Karaoke Forums

i can only speak for myself here, but it isn't a complaint as much as a WTF?
seems odd to sell someone something you do not actually have the rights to sell yet. why not just wait for the licenses to be had, list finalized, and say "here is our new set"?
see what i mean?

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

So, when Amazon.com took orders for Harry Potter books months in advance, well before they had the right to sell them, and before any of the content was known, did that elicit a WTF? Why not wait until the release date?

Now, there's a stretch. Harry Potter has a bit of a following and most people will buy any book based on those characters. Kind of like those people who will stand in line for hours to see the new Star Wars or Star Trek movies as soon as they are released. Putting money down up front for what is basically an unknown product is quite different. While the quality of the recordings will probably be top notch; it doesn't matter one bit if the TITLES are mostly FLUFF OR THEY ARE TITLES THAT PEOPLE ALREADY HAVE!

Um, Bruce, SC has been in business for a very long time and has put out a consistently superior or very good product (even the SC haters can't honestly argue that). The chances of getting an inferior product is low based on their production history. How many car companies have produced duds?

SC, as much as you hate them, do have a customer base, and just because you and a few others would love to see failure, chances are you won't. Do you think they're just going to throw something out without doing a little bit of homework?

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Fixed that for you...though personally, I don't care if they are successful as a karaoke producer or not....

That being said:

Any legalities aside, what host in their right business mind would order karaoke tracks from ANY company without knowing what they are first? Even if a host is the biggest SC fan in the world, why would he order tracks that he may already possess on SC discs?

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Not rapdily diminishing here, if anything i'm getting MORE requests for SC tracks than ever. Had two new people tonight asking for specific SC songs/versions because nobody seems to have them - luckily I did. They were pretty happy.
But on the flipside I also get old school singers asking for Pioneer laserdisc versions specifically as well.

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

Then you are obviously not the target audience. Someone like me, who has less than half a dozen SC old-school discs will not have to worry about any "fluff". And while I may have dupes on my other cheapo sets, I would MUCH rather have the BEST quality rendition from SC. That's why I licensed the GEM set originally. On average, the truest reproduction to the originals.



People do it all the time.

People buy subscriptions to magazines in advance without know what the articles will be.
People buy hi-end sports cars before production, sight unseen without even a test drive.
People buy cell phones and tablets before they are released or reviewed.
People buy and even pre-order their favorite artists latest album before even hearing it.
People even buy monthly karaoke subscriptions without knowing what the songs will be.

Hard to avoid flaming remarks about this attempt at a parallel, but I trust I am successful with this plain statement: Harry Potter is a consumer item; the sole purpose of these tracts is commercial use--QUITE different in nature and scope of usage...

no, and here is why.
i read the other harry potter books, i used other SC tracks
the book coming out is new, the SC tracks are old
there is a synopsis of the new book, you have an idea of what it is, SC has no such synopsis
the harry potter book is complete, the GEM is not
it would be like selling the new harry potter book before it was even written.

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

I normally don't get in to discussions like this, But it seems to me that there are some simple things to be considered here.....

1- Yes, The tracks are older (Some of which are out of print and have been for a while), but they are tracks that most people have wanted over the years. That was the reason for the GEM in the first place. a set that had their most requested songs in it for the Karaoke Professional.

2- The $600 PrePay deal is for those people that trust sound choice to produce a good product (they almost always have done that) and want to get the new set right away.

3- No one is holding a gun to anybody's head here. if you don't trust the set will be worth the $600 now, then you don't have to buy it. you can buy it later if you like and pay twice as much. Simple.

4- Don't buy it at all if you Dislike Sound Choice and Don't want to use their product for whatever reason.


There are several options here. I don't see the problem or reason for getting pissed at (Or ranting about) Sound Choices Decision to offer this. Nor do I see the reason to rant about Sound Choices Business practices in general. They Will do things they way they want and no amount of complaining here is going to change that.

Just my two cents...

=)

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website

Yes, people do, but except for the last, all are for consumer use- write-off- and not for the purpose of generating business profits, and could actually be a loss if not checked first.

In your case, since you have so few original SC CD+Gs, and generally find their product to your liking, it should be ok, assumming the new set does not dupe any original GEMS.

As for the monthly subscriptions, they are usually much lower cost, and a user can decide to cancel if it becomes clear that it's not worthwhile.

As for the consumer stuff listed above, I would add that:

Specs for the cars are available for perusal. kind of like getting the song list before the set.

I have no explaination in regard to the cells and tablets except that this is a perfect example of just because something is done, it doesn't mean it was correct to do it.

A favorite artist is a favorite for a reason- consistantly pleasing that particular fan. Thus, only a small risk- for a CONSUMER, that is. Not a good constant practice for a pro Disc Jockey working on his/her library.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Ok, perhaps this is more analogous:

Comic book retailers purchase the books they are going to sell, mostly sight-unseen--at the time of solicitation, they may only have a creative team listed, if that, and some general hype copy or plot points. "This issue will change Superman _forever_! Make sure you order enough copies!" Months will pass before the books are released, for the end-consumer to buy--the inventory is bought for commercial use.

Here, comic book retailers are equivalent to karaoke hosts, the publisher is equivalent to... er, the publisher, I guess.

I don't really have a stake in this race, but the fact is that some business models do operate this way--not just karaoke publishing.

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

There is no assumption here. They are offering (whenever they get their song list together) 1200 original (original to the 1st GEM series issue) song tracks. To my knowledge, nothing has been specifically said that it wouldn't actually include some new (never released before by SC) song tracks.


http://www.soundchoicestore.com/

The Ad says 1200 songs on 1 (One) Emerald and 2 (Two) Sapphires. The Ad says that the one Emerald series will sell for $625 (consisting of 600 songs), and the two Sapphires series will sell at $325 each (consisting of 300 songs each --- totaling 600 songs). Let's see now.... $625 plus $325 plus $325 equals $1,275.00. They are offering this right now for $500. I would think (although it does hurt too much), that that would be at a "much lower cost," and you can decide to buy it now (not knowing what titles are included) or not.

Joe, the bottom line is, you and I will not be able to take advantage of this sale, because we don't meet the criteria stated in the Ad. Now, as to IF and when SC sets up something for people like you and me (ODB KJ) to become Certified, then it's a simple Consumer's Choice. Either order it now at the lower price (assuming you become Certified while they are still offering this sale price), or keep over-analyzing it, and don't get it.

Which means.....nothing. The point is that people buy things sight unseen because they like the product. It happens all the time as pointed out above.



Of course they do not have dupes. That is the point. They are an add-on to an already excellent product.



The point...is that people still buy them sight unseen based on reputation.



Specs for the GEM series are posted. The point is that you know exactly what quality you will receive...SC quality.



The reason that people spend the night inline for the latest iPhone or Droid is because they know the quality of the product and want the newest/best. Just because you shun all things new does not mean it isn't quality technology.



A favorite karaoke manufacture is a favorite for a reason- consistently pleasing that particular fan...a SC fan.



Sorry, but this makes zero sense. Whether or not one makes money off their purchase is completely irrelevant. The POINT is that PEOPLE AND BUSINESS buy products based on quality reputation and past performance every day. Even you.

I NEVER said that Sound Choice's products were of bad quality. In fact I mentioned that their quality is very good. I just don't trust them. They used to make people buy 15 songs to get the one they wanted. Now they want people buy 1200 songs without even a clue as to what the songs will be. They could be all Jazz and Rap songs for all I know, with a healthy dose of Standardrs and Show Tunes to boot.. They would probably be very good re-creations of those songs but I would have NO use for any of them. There would probably be about a dozen or so songs that might have been on my wish list. If there is a song that I want that badly, I'll buy the backing track and make it myself. My homemade tracks look every bit as good as anything Sound Choice puts out and my swipes are line by line and not page by page.

People have bought albums and CDs that had anywhere from 10-15 songs and there may have only been a few songs on it. What is the difference? Actually for a host, the variety of songs on a disc can be very good. What is "fluff" to you, may not be "fluff" to others.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

1) Not full specs- no song list, which is what we are talking about.

2) Just so you know, I own an iPhone ( only for non-business use) and an Android tablet- but I didn't buy them until AFTER I checked their performance.

3) I sit half-corrected. Part of what you say is true, but though SC may make a quality product, one still needs to know what it is. Once again, the song list.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Joe, you may have waited before you got your IPad, etc, but thousands, if not millions were getting them on the first day without any true knowledge.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

That USED to be how it works. First the music industry blamed pirates, then they discovered people simply wanted an easy path to the music where they could buy the tracks they want. THAT model is doing very well. A model that takes the 15 songs to 1200 is one of the most horridly stupid ideas I've ever heard of. It is doomed to fail. Sure, it will be attractive to a select few and I wouldn't blame those that are looking for a second rig or have a very limited library for liking it. But even if SC was in good standing with me and even if I could see the songs I probably wouldn't get it because I would look through my library and see that I already have half to three quarters of them. Then I might look at that list and see that only a small percentage of them appealed to me. But if you can't even see the list for $625? So I would be gambling $625 for maybe less than 100 songs? No thanks.. I can't imagine the market for this would be anything close to worth it.

No. What we are talking about is the fact that people buy things without such details every day.



And that is your choice. Millions more do not as they know the history of the companies products. I use my iPhone (and iPad) for business and have had every model on Day-1 since the v1 release on June 29th, 2007. I didn't have to wait for specs and reviews of the iPhone 5. Just like the GEM series, I had the previous six iPhone models and knew what I was getting. I couldn't be happier, but then again I am an early adopter and comfortable with new technology. You, most definitely are not.



You WILL get a list. The POINT is that you will not get the sale price at that time. Want a deal? Get it now.

I don't understand why this is such a hard concept to grasp.