Karaoke Forums

Bobby, this has nothing to do with being good or how hard you work. It has to do with the use of their product in public performance. If you don't like there restrictions, fine, don't use them... Having been without the use of SC now for five months I can tell you its not the same gig. I have singers that go elsewhere because of that, and I even miss singing some of my favorites... So it's your choice what you do, complaining won't change anything...

Jon

Thankfully, this area isn't so picky.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Wow Chippy, out of the hundreds of actions (lawsuits) undertaken, there has been a big one person who was ticked off. Under 1%. One would imagine that that rate would be substantially higher.

Yup it's time for SC to stop protecting themselves and stop their pursuit of being reimbursed for their product that people are copying for commercial use.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

Setting the bar just high enough to stub a toe.

_________________
Never the same show twice!

I can set the bar where ever I like. You nor any other big name entertainment company are in my area.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

I won't run w/o SC, I like having actual singers (rather than typical karaoke typed singers) which I tend to get more of because of the product. We are getting new singers because I use SC from other shows that are dropping them.

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

There has to be a reason why other shows are dropping them. It would seem that not everyone like their policies. I would be HAPPY to use them without the hassles and extra charges. I pay for discs. I do not want to pay extra for audits. It's just an annoyance I don't want. It's something THEY expect of their customers, it's a cost THEY should eat.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

If you're playing discs, there is no audit. Audits are for format shifting, ie copying.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

No, but you then have to worry if your system is visible enough so the inspector doesn't make a mistake. Harrington said it himself. Maybe if you would stop cheer leading for a minute and look at the other side you may see things clearer. SC is a vendor, nothing more, nothing less. They are wielding way too much power for a vendor. I understand that they have a superior product, I enjoy singing their stuff, too. BUT they are still just a vendor.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Smoothedge69,

our little part of the world is not a big city....the nearest big city is well over and hour away. SC's actions have helped here. I can not claim to be an expert on any other parts of the country.
SC works hardest in areas where they have some allies on site but all areas will eventually be hit. If you choose not to use the product that is your option and right. Personally I hope the piracy issue never hits the levels it did in my little part of the world and you are able to ride out the attacks ALL kj's face

BTW I think everyone here has already heard my story but if anyone wants to ask any questions I will bve happy to do my best to answer
Bright Blessings
Athnea

_________________
"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

I have been here 7 years. The same people are running shows in the same places. Nothing has changed here.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

unfortunately, Arizona is getting no better either. all the suits and unless you are watching for them, you would never know. people here are still surprised when i say i cant just copy their discs......even other kj's

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

As for being visible enough for an investigator to see that you're using discs or not... isn't it pretty obvious just by looking at the screen? Most Karaoke programs have some sort of logo, or lineup or even a scroller at the bottom of the screen inbetween singers.. If you're using a karaoke program, goes to reason that you've copied your discs to hard drive. If you're using discs, there's usually just a blue screen inbetween singers...
And .. I've never seen a KJ that was so well hidden that you couldn't tell whether they were using discs or not. Talk about no personal attention to the singers..

_________________
SoundChoice Certification coming soon!

Just why do you say that?

I have a computer program that allows me to play off discs. No blue screen in between, no logo, no scroller and with multiple drives no lag so who could tell if I was running discs or not?

I have seen KJ's that are in a booth where there isn't any outside access, their assistant works the crowd and picks up slips.

_________________
I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

If I were to start hosting and decided to do so without audits I should do it as a disc based host.

I no longer have a CDG player so would have to use my laptop and my hosting software (Siglos Pro) would allow me to do just that and be able to run my rotation, logo, lyrics etc... through the software.

All that glitters is not gold.

_________________
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.

Are there INTERNAL CD/DVD players for laptops that will read CD+G format discs?

Even if there are, CD's (and DVD's/Blu-Ray for that matter) are a dead format. Apple no longer ships CD/DVD players with their machines, netbooks don't have them, tablets don't have them. There are increasingly more OEM desktops that ship without them.

IMO, it doesn't make sense to run a disc based show if you are starting fresh. The investment in the additional hardware will be outdated in a matter of years and you will be converting to digital anyway.

In fact...this deserves another thread.....

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

Yep. There always have been.

Apparently, you've never had a patron bring in a disc of their own? Happens all the time and even if you have the same song, they want their own disc played.

Best be prepared for it.

Most cd+g players use very low sub-sampling and will play pressed cd's just fine... but if a patron brings in a disc (even if made by a factory) that is a burn and made at a high rate of speed, (24x and up) it may not be recognized by the player at all.

Plextor drives (the older models) had the hardware built in to read cd+g discs... eventually they reconfigured their drives and removed it... So you have to know what to look for even if you purchase an external drive. I have a few (brand new) laptop drives of the older model I purchased as backups...

There are some shows that use a computer with an external drive to play discs because it is difficult to find a reliable player these days. In that case, the person already has the computer and hasn't wasted money on a player as far as getting started. But I would agree that the disc format isn't going to be supported much longer.

I think you've gotten the wrong idea.

If you are playing from original discs, you really don't have to worry about the investigator making a mistake. There were a lot of wild suggestions put forward in that discussion because the people asking for the "iron-clad guarantee" don't really want a guarantee at all. They are trying to build a case to sue SC, even though they have stopped using the product, because they would prefer to operate in an environment where no one is around to police the unauthorized use of SC's material. There is a long history there, and there are many facts known to both sides that don't get discussed here because the pro-SC people on this board choose not to bring them up. For someone who hasn't been here through a lot of that history, it's sometimes hard to discern when people are making fun of other people.

Now, two things: First, you're in an area that is my primary responsibility. My investigators are well trained and follow my protocols exactly. They know what to look for; when you get a show, if they visit it, you will never be able to tell that they were there to investigate. That's not because they are being sneaky in some way. It's because they know karaoke and they know how to act at a karaoke show. But if you are using original discs, they'll be able to tell. (You might even get a letter from us later, informing you that we were at your show and letting you know we appreciate your using original discs.)

Second, the reason why they'll be able to tell is that one thing they look for is whether a host is playing from discs of any type. If you're playing from burns, you'll be subject to the same suit as playing from a hard drive. That's something they look at very carefully.

I was aware of Plextor and their changes. I have one external Plextor and one internal (for a desktop) that both can read/write CD+G. And I like Plextor drives anyway. They are workhorses.

I actually have not had anyone bring in a disc to a show in the last 19 months. At the gig I just gave up a few weeks ago, I had a dual-CD+G deck built into the rack just in case someone brought one in. I rebuilt the rack to make it smaller and more portable for the new venue and removed the player since no one had brought any discs in.

I know it can happen since I frequently take discs with me when I travel and know I will have time for karaoke, but it is getting more and more rare these days. The pirates have reduced the need to bring discs from home because they already have it all.

In re-thinking this, I use the multi-bay in my laptop for the storage of my karaoke music. That way I don't have an external USB/eSATA drive that gets knocked around or potentially stolen/dropped/damaged. It doesn't make financial sense to me to buy a CD+G capable drive for the multi-bay (if I could even find one that fit my machine) for the rare occasion someone wants to play their own disc.

I guess I will tote my Plextor PX-716UF along to the show this weekend and leave it on site just in case.

-Chris

_________________
-Chris