Karaoke Forums

Any host been directly replaced by a cheap, pirate operator? Anyone notice how the venue ended up after that decision?

Me me!!
They closed now. I was making $150 a night (was giving him a break on the first couple months then we were supposed to go to $175), had the place hopping, around $3000 ringouts (I knew the bartender well & she showed me the numbers).
During the time the place went through an owner change & the new owner no longer wanted to pay even the $150 and hired a company that charged $75 - burned discs (spotty graphics), crappy Behringer system with literally blown subs, they were cracking and distorting the night I went in there. Didn't hook into any of the bar tvs (I hooked into the big projector & 2 25" in each corner for the audience. He set up on stage leaving very little room for the singer, I was off to the side where I could hear everything and had access to people without getting in the singers way.
Since most of the crowd were friends of mine and their friends they brought, and so on, they immediately lost business when they found out I was gone. The night I went in there it was me, the bartender (same one), the kj, the owner & 2 guys in the back playing video golf. They went from around $3K to less than $300 a night.
I did get a call back a couple weeks later, but unfortunately they couldn't pay my new price increase! Yep they went out of business a few months later. Had nothing to do with me being there or not, the guy just didn't have a clue how to run a business.

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

I replace pirates. But I digress.....

I have never lost a job to a pirate, but I have walked away from a couple regular gigs that were back filled by hosts that I am reasonably sure are pirating their music. The sad thing is one of those venues was dinged by Sound Choice in their run through the Seattle area.

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-Chris

have not lost a show to a pirate
not gotten a show because of a pirate though.
the venues know pirates are not a threat to them so they have no issue with them.
hard to push out a pirate with a good show when there is no reason.
have not lost a show to a pirate though.

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

Arrrrrgggg! Not aye!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Same as Paradigm--not been directly replaced (well, maybe for a few nights then brought back) but I continutally don't get shows when up against pirates. It is a bit different around here. The pirate is usually a friend/relative/employee so they have an "in."

There are advantages and disadvantages in working a large metropolitan area. Lots more pirates knocking on your door, but lots more gigs to go around as well. Now is the time of year that the cockroaches come out as people start doing private gigs and undercutting heavily to get business and make some extra cash for the holidays. I have chosen to only do a couple private gigs this year just for stress management.

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-Chris

I lost one to a pirate, but it's because the bar changed ownership and she didn't want to pay what I was making from the previous owner. she replaced me with a 50$ a night host that had the sweet Georgia brown series and the owners old disc's, she borrowed money from the owner and bought a pirated hdd off craigslist. and she still is working for 50$ a night.

can't and won't work for that!

and that's the way it is here in my neck of the woods, too many pirate hosts only 2 legit ones.

1 host runs off disc's and jvc players, artifacts everywere. but people like him cause he's been doing it so long he has remembered what songs are on what disc and you don't even have to look up the number because he knows it in his head.

great skill wish I could do it, but not needed as i'm digital.

and i'm the 2nd one, there was a third and I bought out all his disc's.

it really sucks here because someone sold pirated systems to the larger bars so they now run their own pirated systems, I've reported them everytime a new anti piracy group has come into existence but nothing is ever done. I hope some day they will make it here but being a small border town (Clarkston, wa. Lewiston, id.), I don't expect them to ever come.

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It's all good!

It has just been confirmed, the guy that I am splitting my gig with has been replaced at his old gig by a pirate that is doing it for less than 1/2 the price. That gig is a very demanding venue in that it is very large, outdoors, has many children, lots of drunks. The size slows up the rotation because of the time it takes to get to the stage area.

The pirate will never be able to handle it, but if the venue is more interested in saving dollars then who knows they may keep him.

Yep, very similar to what happened to me as well - hate ownership/management changes when you got a good thing going and the new ones are too blind to realize it.

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

If someone has to borrow money to buy a $200 HD of pirate music......well.....come up with your own derogatory phrasing. It always amuses me when I talk to people about my business and the looks they give me when I talk about the costs of doing business legally (and with quality).

I will admit though that I am starting to feel more pressure from pirates and undercutters. Now that we have built up clientele at venues, one venue owner has started asking me how he can get me to reduce my costs so I can reduce my fee. I told him the fastest way fro me to reduce my costs is to leave the venue. The 2nd fastest is for him to buy me out (gear and discs) and take over paying the host. Neither has happened.

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-Chris

[quote="mrmarog"]It has just been confirmed, the guy that I am splitting my gig with has been replaced at his old gig by a pirate that is doing it [b]for less than 1/2 the price[/b]. That gig is a very demanding venue in that it is very large, outdoors, has many children, lots of drunks. The size slows up the rotation because of the time it takes to get to the stage area.

The pirate will never be able to handle it, but if the venue is more interested in saving dollars then who knows they may keep him.[/quote]

Not sure what part of Florida you're in, I'm is SW Fl. and not only will they not pay extra for better KJ's with great equipment, most of the bar owners, even venues such as Elks, Moose don't even care how the singer's sound. They will absolutely sacrifice better quality for cheaper. There are at least two venues here where the Karaoke KJ is using small portable equipment with 8 in speakers little bass, no singer monitors, and very poor microphones. They don't even play filler songs between singers. Being from the Baltimore/Annapolis area in Md., if I brought that stuff to a show there, I'd be laughed out of the place, just a different world here. Sad that pirates and cheap KJ's have infiltrated the scene here and brought down the whole business. Heck I know an upscale golf course clubhouse where the KJ works 2 nights for free, just tips. That's just ruining the whole karaoke business.

I have never been replaced unwillingly. I have quit a gig, then the next guy was a pirate. The pirates do make it harder to compete for a new gig. Many owners think they can just throw some karaoke against the wall and it will stick, so the guys offering to do it for $50 or $75 look very attractive to somebody who can't tell the difference between a quality show and a bad one. The people who take their Karaoke seriously can tell the difference between a bad sounding system and poor quality songs, so they don't go to these places unless it is super close and the only option for that night.

When I go to a gig in the Los Angeles and Orange County area it is easy to tell who the pirates are. They are computerized but don't keep up to date and can't play a disc. How did you get these songs onto your computer if you can't play a disc? Easy, they buy the hard drive which also has a pirate player on it, but it is the cheap version that can't play a disc.

One guy I was competing for two different gigs that he got gave the owner exactly what he deserved. The KJ ran them both out of business. Better to pay me what I want, and have $2,000 to $3,000 drawers every night. Most of my singers buy dinner, and most of my singers drink enough to make this ex Marine proud. One table of two or three pays the difference between what I charge and what the other guys charge. The difference is the whole place is packed with people like this, instead of only 10 customers milking a pitcher of beer for the whole night. A few dollars spent to make much more. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it?

Felix the KJ

Being Computerized is NOT a gimme that the KJ is a Pirate. Neither is the fact that he/she can't play a disc on their setup. How the KJ got the files onto their computer has NOTHING to do with how their system is set up to play at a show. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I'm pretty sure the KJ did not just load all of his/her song tracks onto his/her computer right then and there (at the show). That requires a lot of time to do. I think you need new criteria to judge whether a KJ is a Pirate or not, because all you just presented was circumstantial evidence.

Fortunately, I haven't lost a gig to a pirate that I was already hosting at. I have, however, lost potential gigs to pirates who I know are illegal. The money, or lack thereof, that they charge is impossible for me to compete with.

When I started out years ago it was tough landing gigs for what i thought was a fair amount. Now, with experience, and a proven track record I have the luxury of not having to peddle for new gigs because most potential clients now call me. I used to get pretty upset about losing gigs to pirates but finally realized that hard work, an energetic personality and great equipment are the key ingredients to landing new gigs and keeping the ones you have.

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

Guess that makes me 2/3 pirate then.

I am computerized, and don't play discs. I have removed all the CD drives from my gig laptops and replaced them with large internal secondary hard drives so I don't have to use externals.

How do I get my songs on my computer? At home, I pop the secondary disc drive out of the bay and pop the CD back in. Or most of the time just rip/copy on my desktop and copy over the network. <POOF> It's like magic!

You may find this hard to believe but most of us have more than one computer.

not arguing at all, just adding my thoughts.
i have 1TB drives in my PC's, i partitioned them to have a small drive for the OS and software (in this case C: drive), but 800+GB left as just a music drive (In This case F: drive). only one drive needed and my CD drive can still play discs on the fly.

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

I feel bad about disappearing for almost a year... This thread was going good!

When I wrote this post originally, I was in fact replaced by a pirate, who is still there, getting paid approx half of what I made. No one has confronted the host about it, but when I confronted the bar owner, he shrugged his shoulders.

The bar makes less money now than when I was there, with half the participation.

We live in good times, brothers!

If you want to know the name of the place, PM me.

For one thing, pirate does not automatically equal crappy show. Another thing, one night of sub par entertainment does not put a bar out of business. Putting in a cheaper entertainment option is a sign of cutting corners, which is probably a sign of other things going wrong. So hiring a karaoke pirate is not the reason a bar would go out of business, but it might be an indication that they will be going out of business soon.

[quote="rickgood"][/quote]

Agree 110%

They are skating around all the rules that OLCC has in place regarding serving and food availability as well.
Outdoor deck is in shambles and about to cause serious injury...

The list goes on.