Certification is only being given to those who are 1:1... I am 1:None
2. Do not own/lease/whatever a GEM series
3. Only operate using discs
4. Not listed in SC's pages as a result of the above. I don't even think they are listing disc-based KJs there.

We all know that there are plenty of pirates out there who have been ignoring the SC lawsuits, but, on the other side of the coin, there are also 1:1 KJs out there who are ignoring the SC lawsuits because they don't want/refuse to let someone audit their system (for whatever reason/s), and they want their case to be brought to Court and presented to a Judge to make a Ruling on the whole thing.

Didn't he state that the former KJ was named in the lawsuits and didn't disclose that info to the club that canned him? That seems to me he was more than likely a pirate??? How I read it anyway.

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I do think they should list any disc based KJ as certified as well. Seems it could 'possibly' give an unfair advantage to the certified computer users if a club is actually looking for one.

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He is a pirate. I do have a lot more information but I want to get through my first weekend before I post anything else about it.

-Chris

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-Chris

Stating that a KJ was named in a lawsuit and then stating that the KJ did not disclose that information to the new club that hired him does not mean he was/is a pirate. While I do agree with your hypothesis, I stated an explanation for the other possibility in my original post.

Just going by the following quote from Chris:

"No matter what you feel about Sound Choice the fact of the matter is this - I would not have picked up this gig if I had not gotten certified and been listed on the Sound Choice page."

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Chris, thank you for understanding that my post really wasn't about you. I'm sure you are a terrific host. I just seem to see so many that blame others for their lack of success, but wasn't claiming you as one of them.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

After some goading on my part in the "Legalities" thread, Jim Harrington posted the following:

"When a host is original disc-based, there is no need for an audit. In fact, there is nothing to audit; ergo, no charge for an audit. If you are 100% original disc-based, email me your business name and mailing address, and I will arrange for a letter to be sent to you on SC letterhead or my firm's letterhead--your choice--explaining that a host who uses original Sound Choice-branded discs only is considered by us to be a fully compliant, legal operator, and should be treated exactly the same as a Sound Choice Certified KJ. You can share that with any venue you like, make copies of it, etc., as long as the wording is not changed. No charge."

Well, believe it or not,I took him up on it. While I have no compelling need for SC's "certification", I wanted to see if he would follow through. As of 2/29/12 he sent me an e-mail that he was working on it. I would have assumed that if this was a standard practice there would have been a template letter already drafted that only needed personalization.

However, I am aware that SC keeps him fairly busy. I will wait awhile longer and see what happens.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

The wording should be slightly different (since SC and CB are the only ones out there issuing Certificates (for now)). We (all of us, disc-based and 1:1 HD users) are using more than just original SC branded discs. There's AH, DG, DK, JVC, LE, MM, PIO, PRI, PS, etc... to name a few. Although SC may only be looking at your SC collection when doing their audits, and listing you on their website as being either Certified or a GEM user, the wording of "original Sound Choice-branded discs only" can be detrimental to you. Maybe, if he added something about using Original Branded Discs without the SC name as well to that letter, it might be better.

Also, Mr. Harrington's offer is very nice; however, if you were located where Chris is, and you weren't looking for a gig at the place that contacted him, you wouldn't have been offered an opportunity at obtaining that show either (letter from Mr. H or not) because you are not/still would not be listed in SC's site amongst the other KJs who are listed there as being legit (in one form or another). Remember, Chris posted that he hadn't approached this place... They approached him (because they were looking for someone who met a specific criteria), and they (the Venue) were told where to look (for those that meet that criteria).

Oops... Ignore this... Double post... Sorry

I'm sure he is busy but I firmly believe anyone running off discs only should be named on their certified site!!!!!! How much certified can you be if you have/and USE all original discs! C'mon!!!

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