Karaoke Forums

It's all in the title......

Water Drinkers came up in another thread and I don't want to derail it.

I know that water drinkers (aka...nut munchers, chip eaters, popcorn pickers, etc) are the bane of all karaoke hosts. Some KJ's dislike having even one in their bar ever at any time. Other's tolerate them with caution.

I personally have nothing against water drinkers. There are lots of people in this world that don't drink alcohol, but love to sing. I know many singers in this category and I can't hold their drink preference against them. Even if they don't eat anything and don't contribute much in the way of real $$$ to the bar, I don't get bent out of shape about it.

The occasional regular or even 2-3 regulars that don't drink/eat don't bother me. There is plenty of room in the club and the rotation for them and they have as much right to be there as anyone else. But when they come in groups it can destroy a karaoke show.

Years ago in Texas (Dallas), there was a group of AA members that formed a common bond over karaoke. It started out with 3 or 4 folks and they would hang out at a couple of different bars where karaoke was held. This was back in the days of smoking indoors and many of them smoked, but they of course didn't drink. They did eat now and then, but not the way the bars wanted them to. Still, they were tolerated because they were a lively group, sang well, and were obviously less rowdy than many of the drinking patrons.

But as many like-minded groups go, they started to attract other fellow AA folks. Strength in numbers. On the surface they helped keep each other on the straight and narrow - even though meeting at bars - and under any other circumstances they would be a great group of people to hang out with. But when the group grew to be 8-15 people showing up, drinking only water, and spending substantially less on other items, it became a concern for the karaoke hosts because they knew their rotation would blow up, the other regulars would have to wait longer, and the bars lost money.

I don't know what ultimately happened to the group, but I know they had a couple of run-ins with local bars on karaoke nights over the money issue.

Not that this is a real concern but, how would you handle a situation like this?

-Chris

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-Chris

As a bar owner, I would charge $2.50 for each bottle of water, no cups of tap water, and $2.00 for a cup, or can of soda. That would either chase them out or force them to spend money. Also, no free snacks on the bar. You want a basket of popcorn, you pay $1.00. If they squawked, I would tell them that they need to help pay for the entertainment or they couldn't sing. That, or charge a $5.00 cover at the door.

As a Karaoke host, all one can really do is to inform the patrons that the bartenders and servers are working hard to make sure you are taken care of, so don't forget to take care of them, and promote alcohol sales. You can't force people to buy drinks, but you can gently nudge them.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

I generally stick to bottled water when out, but have no problem supporting a venue.

As for "food", I'd be thrilled if the average venue would offer more than a few wilted veggies for those who don't want to eat the kind of unhealthy bread/cheese/meat/grease based items that pass for meals at most bars. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would order food if actual food was available!

I assume that you don't mind paying for the bottled water? What other ways do you support the venue if you don't buy food or drinks?

The way I look at it, if a bar pays me $200 and during my show I can get 60 singers to the stage, 200 divided by 60 is $3.33 per song. If you didn't purchase anything, you just took $3.33 from the bar for every song you sang, because someone else could be singing that would buy something and carry their weight of the entertainment expense.

I agree with smooth. Bars are in business to make money. If people come in and drink water and eat the free munchies, and don't pay for anything, they're not really supporting the bar. Charge them for water. Charge them for the munchies. But don't let those freeloaders get off without paying for anything. And if they don't like it, find someplace else to go. OR... get yourself a karaoke machine and invite your freeloading friends over to your house where you can sing, eat and drink for free.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I WISH more bars sold food. First off, if they sold enough food, here in Florida, they would have to ban smoking. Second, I would quite happily buy some munchies to keep me going. There is nothing worse than getting hungry in the middle of the show, and not being able to eat for two more hours.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

I've always said if the bars are giving out free water & snacks, then bad on them! They need to charge for every drink that hits the table - beit water, coffee or soda. Drop the 'free snacks' during events and charge maybe a $1 a plate. Our bar used to do this & I convinced them to do just that and the free loaders pretty much gone by the wayside.

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

I leave it up to the bar because they know the locals and may have reasons for letting them stay--we had one lady who brought in her own drink in her own travel mug but she was welcomed as she spread $200 worth of tips to the singers that went right into the till. Others may attract spenders so it is the call of the bar-because sometimes crowds beget crowds. But if there were massive groups running off paying customers by taking up too many rotation spots then it would definitely be a problem.

I go with charging for water and giving people something else to spend their money on. Some of the bars that have the fancy blender drinks will make virgin versions that can be sort of like smoothies. I think there are various "virgin" cocktails that can be concocted also. A bar I'mat now just bought one of those pod type coffee machines to offer gourmet/flavored coffees by the cup and sold much more than they expected on the first night. In the case of where it is almost an organized group coming in then maybe the owner could talk to them and arrange for something that they wouldn't mind buying or negotiate a group cover charge of some sort just for them.

It isn't just a problem that some people can't drink alcohol at all. With the drunk driving laws being more strict, many people have to limit what they drink and even taper off or cut off for the last few hours. So bars need to branch out as far as non-alcoholic selections for everyone's benefit.

Ruh-Roh!! This is a sore subject with me. If you are out at a venue that is offering entertainment then you should be spending money. I have implemented the same plan that Lonman has in the venues that I do. Bottled water and no free snacks during karaoke. I used to have this group of young adults (5) come in every Monday night at my show and order waters and sing all night and spend no money. They were all very talented and alot of people enjoyed hearing them sing. The "regulars", however, seen it from a different standpoint. They enjoyed hearing them sing but didnt think it was fair for them to take so much room in rotation and yet not spend a dime. The venue was and is very busy and singing twice during my show is about normal.
A week later after talking it over with the venue owner we decided to start charging for waters and soda refills. For most folks it didnt change anything but it did run those 5 singers off quite quickly.
If you don't drink alcohol that's fine. Order an appetizer and soda. Get something to eat and patronize the establishment. These venues are in business to make money like the rest of the world.

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

Reminds me years back when I played at a club close to the city community college. New management, new policy. I was told the reason the former owner filed for chapter 11 was attributed to water zipping college kids that came in droves. The new owner let the food & bar staff handles the request slips. No more stacks of slips & pencils readily available to them. Buy food &/or drinks you get the slips. That took care of the spongers in a week.

Fast forward present time - with the advent of technology such as kiosk & iphone apps song requests, don’t know how you can do that now short of just kicking them out of the venue hoping there would be no legal repercussions.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

It can be difficult to monitor these days. There has been an increase in people smuggling in their own booze or tanking up at home before coming in or making frequent visits to their cars. Economy. In fact I just read an article on the bar business where people always think drinking won't take a hit in bad times which it doesn't but bars do because of the above. People drink more cheaply at home. Once I went to collect a song slip and caught a lady actually refilling a SODA glass from a bottle in her coat pocket. That is pretty desperate.

Drinking in a bar IS a rip off, really. The bar industry is one of the biggest scams right along with health and car insurance. I drink imported beer. I hate Budricer. But when you think about the fact that it costs $4.00 a beer, making a six-pack cost $24.00 in a bar, when you can buy that same six-pack for $7.99 at the store, you can see what a scam the bar industry is.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

It's not a scam for a "bar"to want to make a profit. Imported beers are more expensive than domestic therefore you pay a premium. It doesn't cost McDonalds $2.00 for a small soda but people buy them just the same.
You don't go to bars just to drink. Socializing and entertainment are the draw for most that go into bars. As you pointed out, you can drink cheaper at home. Perhaps this is an option you should consider.

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

I have always had a problem with Profit. When does profit just become greed?? When you think about a bottle of Vodka, that can be bought for $21 being sold in shots for a total of $128, to me that is greed.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

But if you drink it in a bar you are also paying for the rent, the equipment, the employees and everything else that goes into keeping the bar there. If they sold it for the same cost as you can buy it at a liquor store then they couldn't afford to have a bar open for you to drink in or do your shows in. For some people it is worth it to have the social experience and for others they drink at home.

And that is why people tank up at home, then go out and only have to have a couple of drinks to supplement.
When I was young, my friends and I would keep a cooler in the trunk of the car, and go outside, drink a couple of beers, come back have one in the bar, go out have a couple more outside. Great way to get trashed. I don't drink nearly that much anymore. Too old for that, now.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Then how do you expect the bar to make enough money to stay open or pay you for karaoke services? Aren't YOU the one making the profit--and not honestly at that--when you used the bars services and facilities and enjoyed what they had to offer while not paying for it? You made a profit to yourself at the bar's expense. Not only that but many people who do that same thing also dump their empties in the parking lot causing extra work for the bar so it's a minus.

That I didn't do. I never littered. But I would still buy some drinks from the bar, just not all of them. But I would get good and drunk.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

In my area the State controls the price of alcoholic beverages by setting a minimum price that the bars must sell them for. On the other hand though I have been in some establishments where the price of a beer was $4.00 and mixed drinks were astronomical!
Bill

Hmm, profit is what we all as business owners would like to make. The more the better if possible. That is WHY people go into business - PROFIT! Why would you open a business that isn't making money or barely getting by?

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