Karaoke Forums

So do I.

As I have said before, there is nothing that this software can do that we can't do for ourselves without it. And for free.

I love how DigiTrax and KaraoQ try to justify it. They're trying to lead you to believe that this will be the savior of the industry. But guess what? It's not.

You, the KJ, are responsible for your own success. It's about your hosting skills as an entertainer. If people like you, they are going to come to your shows. If you treat everyone fairly, they are going to come to your shows. It's not going to matter to them what software program you use, rather how special you make them feel while they are at your show.

The software doesn't make the show, YOU do.

I will never use or endorse the use of KaraoQ. I don't need it to be successful. (although that's what they would like you to believe)

Let's face if folks, this is a business for them. They're in it to make money. At our expense. They need us in order for that to happen. So of course they're going to justify their product and claim that it's the greatest thing since slice bread. It's all about the marketing.

Some of you will buy into it while some of you will see right through it for what it really is.

I wish them luck.

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

I'm tremendously confused by this thread.

I understand the objections that many of you have to this system. As a singer, I have my own reservations.

But I don't understand the vitriol. If you don't like it...nobody is forcing you to use it. I'm sure the good folks at Digitrax want as many people to adopt this system as possible, but I doubt very much whether any of them will be losing sleep if you don't. There is plenty of room in the industry for different business models. Time will tell if this works. I like those guys a lot, and I hope they succeed.

$100 = you're next. Cash only.

Simple. To the point. Deterrent.

Has happened 6 times in 10 years (2000+ weekly shows).

People offer, literally, "a little money to move up". They know that what they are doing is trying to "cut in line". The only person who is okay with that is the cutter.

I operate in some wealthy resort areas and in some little Colorado one-horse towns. I cultivate camaraderie and audience participation. I have a following of loyal karaoke enthusiasts who travel to more than one show a week. They know that they are going to be treated fairly and that I won't take bribes to move someone ahead of them in the list. The thing is, that list is ALWAYS visible and people count on it to time their activities so that they are ready when it is their turn.

I have people (regulars) who put in a half dozen song requests as soon as sign-up is open. They intend to stay the entire evening and are supremely aware of the wait time between songs.

I agree with Chris that as a KJ, success is heavily influenced by your reputation as far as how you handle your rotation. Fairness is paramount. Consistency in your policy is key.

I'd be inclined to believe that KaraoQ has met with this attitude quite often. I don't have a problem with change. I do have a problem with changing to something that commonly provokes an adverse response. Even David G admits a negative initial reaction. He may very well be a zen-master who can quell the chaos within, but your typical karaoke patron isn't putting their effort into contemplation. They are waiting for their turn and they don't want to wait longer no matter the reason. If you make the reason money, you're much more likely to elicit anger and backlash.

My 2 cents. I'll be tuning in to the stream.

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Never the same show twice!

Again.. and to say it one more time; The KJ has little influence as to how the audience chooses the rotation with this system. Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to not screw it up and make some extra chunk. YOU aren't changing the rotation, THE SINGERS ARE. And they know what to expect because you've done your job in making sure they know how the system works.

I think many of you fail to see some of the advantages here. No more people coming up asking why so in so is singing ahead of me. When is my turn? How much longer? I am sure you skipped me (unless you really did). Look, I know this is entirely different. I've been to Japan and karaoke is quite different there. I STARTED doing karaoke in Japan.. The point is (this time) karaoke doesn't have to be as black and white as many of you think it is.

But I agree with Jim; Stay stuck in black and white if you want.. But why gang up on these people for being innovative? Maybe because ganging up is what many of you do best on this site? And that is not directed at those asking hard questions. Hard questions are sometimes the best thing about this site.

I am thinking of signing up and all I do are "free" home shows.

Is there an API so I can integrate with my karaoke program?

The shows that people are describing as being fair and supportive of all are what I am comfortable with. If I don't run a show that way I will have older singers walk out. But I'm in a town where I get all ages. I tend to lose the younguns when I run a straight line karaoke show. Their attention span wants constant mix up and stimulation like a video game. They value brutal honesty (aka rude to us old people) over being supportive. They aren't loyal and go where the crowds go on any given night. They don't count turns or care about order so much as wanting constant energy--and other people their own age to "meet."

It isn't my world but I fear that the younger crowd would feel very comfortable with such a program and would love to buy their way over someone else, especially if they didn't like their singing or song choices. They do it all the time on the juke box as it is. Their mode of interaction is via devices and computer programs and I think they would be quite comfortable with this program. It isn't my cup of tea but people should at least be aware of it so as not to be completely blindsided by the fact that sometimes the world changes.

And was was the greatest thing before Sliced Bread?

Of course YOU like them. They are doing something that KJs DON'T like. That has been your area all along. You love SC even though they are screwing KJs left and right, between using lawsuits as a mechanism for sales, and agreeing to this RIDICULOUS HELP program, where people have to pay FOREVER to use outdated material, right down to producing the same songs as everyone else, and charging MORE for them. You are ALL about screwing KJs as long as it ups YOUR bottom line.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Betty White

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

Bread... & a knife...

LOL... But that would have been even funnier if the question had stated White Bread instead of Sliced Bread.

It isn't just the older singers that would complain, our avg age group is anywhere from 21-40, THEY are the ones that get all up in arms if people are even inserted at the end of a rotation to push them further down the line and the same ones that told me they'd be the first to leave if I started doing something like this.

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

I wonder how the venue owners will feel about paying a KJ a rate to run a karaoke show, then to find out the KJ is also charging the singers extra, and then happily giving 25% of it away to a third party?
Might the venue owner realize that the venue is now competing with the KJ for drink dollars?

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KNOW THYSELF

Definitely could be seen that way, further cutting a kj's pay potential from a venue directly.

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

ok, so over this last week i have been asking my hosts, and singers. in the hypothetical if i brought this onboard, what would their reaction be...
of all things (much to my surprise) the part of the app that made people uncomfortable was the rating system.
they did not see the issue with the bumps IF there was a limit to one bump for any singer within a round. you could bump yourself or someone could bump you but you can not sing again until everyone else has sang their song. you can't get a night of people bumping the greatest singer to sing over and over again.
the rating system was a point where many mentioned that we have more than one "dying cow" (their words) s=and to have them feel so bad because they get a "1 star" rating is not acceptable to them (both hosts and singer).
i do have to admit my surprise to this, they are more worried about another singers feelings being hurt.
the general consensus was if the rating part could be turned off they would be good with it.
didn't see that coming, and still not sure how i feel.

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

I believe that the KaraoQ rep stated the BUMP feature would only allow 1 bump per customer per night, so your Singers' concern over someone singing more than once within the same Rotation would be a moot issue.

As for the Rating System of someone's performance, I'd be curious as to how that would actually work. I don't remember the unit model, but there was a Laser Disc Player (I think it was from Panasonic) that had a rating system built into it. It would rate how accurately the Singer was singing (starting at a score of 100, and subtracting from there), or it would rate 2 singers against each other on a Duet (in a competition mode). One KJ had used this a few times for our amusement. It was hysterical, because it really could not tell if you were singing off key or not. The only thing it really measured was your timing (you had to be in synch with the notes of the song as they came up). It really could not tell if you were Flat, Sharp, or on Key. I remember 1 week, I sang "Dust in the Wind" and scored a perfect 100. The next week, I sang the same song, and scored a 60. I witnessed a girl singing "The Rose" one night, and she was sooooo off-key, it was pathetic. Everyone in the audience felt she sounded like Quint running his fingernails down a Blackboard in "Jaws".... She scored a perfect 100. Go figure.

This is something I don't understand. The venue wanted you to cycle the tempo of the music so they could turn tables and make more money. That's the reason you're there, ultimately. I can understand why you'd leave the venue if you thought they were asking you to do something unethical, but I don't see the dilemma here. Lots of venues vary the tempo of the music playing in the background so people are encouraged to cycle out and make room for more customers - there are specific music channels that do this constantly to achieve the effect.

Making the venue more money is the reason they hired you. A business that doesn't make money isn't a business, it's a hobby.

Can't imagine who you're talking about.



It actually doesn't feel very much like "participation", more like banging one's head against a wall. It only feels good when you stop. You are a notable exception, though. It's obvious you fit the quote regarding an educated mind I posted earlier.



I'll give you a few, in preview to the Summit. You're a veteran in these spaces so they might be more obvious to you than someone else, but I'll outline them for the rest of the forum.

Social Media: Your Tweets may or may not get noticed. A lot depends on the time of day you're tweeting, the volume of tweets from other follows the customer has, the quality of your hashtags, and other factors. Facebook posts from a Page only show up in about 10% of your followers' News Feeds, unless you are spending advertising dollars with FB. Emails carry their own freight, and risk running afoul of draconian spam laws unless you have a double-opt-in system.

Push notifications are much better. They bypass spam filters, carry direct calls to action, perform really well as conversion tools, and are persistent on the device until they are dismissed.

The app also allows customers to post their show participation directly to their social media accounts, and log in to the app via those channels as well. This encourages them to spread the word about your show to their own followers.

Enhanced value to the venue: In the KaraoQ system, the venue is active partner in the karaoke experience for your customers. You work with them to develop purchasing triggers that live inside the app to move drink specials (and etc.). Not only does this enhance your value to the venue, it's tracked for you and them so you have concrete proof of your value (i.e. "On Thursday night, my show resulted directly in $900 additional drink sales, Mr. Venue Owner. Says so right here on your control panel.") We've shown through our own tests that this can also increase dwell times significantly.

Better customer acquisition: Users with KaraoQ installed can see all their local venues that run KaraoQ (includes location info, time of show, etc.), organized by distance from their current location. Potential customers you might not have reached through your other social media touches can be encouraged to attend this way. You get better return visits through using the loyalty strategies. These are measured results as well.


Earlier in the thread, someone (I think it was you) mentioned the difficulty in encouraging app uptake and managing dual rotations - we've addressed those issues as part of the vertical KaraoQ integration also.

There's quite a bit more to the system, including some truly eye-opening partnerships that help push the night of entertainment over the top, but you'll hear about those at the Summit.



By that same definition, a venue is "bribing" you by offering to pay you more than another venue for the same night of entertainment. They have persuaded you to act in their favor by a gift of money. In what sense is this a "bribe"?



The last thing we'd want you to do is compromise your reputation. On the contrary, we want to help you build on it.

Man, you just won't give it up will you?

DigiTrax: Do you realize we don't need this software to be successful? Do you realize we can do most if not all that it can do for free?

If a KJ has to rely on a "tool" to be successful, they're not very competent as a host.

Now, I'm sure with your excellent marketing of this, you may be able to sway some folks who are on the fence about this. You may even be able to persuade some folks who started out totally against this.

Yes my boy, marketing is everything. Convincing the public to buy a product they don't really need.

Do you remember the format wars between VHS and Betamax? Even though Beta was the superior format, VHS won. Why? Because JVC was a marketing genius.

Flash forward to the battle between two new formats. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. This time, HD-DVD should have won. It was proven to be the superior format, yet Blu-Ray won out. This time Sony wasn't going to lose out again and their marketing strategy created the win.

The point is, people can be bought. Convinced that they need something that they don't. Led to believe that their world will be a better place if they only use our product.

The fact is, many people are very gullible and naive, and believe what is thrown at them. So, marketing is everything. And I have to say, you guys are doing a good job trying to make people believe they want and need this. And for some, it just might work. But for everyone else I say...

Stop trying to cram this down our throats.

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

Ridiculous and absolutely false comparison.

(1) Venues don't "bribe you to work there" and using this kind of tactic to market your product is simply and insult to the KJ's that have been in this business far longer than Digitrax has been in existence. And I can't believe you somehow don't know this.

(2) Any situation where two venues are vying for the same KJ is still not "a bribe." No matter how you want to characterize it, anymore than selecting your streaming service over any different active manufacturer can be construed as "bribing you." And in the 20+ years that I've been in business, I've had this type of situation happen exactly ZERO times.

Please find some newbie KJ's to convince with this kind of disingenuous tactic because you have a far better chance at pulling your wool over their eyes.

You're not going to convince any of us by insulting us.

Thank you Chip for making it even clearer as to how dumb Digitrax must think we are. Digitrax needs to find another forum that has lower standards than this one does. DT wrote some where that this forum is not what it used to. He is probably right because I think we have cleared out all the pirates. DT needs to find out where they went to and peddle their crap to them.
Calling it a bump instead of a bribe, is like calling their 25% fee "protection or extorsion money".