Karaoke Forums

Lonman, I'm sorry for any confusion.  Again, my main point is that all of the posts that preceded mine denigrated loaded drive shows.  My experience with them (including CAVS) has been quite different than those who left posts.  

You are correct: I don't sing new songs everytime I sing.  But when I have a karaoke catalog before me it offers "food for thought".  For example, most shows have a couple of songs by the Drifters.  How many shows offer: Under the Boardwalk, Up On The Roof, On Broadway, Save The Last Dance For Me, This Magic Moment, There Goes My Baby, Spanish Harlem and Down On The Beach? If I hadn't seen all of them offered at one show, I'd never have thought of them.  I'd like, eventually, to sing them all.  And I would have sung them all by now if not for the fact that there are many other songs I would like to sing just as much or more.  I have compiled a list of songs that I eventually plan to sing, which expands every week.  And by the way, I usually sing songs, unless I have them in my collection, without practice.  Often the results are great; sometimes I suck.  Sometimes, even after I have sucked, I'll try again to see if I can sing the song better.  More often than not, whether good or bad I'll never sing a song again.

I see what you mean I only have 5 of those 8 Drifters songs you mentioned & 1 you didn't.  
Little Red Book
Save The Last Dance For Me
There Goes My Baby
This Magic Moment
Under The Boardwalk
Up On The Roof

Now if ANY of these songs would have been sung in the last 10 years or so, i'd more than likely pick up the others I didn't have.  Under The Boardwalk maybe gets done on a fairly regular basis.  I know you were only using that 1 artist as an example, but again, I won't buy something that has never once been requested - legally.  I spend my money on legal discs that fulfill requests for the customers.  Not an illegal preloaded hard drive that I wouldn't own any of the originals to.
Trying new songs is great, but again, I find it hard to swallow that you can't find at least 1 new song to try at any given show.

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Those plus

Some Kind Of Wonderful
Little Red Book
Come On Over To My Place

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Join The Karaokle Singers Social Network. Upload Your Music!!

The RCMP (Canada's National Police Force) are starting their crackdown on illegal karaokes and pirates.

http://www.rcmp.ca/on/press/2006/06-07- ... ight_e.htm

http://www.rcmp.ca/on/press/2005/2005_dec_23_e.htm

It's a start but hopefully it will continue and the pirates either get busted or scared out of business.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I never said, nor implied, that I can't find one new song to sing at any given show.  I have said, in fact, there are times when I sing no new songs, by choice.  HOWEVER, when the opportunity has presented itself, there have been occasions at shows when I have sung 6 new songs.  One night (not at a "show") I did 15 new songs in a row at a Karaoke (member's only) bar/club I belong to.  The KJ put in a disk and handed me the mic.  There wasn't another singing member in the place at the time, so I kept going!

Lonman, you don't have to justify to me why your catalog lacks certain songs.  I don't consider myself to be the average karaoke singer and no one should create an inventory of disks based upon my tastes.  For example, I have never had a desire to sing "My Way" in public (though I can sing it quite well) and what show can do without that song?  And, actually speaking, how many people younger than sixty have a desire to hear that number?  Thankfully, people have stopped singing, I believe, "Alexander's Ragtime Band"?

Well you kind of did imply that stating that if a show didn't have a large selection to find new songs in, that you don't go.

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No, I said the DJ, the fellow singers and th..e..n the selection effected my decision where to go.  Again, I have plenty of show to chose from in my area that have large catalogs, some on disks only.

I really am surprised at how many of you have your minds closed to another viewpoint.  Why is everything I am saying being challenged?  I offered my opinion as someone who spends time supporting karaoke venues, singing at a variety of shows and buying karoake disks?  You're not going to change my mind or opinion.

You can just keep believing what you want: (a) hard drive show use crap equipment,  (b) the song quality on those hard drives is inferior, (c) no one will keep going to one of those show, particularly once they have experienced your show (c) ignorant owners aren't impressed when they are told that the average KJ has 10,000 or less songs (with 20% dups) and the KJ (with hard drive) pitching for the business has 100,000 songs (and a following)  Fine.  Believe what you want!  

And, lastly, I still don't get the point those of you are making when you say there are many dups on those hard drives.  What if there are 30,000 dups on the drive with 60,000 tracks?  That still leaves 30,000 distinct songs to choose from.  How many songs can one play at a time?  And who of you of 30,000 songs, if 30,000 songs is something to put down?

How many people actually go to karaoke venues on a regular basis?  Raise your hands, please...

I for one have never been to a karaoke bar.  I did sing at a couple of Carribean cruises, and two company parties at a 5-star hotel, but most of the time I sing when I host a private party at a venue or at home.  The reality is that karaoke is getting so cheap nowadays that most people stay at home and sing with their own equipment.  My friends have gotten rid of their laser disc players and have moved on to... the MagicSing mic.  Why should they go to karaoke bars and wait in line when they can have all the fun in the comfort of their homes?

Let's face it.  $50K is a lot of money to spend on karaoke music alone.  Anyone claiming to have spent that much money on karaoke music is either a poor business person or simply not telling the truth.  

I don't subscribe to the notion that karaoke will die because of loaded hard drives.  People will continue to buy karaoke music for their personal use from time to time.  Playing karaoke music using a computer is simply not for everyone.  Most people that I know just won't deal with anything more complex than putting a CD in a player and selecting the track number or pushing the numbers on the MagicSing mic.  

In my opinion, the emergence of cheap, portable, and easy-to-use karaoke machines such as MagicSing poses a real threat to the publishers of karaoke music.  Unless those companies adapt to the changing dynamics of the market, they will find that more people will flock to the built-in karaoke mics.  Surely, they don't sound as good as the CDG based karaoke music, but most people I know are perfectly happy with the MagicSing.  I must admit that, sometimes, I feel irritated when someone selects songs off of the MagicSing instead of the CDG, MP3G songs.

JMHO.  Time to crawl under the rock again...

I still do not know what your opinion is, so how I can I agree or disagree with you? Oh I forgot, opinion on what?

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

I have very close to $50,000 spent on karaoke music.

I bought laser discs that were $110 each.

I was also buying discs for 3 systems.    Each system was not musically the same.   That means we printed 3 different song books.

I have every sales receipt since I bought my house in 1984.

I started karaoke in 92.

I have thousands of dollars spent in repairs to equipment.   Laser players.    My cellar looks like a grave yard for used machines.


Agreed that not every illegal KJ has crappy equipment.    I have been referring to the ones in my area.   They are buying the systems from the same HACKS.     The same crappy system they use, they put together to sell to others.     Shoe box speakers.


I can't wait to go to computer.    I'm sick of the disc hassle.   I'm shopping for shoe box speakers now.

No closed minds, you offered an opinion, this is a discussion forum, expect rebuttal to your opinion.  No one is saying you have to change your mind on anything.



a) Never said that all hard drive shows use crap equipment, the majority does as they are trying to get away as cheaply as possible which is why they buy the illegally pre loaded hard drive in the first place.
b) AS A RULE that is true, the ones that are illegal don't necessarily have crap - they have illegal copies of complete sets of quality companies.  Although often they are ripped at lower bit rates to make even the quality discs sound less than great.
c) People will go where they feel best suits their needs.  However SUPPORTING these shows are basically supporting piracy & screwing the karaoke industry overall.
c - again or was it d? )  Again this is all a marketing scheme.  In my experience rarely was brought up the actual number of songs to be an issue.  The companies that ADVERTISE as having 60K songs but actually HAVING 30K - most likely less, are the ones that i'm talking about.  Claim 100K songs, but in actuality, advertise the actual individual - unique - songtitles.  I've seen several shows advertise high numbers but their books have 5 or 6 listings of the same song - great, if they want to list the dups, that's perfectly fine, no problems here, don't advertise each duplicate as an individual song, that's nothing but false advertising, but if they are already illegal in the first place, I guess they will do bogus advertising to support themselves as well.



Then ADVERTISE 30K songs, not 60K.  
I'm NOT against computer users that obtain their library legally, it's the ones that buy a hard drive off of ebay & the people that support THAT kind of show which the majority of the larger 'complete' libraries are illegal & the people that support those shows ARE supporting piracy!

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Really? I have over 1,400 discs. Some more costly than $22 each, a few that are less. But let's use $25.00 a disc as a good, round about figure.

1400 times $25 = $35,000

As I've always been part time, I didn't keep minute to minute accurate records. But that's just an average figure anyway. It's a lot easier to get to that number than you think! That's not what we said. We said that due to the blatant piracy, the manus have ALREADY threatened to quit production. They've already scaled it way back.  

Yes, and you've been shown time and time again that the wonderous hard drive people you go see that have 60,000 songs ... are HURTING our industry. You support the venue, but according to your own words, only when the selection meets your criteria, due to the abundance of shows. So you support the lowlifes, not those that have dedicated their past ten years or more into supporting the karaoke industry. You support hacks and frauds that come in cheap, with NO regard to the industry that they're serving. So for me, you're GOING to get an opposing viewpoint!

Knowone here is downing your opinions here. If you want to go to shows based upon the number of titles they offer then so be it! Hey if that flips your switch then that's fine with us.

Just remember that many of the posters in this thread are professional KJ's that have many years of experience, and a ton of money invested in quality selections that have been carefully assembled and have alot of sweat equity involved in getting them in that condition.

To date I have somewhere near $27,000 invested in my library and I'm very proud of what I have been able to assemble in 8yrs. To think that someone can with a click on the internet can buy a preloaded hard drive with 40K songs for say $400 and be in business competing against me makes my blood boil. But it's a fact of life and there will always be people who want to take "shortcuts" to get the jump on the competition.

I tend to agree with Lonman, many of these folks take similar shortcuts in equipment purchases and are only in it for the money and their shows reflect it.

Nobody is putting you down for wanting more choices in your selections. But some of us here know that over 95% of our customers could really give a rip how many selections we have. We can have 8-12K selections and cover the vast majority of the requests. I have probably 16K selections but only list just over 10K. Most of my purchases now are custom cdg's to fill my customer requests. I no longer buy individual CDG's.

You are the exception to the rule.....one of the 5%'ers....KJ's have to target the desires of the 95% Unfortunately we cant please all of the people all of the time.

I can tell you this...if you were a regular at my shows and you wanted to sing songs that I did not have...I would purchase them for you if you intend to sing them and come in regularly. That's just good business. But to expect KJ's to have obscure titles in their selection just waiting for the right singer to walk through the door is unrealistic. If I have obscure titles it's because it came on a disc that had the songs I really wanted or I have purchased it for a specific customer.

I would suggest that you find a place you really like to sing at because of quality of sound, quality of KJ and atmosphere suit your tastes. Then ask the KJ to purchase those songs that you wish to sing, and give him a nice tip. I betcha the next time you come in he will have your songs....the preloaded hard drive guy would never do this for you.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

Oh, but the hard drive guy can download them for free.    I have heard of them taking requests for new songs to download.    If they get them free, what's the big deal.    He can download requests all day long.   Costs him nothing to make his singers happy.

Folds: What is the best karaoke format on the hard drive ? Is there way to converse MIDI files to it? Thanks...

I feel that the MP3+G formant is the best for digital karaoke.  Many companies are selling soungs via download in that format, and it is playable on many players and hosting programs.

If they are USING that backup system at any time their main system is being used, then they are a true thief/pirate/scumbag, as they are now making money of of a system they didn't pay for in the first place!  


i think that's a little harsh don't u think?

do u ever speed in ur car/truck? how many people r killed on the highways each year by speeding?  what does that make you?

and think about it....if u don't speed the cops write less tickets, less tickets mean less cops r needed, causing a lay off...which in turn brings the unemployment higher...is there ever an end to this?  

and on the same thought, if u and any other high and mighty's on here see someone speeding do u in turn call the cops on ur cell phones reporting them?

do you personally stop each person who has too much to drink from driving? it is ur show that they're there for and that in turn is causing them to drink, because if they didn't drink then the bar would close, causing even higher unemployment....

no one is lily white, to stand on a soap box and call people those sorts of names is way out of line to me.....next time u speed how would u like for a mother who's son was killed by a speeder to pull u over and give u a good talking to and call u all sorts of names....

nothing against anyone personally but all this lily white crap is bull...

cast the first stone i say.....JMO

In this city/state it is against the law for a bar to allow anyone who is too intoxicated to drive.  It is also against the law for the bar to serve anyone who shows signs of being intoxicated.  Violation of either law can result in a fine to the bar, potential loss of liquor license and whichever employee served, or observed signs of intoxication and did not alert the waiter/waitress/bartender to stop serving, loses ability to work in a bar (TAMS card).

So, would I stop someone from driving drunk?  Yes.
Do I exceed the speed limit? No, I work for a school district and violating the law would result in my unemployment; before that I worked for the National Guard as a commissioned officer and was expected to set an example for the troops and so, no, I didn't violate the law then either.
Am I totally legal?  I don't know (too many laws to keep track of) but I try.