Karaoke Forums

Actually from whom I talked with at BMI last year, they stated that karaoke was fully covered, they even have a separate space for adding karaoke to the yearly fees. Haven't seen ASCAP or talked with them, but would assume they have similar guidlines.
The trademark problems are simply the manus deal only from producing an unauthorized copy (media shift) - or flat out using illegal material with never purchasing a single song.

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Lon, so if Karaoke is fully covered according to the person you spoke too at BMI, what's wrong with displaying an mp3+g purchased from a legal website such as Karaoke-Channel? Now if SC doesn't want to sell their tracks in the mp3 format, well, that's their problems, they have been watching the parade for soooo long that it will soon be too late for them anyways... Most manu are offering their products in the mp3+g format and I'm assuming that Digitrax will soon be active, so why not just buy from a legal site, make sure to keep a copy or proof of purchase and voilà, you're in business

SC DOES offer their stuff on MP3+G, but it's on disc, and you have to "purchase" whole collections instead of one song at a time, like you can do with everyone else. What, not modern enough for you?? .

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

[quote=KJAthena]Digitrax has already seen what happens when a manu doesnt aggressively protect their trademark.[/quote]

this has been bugging me.......
the last few years of SC producing, the final product was not the famous SC quality we all came up with. the producers went compressor happy among other production issues that lowered the quality to less than it had been. as SC came down, CB, Stellar, All Star, Sunfly, Zoom, SBI, all came up in quality. that had nothing to do with piracy, that was complacency. thhese HD's with SC material used at shows are just SC? no, they had CB, PHM, ZM, SF, SBI, AS, and all the others. the same guys stealing SC content were also stealing every other manus content. lower disc sales for SC (IMO) was a combination of the lessening quality (which made many tracks less usable than other manus versions), and also the fact that they waited to put out songs. the discs did have a lot of keepers per disc, but when i already have that hot song from PHM and SF and have been using it for 2,4,6 months BEFORE SC puts it out, why would i rebuy? if we were talking about replacing an SGB track, ok. but we are talking about replacing a ford with a chevy, replace PHM with SC. PHM is not a bad or barely usable version and in many cases in the later years of SC (see my previous post about 3 doors down), they had many BETTER versions than SC did. so why did they not sell the 750 copies of best of 2009? look in your system.....i bet we all have those songs and in decent versions that do not warrant replacing with a $25.00 disc. why?......Lon, i believe you were on the PHM subscription, were you also on the SC subscription? SC was the most expensive, losing audio quality, the highest as far as duplicationg tracks (if i have 2 or more versions of a song by one manu, it is 99% of the time SC), and the last to put out the songs we need to do our jobs. the piracy is not a non-issue, but it is a small issue compared to the others. add to that the legal proffit center and the coffin was closed. my local karaoke shop owners when we talk have been saying that when there is a version other than SC available, hosts have been opting to order and wait instead of buying SC. this isn't me.....this is across the phoenix area that NON-PIRATE HOSTS THAT BUY DISCS WILL RATHER BUYY FROM SOMEONE NOT SUING HOSTS. from the mouths of the main karaoke disc shops out here.

so, to recap...
most expensive
last to put out a song
not enough quality difference to warrant replacing (if any)
more dupes than other manus
many other equivelent high quality manus to chose from
suing hosts

why did SC loose it all..........add it all up, no one factor, but all together.

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

So well said

I've been saying for so many years that there's better alternative out there, that SC doesn't offer the best recording... I always found that it sounded too compressed and electronic (midi)... Zoom is by far a better brand especially on their latest recording, you only need to reduce the gain with mp3gain as they are often too loud.

I'm not a KJ but a solo performer that is always in search of the best backing track available, so I don't really have a brand preference, but I'd say that 9 out of 10, it's not a SC track, their tracks are too compressed and don't have that "Live" feeling that you would get from a custom track on Karaoke-Version or a Zoom track that uses real instrument with better audio mastering!

True, but they're not offering the download "by track" like others do Why don't they sell their tracks to Karaoke-Version so they can first remastered them as they need it badly and also let KV offer some of them in custom??? Honestly, I'd be curious to see their business plan... beside suing people, what are they planning on doing with all these tracks??? I'm sure the "master" track is still decent so why not be creative and start offering them in mp3+g in single tracks and offer the multitrack option for solo performer that are only in search of the backing track and not the graphic!!

That was my point. I was being sarcastic.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Sorry, I missed it

no American manu CAN offer downloads(for KJ/commercial use)...as has been explained many times the publishers not not allow for them in the current licensing in the US and Canada. PRS has explained the licencing for LOML+ licensing is NOT for use to the USA and that licensing would have to be granted by the publishers here.

This was covered most recently in Latshaw' s post about pulling the plug. Or you can research the info yourselves

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"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

Who is suing KJs for using foreign downloads in public shows? Haven't seen one yet, don't expect to either as they are all still in the music business.

Nobody is. Nobody will be. Just enjoy them and have a nice happy show.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

you know what you are sort of right...I can only attempt to educate and inform...Everyone has to make the decisions themselves as to the risk they will take...Just remember, there were those who swore SC would never carry a case all the way...and those who said no other manu would sue.....both those were proven wrong.
If you are willing to pay the price to do what you desire.....do so, Just dont gripe later when you have to pay the piper,

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"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

The only other company that is suing is Piracy Recovery, which isn't even a Karaoke mfr. They are just a lawsuit mill. The Euro companies aren't going to bother suing us. They have said as much. It wouldn't be worth the trouble. Stellar has given up the fight and now just offers amnesty to pirates.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

I don't think SC has a problem with their trademark being displayed if it's on original format (or you went through an audit). Since they never released anything on mp3g - besides the gem series which is covered under the audit rules - that's where their problem lies for them. No one HAS permission to freely shift, it has nothing to do with ASCAP or anything else.

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

Actually I quit subscriptions from 96-2009 and bought strictly on what people wanted, not just to have it first. It wasn't an issue through those years. It wasn't until 2009 when I resubscribed to CB for monthly releases mostly because alot of the singers that brought their own discs in were from CB new releases. I still bought the SC releases when they came out (unless I already had most of the songs or it was worth replacing if the song was sung alot) until the time they stopped. When CB stopped in Oct last year, I moved over to PHM - which SUCKS for new releases, more fluff than anything and am about to drop them as well since very little of their stuff actually gets sung. New releases are still not what people WANT to sing overall. Most requested songs (that I don't have) are still from the 80's, 90's, 2000's. Newer country is still a hit, but only sporadically - and most of those that actually get sung I pick up from All Star now days - not PHM.

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

At least we hope they don't! Who knows these days. I'm sure the people stealing their stuff is affecting their bottom line just as much as it is the American companies & their stance may change eventually. But until then, I will continue to buy as well.

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

actually.....Harrington has stated otherwise several times.
put down the pom poms and listen to your own savior.

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

"Savior" is gratuitous.

And she is right. What I said is that there is nothing about downloads that makes them inherently illegal in the U.S. if properly licensed. The holdup is that the publishers do not want to offer that license for commercial use on terms that make sense for the volume, so no one has. As a result, Athena's statement is fully correct.

And the UK downloads??

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Not sure if they will be using SC material or not! What I meant was that Digitrax will be doing the same thing that Karaoke Channel is doing. Taking stuff made by other manu's and putting their logo on it and it will be for home use only. If that's all you want to use it for great just don't ever use it in a public showing.

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