Karaoke Forums

I stop by and take a look at the forum to see if anybody is actually making any posts. Seems like most people who actually even check in, still don't leave any remarks at all. Sad day for the forum. Does that mean that it is officially dead? or just hibernating?

By the way, I went on a road trip this last weekend and visited 3 new (to me) venues to sing, each in a different state (Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana). Now while all three I had some positive things to say and note about them,,I will still stick to my earlier post about karaoke really is just scheduled background noise. The average bar goer does not care about the quality of the sound equipment, nor how the host does his/her job. As long as the average patron can have their drinks and have a little fun while out on the town, that is all they care about. In my own opinion, as hosts, we are only feeding our own egos into thinking what we do and how we do it, makes any real difference for the everyday bars. Again, this does not hold true that are karaoke specific venues,, then I think what and how we do our jobs does help, but it still all boils down to the customers themselves,, whether they had a good time or not. And it's really that simple. It's the customers who make or break our shows, not us. That is just my own humble opinion, yours may vary.

I drop by from time to time as well, and must plead "Guilty, Your Honour" (note, it's HonoUr - I'm Canadian), in that I seldom post any more... Having said that, I agree that generally speaking, patrons couldn't care less about sound quality or how we operate as hosts... but there are those regular attendees who do care. They're the folks who show up week after week... seldom drink too much... and applaud after every singer... and more often than not, they thank the host at the end of the evening. Of course, it's the drinkers and rowdies who support the bar.. so we need a mix of both.. It's the cost of doing business.

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Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

This is only partially true. Here's the way I see it...

You have 2 groups of people. Group A, could care less about how good of a system you have and probably couldn't tell the difference between a $10,000 system or a Walmart special... nor would they care. They're the ones that can't sing and are just looking for attention.

Then you have Group B. These are the people who take karaoke seriously. They know all the places and who has the best sound. And they're usually good singers. These people will support shows where they like the host, how he/she runs their show, and how good they're going to sound.

I still get compliments all the time from singers telling me that you have the best sound around and how good I make them sound... and how much fun they have at my shows.

I have built my reputation on running a high energy show, that's fun for all... and with awesome sound equipment. And I will continue to do that because even though, as you say, many people don't care... many people do.

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

Alan, that is exactly what I am saying... so it appears you actually DO agree with my evaluation.

Using your own group A/B ,,, Group A comprises the largest group of customers in your typical bar or venue. Most likely it is 90% of the customers or even higher. Hence, your "average" bar goer. These people are most likely the ones who the bar depends on for profitability. Group B people in these typical bars are a much smaller group and usually do not spend nearly as much per person as those of group A. They tend to take their singing more seriously (not always of course) and do not buy drinks as often in order to stay sober enough to perform.

This scenario changes when it comes to bars or venues that are more dedicated towards karaoke. The percentages of non karaoke supporters vs karaoke enthusiasts is much lower.
In this case, it's much more important as hosts to provide better sound and higher standards of running our shows. Hopefully, these venues can offer other ways for customers to purchase items that are profitable (food).

These 3 places that I visited on my getaway did have a few things going for them, but they also lacked in certain areas. All of them were using Karafun as their hosting software and libraries. One of them augmented with his own library as well. But if you ask me, I do not like Karafun. It's rotation abilities are limited, the sound reproduction quality of the songs are much more hit and miss when you are able to choose the brands that are much better. All three shows were using good gear, but only 1 of them was using it to it's potential. The other two were either limited to how loud they could go with the sound level because the bar doesn't like it too loud.... or the other one was a kid who had the board so messed up that you sounded like crap all night long.... both of them had good gear tho... just not being used right.

I wish others who stop in to lurk would also leave a few messages here and there. Or maybe, nobody really cares that the forum is failing. I dunno.