Karaoke Forums

Nice Article

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-08-01 ... er-moment/

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website

Definitely one to chew on.

Noticed a link to Chris Avis's blog in the article and, as I did when I first signed up here, have gotten caught up in an OCD-type endeavor of reading the entire thing.

Nice blog, Chris. Kudos.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

Bill Marsten, aka: KJ Bill sure doesn't seem to be worried about selling loaded hard drives as he is quoted in the article. http://kjbill.com/

Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the kind words. I really should be more regular with my postings on the blog.

-Chris

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-Chris

You totally should. Heck, so should I. When I started blogging again, I did two karaoke-related posts, and then proceeded to not write anything else for months.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

I read the article.
I was a little turned-off by it early on with this statement:
"When you're singing karaoke, chances are your backing track has been stolen."
I know it may be true, and even for a KJ who purchased all of his music on CD directly from the manufacturers, it's prossibly true, but they make no distinctions in the article, so the message is that it's just KJs that steal because it is their nature. I don't like the idea of silenty being considered a thief by people who read articles like this.

I found some other misleading falsehoods being spread through this article too:
"Slep says that music publishers haven't yet begun to grant permission to companies like his to make downloadable tracks available for public performance."

"If a show is being run off a laptop, there's a good chance the tracks aren't cleared for public use."

And what the heck does this mean?:
"Do you kill and eat your own children, or do you wait for someone else to?"
That's not a very good way to portray a solution to anything.

But, isn't it nice to see publicity that makes us all look like wonderful upstanding citizens to the casual observer? Yes, it is. Unfortunately, this bit of publicity makes us all look like theives.

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KNOW THYSELF

I have said before and I will say again - for any new show I go to being run from a computer, I assume it is a pirate show. Especially if they have a reasonably large songbook. Knowing the costs involved and how easy it is to download for free, and how few people have suffered ant significant consequences, there just isn't a lot of motivation for folks to run above board.

-Chris

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-Chris

I agree with what you wrote as well. There was one other thing mentioned in the article that rubbed me the wrong way....

Quote:
"One possible solution is a subscription model like Rhapsody and Spotify: Hosts would pay a monthly fee for access to a cloud-based collection of tracks that would be cleared for use in a venue. Though such a service isn't yet available, Knoxville, Tenn., company DigiTrax will soon unveil its Karaoke Cloud, giving KJs access to about 60,000 tracks for $199 a month."
End Quote

The way I'm reading it, it implies that if the KJ does not subscribe to this service (which doesn't exist yet), then he/she/they would not be cleared to work in a venue. That would include ODB KJs as well as (SC/CB/PHM) Certified KJs.

That would be the death of Karaoke. When you think about it, who really wants to pay $199 a month and own none of the music? I certainly wouldn't. If I am paying that much a month I want to have music in my hand, or on a hard drive, permanently.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Of all the things that people rent that are far more important, why is karaoke music so important to own for you (or anyone)?

-Chris

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-Chris

The ONLY thing I have ever rented was living quarters. I have never, and will never rent a car or anything. Why?? There is nothing in it for me. With renting you are just putting money in somebody else's pockets. When the rental is done you haven't gained anything. You have spent money on nothing.

Plus, when you buy karaoke you accumulate a collection. After a while you don't HAVE to keep buying lots of karaoke, so your monetary output gets less and less over time, until you are just getting the occasional request material. With the a streaming service, be it Cloud Pro, or whatever they want to call it, you never stop putting out $200 a month, and if they raise the price you have to pay that. Think of how much that is after 20 years. After 20 years you have spent $47,760 and when you are done you have no asset to take with you. You have nothing to show for all the years you worked.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

When it comes to karaoke music, given the past history. Ownership means no one can screw with you.

Music no longer being produced? Not my problem, i already bought it i can use it for as long as I'm doing karaoke

Music Publisher pulled the rights to sell a song. - Not my problem, I paid for it I can use it for as long as I'm doing karaoke. Screw you Mr. music producer, and while your at it look up the meaning of a grandfather clause.

and when I am done with karaoke, I will still have something that I can use at home, or give it to someone who wants to do their own show. Doesn't matter to me if I get much for it or not.

If you think there is value in the whole 'something for nothing' concept, take a look at the US banks, and the entire current monetary system. and look where that got everyone. Almost total financial collapse that the US government had to bail out.

Smooth, you are so wrong. What you got was the use of an item be it a car, accomodations, a hang glider, or any other item you want to use either on a short or long term basis. I renovated my basement. I needed special tools which I rented. Why on Earth would I buy expensive tools that I would use for only one project?

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Dude, I know you are ever the advocate for Capitalism, but what I meant is that when you rent you come away with no asset. Yeah, you got a service, but you have no asset from whatever you rented. Spending $47,760 over the course of 20 years and having no music to show for it, IMO, is foolish and a total waste of money.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Where do you suppose they got that tidbit of information?

Don't know about you, but if I enjoyed "profits" of tens of millions, - even for 1 year - I'd still have plenty left.

Just sayin'

Reminds me of Mark Zuckerberg - the billionaire of facebook - he lost 3 BILLION dollars in 48 hrs last week as his stock tumbled again. Do I feel sorry for him? Nope. He's still got 14.6 billion left.

But how much money did you make out of that outlay? To be very conservative getting $100 a night for a show, three times a week is $300 times 52 is $15,600 a year for 20 years is $312,000. Not a bad sum. Even if you had to spend $40,000 for miscellaneous/equipment replacement/repair, it's still over $200,000 profit.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Timberlea, I do not like the idea of the Cloud, I don't like spending money that I get nothing in return for, meaning physically something in return. You don't have to agree with it, but at least understand it. If I spend money on music, I want to get music, whether is be on disc or in file form. What part of that don't you get??

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Then buy your music and quit harping about the cloud. It's not for you or me or many other hosts that have a good library but it doesn't mean it isn't for others. For you to say it's bad is ridiculous. I will never use the cloud but I don't demean it as something evil by the "corporate world" to screw the little guy. It, like most things is a choice. It may be successful, it may not, only time will tell.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Do you even bother reading anything here?? It was mentioned by Cueball that his understanding of the article was that perhaps without joining the Cloud one may not be cleared to work in a venue. That is why I stated my objection to the Cloud. I wouldn't want it forced upon me for the reasons I stated above.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

The above describes me. Please how this could possibly be true?

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

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