KIAA Restructures, Re-Launches at Mobile Beat Las Vegas DJ Convention

KIAA re-launched last week at the Mobile Beat DJ Conference in Las Vegas. We have been very critical of how
KIAA is operating (or actually was not). Rather than give you “he-said”, “she-said” we videotaped their presentation and posted it here for all to see. 1st, the terms and conditions which were posted on their site for about a month prior to the show have totally been scrapped. They were put up by mistake as they re-worked their web-sites and they pulled them when we pointed out many issues with them. New documents and guidelines can be found via their PDF Documents at:

http://www.kiaasafeharbor.com
Click for Venue documents
Click for KJ Host documents

Videos were taped live so please forgive us for camera noises and cross talk from other people sitting directly beside and behind us.

Here is your front row seat to the presentation. We will make TOO MANY comments below!

History, Opinions and appeal for feedback from all KJ’s on their opinions We spoke at length with the folks at Chartbuster, Sound Choice and Stellar and have some issues but are much happier with where all of us KJ’s stand. USKA is about helping and safe guarding KJ’s. We own Starz Karaoke in the Phoenix area and we have been doing Karaoke professionally since 1998. In 13 years, we have collected thousands of CDG’s, VCD’s, Laser discs, SCDG’s,etc, etc. We ran shows on discs until late 2003 and were entirely on PC’s by 2004. Along the way we were duped and spent over $10,000 on pre-loaded CAVS players. When we found out they were illegal we stopped using them.. We still have 2 of them. WHY go digital? Back when a Sound Choice Foundation Set was over $1000, one of ours ran out the door of our show. Within about 6 months, we lost a Foundation 1, a Foundation 2 and numerous other CDG’s that were in our nylon cases with them. If we are on computer and our discs are safe they can not be stolen. Discs that get fingered and dropped and passed around and even slid in and out of sleeves slowly wear out. Capture the music once and you have a copy forever and discs are safe, secure and not being worn out.. All that said… that is why many of us have gone digital, but that was the beginning of making it easy to PIRATE music and that lead to the problems we see today. The publisher-members of KIAA are fighting to survive. They have seen revenues go to pennies on the dollar of previous levels, while American Idol, Glee, Nintendo, Wii, Playstation, several TV game shows and other games and shows have made Karaoke more popular than ever. We love music and we love Karaoke or we would have gotten out of this industry over the last few years. It is in our blood. We can not leave it behind, but we have to help to make it better. We are currently looking for your feedback on the issues that we have. Many of us in Karaoke that are doing our best to do business legally have no problem with venues and KJ’s that are using illegal music being sued. The problem is that it has to be fair.. There are several issues for KJ’s This is an attempt to summarize the most prominent issues: 1. Over many years Karaoke discs have been lost or mis-placed. Now with 90% of all Karaoke disc manufacturers actually out of business, there must be some lee-way given in audits for missing discs (within reason). 2. Once again, over the years many companies have gone out of business, but also, many discs have gone out of print. As we add new sets it is very difficult to duplicate the songs that we originally had. We do our best, but there are quite a few “holes” where we can not get songs that we have several copies of, but not for every set in our venues. 3. Managing multiple sets and multiple books adds to costs of book printing, and adds tons of times to management of who has what set. Trying to keep it uniform has become a difficult task. Once gain, we want someone to have the same tracks at all shows so they know what to expect. NOW – That is a matter of choice, and anyone can choose to operate sets that are totally different, but many choose not do work that way. If a host is using Karaoke music that has been discontinued and can not be purchased any longer and they are using it as the basis for operations for business that is fine.. BUT THEY HAVE TO HAVE THE DISCS! Someone operating old tracks with no discs is circumventing the costs that those of us who paid for discs had to pay and it creates unfair competition. This is why the Karaoke manufacturers that remain are banding together. They have spent nearly 3 years trying to create awareness of our industry’s piracy problem. Now they are saying join us and be legal or get out of this business. We had a problem with this until they created the safe harbor program found above. There is NO COST to join the program, register music, get audited and protect one’s self from legal actions. However, we feel that better homework needs done up front to keep law suits from being filed against legal companies and venues. We also want to see published guidelines that are fair to KJ’s and to the Karaoke disc manufacturers. To let you know where the manufacturer’s of KIAA stand. Stellar does not support an inspection program of discs. They offer a one price fits all CAP Program that gives you rights to every song they have ever done at one cost (over $3,000 per set). Other option is to just buy all the discs that you want and nothing else. Sound Choice requires a KJ to be 98% compliant on investigation and anything you do not have must be deleted. Chartbuster is the same except they allow 95%. After talking to literally hundreds of KJ’s and all of the manufacturers, I have a proposal as to a middle ground for audits that takes both sides into account.. PLEASE send your opinions to info@uskaraokealliance.com so we can submit them to the KIAA members. THESE ARE NOT KIAA TERMS OR CONDITIONS! THEY ARE MY PROPOSALS OF WHAT I (Eric Godfrey, President of USKA) FEEL IS FAIR TO BOTH SIDES. WHY DO YOU CARE? WHEN YOU GET NAMED IN A LAW SUIT YOU NEED RULES TO FOLLOW AS HOW TO GET INTO COMPLIANCE. IF YOU WANT TO AVOID LAW-SUITS YOU NEED TO JOIN AND SUBMIT TO AN AUDIT.. THE MANUFACTURERS HAVE NOT GIVEN A KIAA AUDIT PROCEDURE AS OF THIS DATE. EACH MANUFACTURER HAS IT’S OWN IDEAS: 2 types of discs: 1. Currently existing manufacturers - which have a.) discs still in production that are available and b.) some discontinued discs that are not available. 2. Discs from manufacturers that are out of business. All of these companies discs are out of production. Many are still out in the market, however most of these are counterfeit or unauthorized discs that have been used to fill the market and have driven down pricing. 1. General rule across the board on all discs. If you do not have a single copy of a disc containing a song, then you can not have that song on any of your systems at all. It must be deleted! In other words at minimum you must have at least one copy of every song on at least 1 disc. A> Current manufacturers. - Must have 1 copy of every song and 95% of all songs across all sets! 1. If the song exists on a disc today and it can be purchased, you must have 1 for 1 copies. If you have 3 sets of Karaoke gear operating at once you need 3 copies. If you are missing the original disc for one set you must either buy it or delete the song from the set you can not validate (Once again this is on music that you can buy today!) 2. Discontinued music – You must have at least one copy of the song on disc or you must delete the song (or disc) across all sets. As long as you have one copy of every song you can be missing a song here and there, but you must have 95% of all music across all sets. Let’s put a number on this. Say you have 3,334 songs in 3 sets. You must have one of every song so set 1 is 100% compliant. Set 2 is missing 150 songs on 10 discs that are no longer available. Set 3 is missing 240 songs on 16 discs that are no longer available (remember if it is available you have to buy it or delete it). Total for all 3 sets would be 10,002 songs. If you are missing 390 songs you have 9612 songs out of 10,002 or 96.1%. By this system you would pass. If you are missing more than 5% or 500 songs you would fail. B> Discs from manufacturers that are out of business. – Must have 1 copy of every song and 90% of all songs across all sets! Let’s use the same numbers as above. All manufacturers are out of print so we remove the option of purchasing discs that you do not have! 2. Discontinued music – You must have at least one copy of the song on disc or you must delete the song (or disc) across all sets. As long as you have one copy of every song you can be missing a song here and there, but you must have 90% of all music across all sets. Let’s put a number on this. Say you have 3,334 songs in 3 sets. You must have one of every song so set 1 is 100% compliant. Set 2 is missing 300 songs on 20 discs. Set 3 is missing 480 songs on 32 discs. Total for all 3 sets would be 10,002 songs. If you are missing 780 songs you have 9222 songs out of 10,002 or 92.2%. By this system you would pass. If you are missing more than 10% or 1000 songs you would fail. This system would keep all KJ’s predominantly honest but allow for lost, misplaced, stolen, or unavailable discs here and there. It would create revenues for manufacturers for existing tracks and keep KJ’s from using discontinued sets to fill collections unless they actually own them. Allowing less of a percentage would allow the system to be abused and would allow KJ’s to make use of too much missing music instead of purchasing tracks to replace that music. Once again, we want your opinion on this (info@uskaraokealliance.com). Author’s note: I have purposely avoided the topic of  internet downloads. The only manufacturers offering downloads are Chartbuster and Stingray (Sound Choice partner). They are both adamant that downloads are for personal use only and can not be used in any commercial venture. Recent Publishing rulings make it illegal for UK Karaoke manufacturers to distribute discs in the US. KIAA has stated they will not recognize downloaded tracks as being legitimate. While I do not agree totally, I understand the underlying issues and we will work to educate everyone that downloads are for personal use only.   Other opinions are also welcome on this issue!

US Karaoke Alliance Karaoke Charts – Updated Top 500 Karaoke Songs of All Time

compiled by US Karaoke Alliance and Karaoke2Night Network

Congratulations to Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow
on keeping the number one spot for this year!

Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow performing Picture

Our survey this year had some interesting results.  Our first survey completed 18 months prior was only done with 2 companies and a total of 30 bars and 1000 shows.  We opened this one up to all companies submitting data from across the USA.  We had results provided from Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, Florida, Nebraska and Arizona.  Most of the companies outside our area do not update music weekly like we do and they do not have the selection of harder rock that we do.. This resulted in a more mainstream result in the survey and more traditional or classic music did better.

Much to the dismay of many Karaoke Jocks around the country, Picture by Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow maintains it’s hold on the top spot.  Most of us love the song, and both artists, but honestly we are getting tired of hearing it.  It was sung at over 60% of all shows polled this year!  Maybe if we are allowed to screen the singers and only allow it to be sung by singers we approve, we might handle hearing it nightly a bit better.

7 of our top 10 songs remained the same.  Behind an internet youtube parody-fest, Bohemian Rhapsody crashed back into the top 10.  The Fugees keep killing us softly with this song!  And yes, people, Baby still got BACK!
Look out top 10, the Ladies, Gaga and Antebellum are knocking hard at the door to the top and will probably be there next year!  Pink, the Black-Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, and Toby Keith all hit the list repeatedly and Carrie Underwood keeps notching hits.  Lady GaGa, Lady Antebellum, Ke$ha,  Toby Keith, Taylor Swift and Pink had multiple hits and all moved up greatly..

Florida and the heartlands of the USA made artists like John Mellencamp, George Strait, Jimmy Buffet, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bob Seger all do much better this time around.  Harder rock groups like Metallica, Guns N Roses, Stone Temple Pilots, AC-DC and Pearl Jam, all moved down slightly to make room for more mainstream acts.

NR* – Previous survey results are shown if artist was in the top 500. 

The top 500 songs in our survey account for over 50% of all songs sung at Karaoke shows.

Top 1000 songs – over 70% of all performed songs

Top 1500 Songs – 79% of all performed songs

Top 2500 Songs – 93% of all performed songs

**These ratings are based on actual singers from actual Karaoke locations.  None of these results are base on opinion in any way.  If you would like your results included in the survey for next year, export your singer history from your karaoke program and send it to info@uskaraokealliance.com. If you do not submit your numbers, you can not complain about the results!

2010 Survey	Artist Name	Title Name	2009 Survey
1	Crow, Sheryl & Kid Rock	Picture	1
2	Diamond, Neil	Sweet Caroline	8
3	Duets-Travolta, John & Newton-John, Olivia	Summer Nights	3
4	Brooks, Garth	Friends In Low Places	6
5	Underwood, Carrie	Before He Cheats	2
6	Journey	Don’t Stop Believin’	4
7	Myles, Alannah	Black Velvet	5
8	Queen	Bohemian Rhapsody	24
9	Sir Mix-A-Lot	Baby Got Back	14
10	Fugees	Killing Me Softly	18
11	Sublime	Santeria	7
12	Wilson, Gretchen	Redneck Woman	13
13	Lady Antebellum	Need You Now	NEW
14	Joel, Billy	Piano Man	42
15	Bon Jovi	Wanted Dead Or Alive	12
16	B 52′s	Love Shack	9
17	Benatar, Pat	Hit Me With Your Best Shot	16
18	Radiohead	Creep	19
19	Buffett, Jimmy	Margaritaville	28
20	Morissette, Alanis	You Oughta Know	11
21	4 Non Blondes	What’s Up	17
22	Bon Jovi	Livin’ On A Prayer	90
23	Sublime	What I Got	82
24	Wilson, Gretchen	Here For The Party	112
25	Lady GaGa	Bad Romance	NEW
26	Seger, Bob	Turn The Page	71
27	Gray, Dobie	Drift Away	158
28	Stone Temple Pilots	Plush	20
29	Lambert, Miranda	Gunpowder & Lead	80
30	Vanilla Ice	Ice Ice Baby	95
31	Raitt, Bonnie	Something To Talk About	31
32	Tyler, Bonnie	Total Eclipse Of The Heart	23
33	Mcbride, Martina	Broken Wing	70
34	Morrison, Van	Brown Eyed Girl	110
35	Skynyrd, Lynyrd	Sweet Home Alabama	51
36	Evanescence	Bring Me To Life	25
37	Madonna	Like A Virgin	65
38	Dixie Chicks	Goodbye Earl	139
39	Guns ‘n’ Roses	Sweet Child O Mine	63
40	Joplin, Janis	Me & Bobby Mcgee	29
41	Mellencamp, John	Jack & Diane	117
42	Keith, Toby	I Love This Bar	155
43	Chapman, Tracy	Give Me One Reason	37
44	Roth, David Lee	Just A Gigolo	125
45	Turner, Ike & Tina	Proud Mary	108
46	Snoop Dogg	Gin And Juice	111
47	Alice In Chains	Man In The Box	424
48	Carter, Deana	Strawberry Wine	162
49	Warren G & Nate Dogg	Regulate	322
50	Sinatra, Frank	Fly Me To The Moon	102
51	Sinatra, Frank	New York, New York	27
52	Cline, Patsy	Crazy	35
53	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Under The Bridge	30
54	Pearl Jam	Black	41
55	Def Leppard	Pour Some Sugar On Me	109
56	Tenacious D	F@@@@ Her Gently	493
57	Benatar, Pat	Heartbreaker	45
58	James, Etta	At Last	39
59	Digital Underground	Humpty Dance	50
60	Mcentire, Reba	Fancy	103
61	Tunstall, Kt	Black Horse And Cherry Tree	107
62	Cohn, Marc	Walking In Memphis	157
63	Gaynor, Gloria	I Will Survive	15
64	Temptations	My Girl	67
65	Fleetwood Mac	Dreams	60
66	Madonna	Like A Prayer	75
67	Jett, Joan &  Blackhearts	I Love Rock ‘n Roll	10
68	No Doubt	Just A Girl	62
69	Spears, Britney	Baby One More Time	252
70	Cash, Johnny	Folsom Prison Blues	21
71	Apple, Fiona	Criminal	34
72	Divinyls	I Touch Myself	32
73	Loeb, Lisa	Stay (I Missed You)	79
74	Pink	Who Knew	56
75	Charlie Daniels Band	Devil Went Down To Georgia	151
76	Poison	Every Rose Has It’s Thorn	297
77	3 Doors Down	Kryptonite	48
78	Sonny & Cher	I Got You Babe	251
79	Dixie Chicks	Sin Wagon	53
80	Etheridge, Melissa	I’m The Only One	76
81	Brooks & Dunn	Neon Moon	69
82	Jefferson Airplane	White Rabbit	269
83	Adkins, Trace	Honky Tonk Badonkadonk	1108
84	Brooks, Garth	Dance	91
85	Jewel	You Were Meant For Me	22
86	Travolta, John & Newton-John, Olivia	You’re The One That I Want	187
87	Steve Miller Band	Joker	73
88	Kid Rock	All Summer Long	NEW
89	Green, Al	Let’s Stay Together	890
90	Green Day	Basket Case	148
91	Beatles	In My Life	NR*
92	Ke$ha	Tik Tok	NEW
93	Springfield, Dusty	Son Of A Preacher Man	57
94	Montgomery, John Michael	Sold	121
95	Righteous Brothers	You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’	54
96	Kings Of Leon	Sex On Fire	NEW
97	Black Eyed Peas	Imma Be	NEW
98	Twain, Shania	Man I Feel Like A Woman	190
99	Meatloaf	Paradise By The Dashboard Light	58
100	Aerosmith	Dream On	262
101	Ke$ha	Your Love Is My Drug	NEW

Top 101 songs are shown above – For complete listings of top 500 Karaoke songs go to the
US Karaoke Alliance Website

We hope you find this list interesting.. If you are a KJ and you have data that includes singer names, song titles and number of times sung please send it to us and we will include your shows in our next chart!

Karaoke Host (KJ) Training Framework

KJ Hosting tip from Eric Godfrey

Eric Godfrey manages:
USKaraokeAlliance.com
Karaoke2Night.com network
StarzKaraoke.com
ArizonaKaraokeContest.com

KJ Host Training Plan:
If you are a KJ or karaoke hosting company and you are training someone, we follow a process so that when that host takes over a show they are not overwhelmed.  It is not rocket science and sharing it with others seems like a good thing to do.

Before starting this program a prospective host should see an entire show from beginning to end and be sure they can handle this for a 4 to 5 hour period.  If they do not have the stamina to stay in the audience beginning to end, they will never be able to handle 3 or 4 nights a week of shows with set-ups and tear-downs.

1st night - Trainee host stays with trainer-host entire night and observes everything, learning how to adjust volumes and sound and operating the program.

Outside the clubs – This is a private training session with manager or owner to go over equipment knowledge, sound theory,  terminology and KJ program use.

2nd night – Trainee will run the gear and the program for entire night and occasionally chime in on microphones as appropriate.  Trainer should help as needed, but by end of the evening the trainee should be comfortable.
3rd night - Let trainer-host run gear, but trainee interfaces with customers and runs the microphones back and forth and makes announcements all night.  Always make sure to announce bar specials & acknowledge the service staff numerous times, in addition to changing up how you introduce and acknowledge the singers.  This is the hardest night on most trainees.

Some prospective hosts will need to repeat the gear and program running night or the microphone night to get comfortable before attempting to pass certification test.

Final Test - Run complete show effectively including set-up and proper operation of gear without your trainer-host having to take over at any time.

These are the basics.  Learning to run your KJ Program and your gear and understanding terminology are entirely other lessons.  Either way, let your actual personality come out and have fun. If you get past your worries and get going and understand all aspects then you need to be having a good time when you are hosting.  If you are not having a good time, then you might want to re-evaluate if you should host shows.   No matter what, have a good time, but remember to try to keep some level of professionalism!

Karaoke: Higher Level

This installment of Karaoke DJU involves some advanced uses for Karaoke OUTSIDE of the club environment, where everything is fairly well ordered. We are going to discuss some events and techniques for Karaoke use that you might not have come across yet. We are going to cover Weddings, use of Karaoke at School dances, and special audiences like Senior citizen homes and Autistic audiences. I have been fortunate enough to have successfully performed at all of these functions, and want to share those thoughts, insights, and experiences with you. We all have different ways of doing things for these functions, and no one way is the only way. If you have approaches that work that I do not cover in here, Email them to me at Bsmith5356@aol.com, and I will edit and add them into this article and give you credit for coming up with the idea. Here we go:WEDDINGS:

I know what you are thinking. How TACKY! It can BE tacky, IF you let it, and don’t handle it tastefully. More and more, Brides are asking for Karaoke to a part of their wedding receptions. It is up to YOU, the DJ/KJ, to ensure that it is used in a thoughtful and entertaining manner that still brings dignity to the event. Like all things, judge your crowd, and base your decisions on that.

The Ceremony and the First Dance:

I wanted to share a technique that I successfully use when I have been asked to sing in the ceremony or sing the First Dance song at the reception. Often, couples ask me to sing for them when we plan the reception. But having the big blue Karaoke TV out there at this point of the ceremony or reception is definitely not the way to go. It detracts attention from the B&G and focuses attention on you. So how do we solve the problem of remembering the words, controlling the music, keeping the flow going from song to song, AND SING? Remember, as a single op, I am often by MYSELF. There are no assistants, no help.

The 50.00 solution

As I was browsing through a store one day, I saw by chance a 5 inch Black and White TV for 49.99. And it hit me like a TON of BRICKS! Run an extra video RCA out of my Pioneer Player into the Video RCA jack of the B&W 5 inch TV which would sit on top of my compressor on my table top system! I could read the TV for reference, control the levels, and sing, and virtually NO ONE would see that they were Karaoke tracks! Remember, almost NO ONE expects a DJ to be able to sing. The addition of “Live Vocals” adds a panache and flair to the ceremony and reception that is hard to beat.

You now have the capability to sing the song, stay completely out of the way of the video and photo people, do the emceeing bit at the reception, CONTROL the FLOW, AND have your next song ready to play just as soon as you finish singing! And as a bit of marketing strategy, I call my Karaoke tracks “Vocal Performance tracks” designed especially for vocalists to use. I do not use the K word until later in the evening, if asked about the source of my music.

Later during the reception:

The second technique is during the latter part of the reception when everyone is more relaxed; all the formalities are OVER! Ready to party! Photo ops of the bride and groom doing a duet are priceless. It CAN be done tastefully if you minimize the amount of time it’s done.

I ALWAYS insist with the bride and groom that if they want Karaoke, THEY MUST LEAD the charge! We don’t want soused up Uncle Leonard up there first. So I coach the couple on a duet (if they need it), or on nice songs to dedicate to each other, and then gently introduce the concept of singing Karaoke to the rest of the audience. I then tell them pick a song from my book, write it down on a slip, bring it to me and we will get them up as soon as possible. Then I sing a couple of slow dance ballads and invite the audience to dance while I sing, and collect requests while doing that.

The real key is to LIMIT the number of songs done at a time. Do no more than say 3 at a time, and then jump right back into a dance set. That will keep the reception from turning into a regular Karaoke show. The pace of Karaoke is slower, and after about three songs, people are itching to dance again. After your last Karaoke song set get your next dance song ready and while the applause is still going on, hit them with a very popular dance song, like the Slide or the Macarena or the Cotton Eyed Joe. You don’t have to say a thing; they will come out and dance. Don’t worry about satisfying each request to sing, but look at the requests and try to get each individual up to sing at least once, time permitting. Most times, the max you get are may 5~10 requests. It’s easy to use 2~3 of those as a set then swing back into dance. Occasionally, you will get a gig where EVERYONE wants to get into the act. That’s when you have to manage expectations.

“Wow, ladies and gents, we have a TON of requests. We will do our level best to have you sing at least one time, with our time together here permitting. And thank you for wanting to entertain (insert B&G here) on their special day”

Almost by default, Karaoke puts you in the Interactive mode. You are already interacting with the audience, and they are listening to what you have to say. It’s very easy to swing out of a Karaoke set right into a skit like the Hokey Pokey, a Conga line, the YMCA, etc. etc. etc. (insert your skit here) These are very natural progressions if you think about it.

With respect to Karaoke at weddings, remember that it’s not about what we think is always right, it’s what the customer wants! I believe that these two ideas can maximize your performances at receptions when Karaoke is involved by request of the bride and groom or if you, as a Karaoke host are asked to perform vocals at either the Ceremony or the reception.

KARAOKE PARTIES AND AUTISTIC ADULTS/CHILDREN:

When I first got a call from the Wake County Society of Autism to do a Karaoke party, I was very apprehensive. I expressed my doubts, based on my perceptions of what I knew about autism. I decided to do some research and learn as much as I could about Autism, and worked with my customer’s staff very closely to learn even more, so I could be effective. I was worried about the “clients” as they were called by the staff being able to read and keep up with the pace of the Karaoke songs.

I learned several things I want to pass along when you do a show for such an occasion.

Autism is often compensated for in nature by enhancing the other senses, most notably, hearing. I was advised Pre show to watch the volume very closely. Strong sound or light can adversely stimulate Autistic children and adults and in occasional instances cause seizures. I left the lights at home, and worked very hard with the sound to keep it low.
.
The staff told me not to expect a lot from this audience in terms of participation. Some of the clients had severe Autism and would be unable to participate. In Mossome instances, these people would make random sounds and would appear as severely handicapped and wheelchair bound. This can be an unsettling sight if you haven’t experienced it. A few the adults or kids will rock rhythmically or repeat words or phrases over and over, especially when you start playing music. You need to deal with that and internalize any apprehensive or unsettled feelings you might have. Now this isn’t a general characterization of all Autistic boys and girls. Many of the ones I worked with I could not really tell any differences between an autistic person and a “normal” person. And the level of behavior exhibited was often much better than “normal audiences”. But this is as plain a statement as possible about what you can expect and I owe you that.
As it turned out, these clients were actually very well versed in music. Often Autism leaves the person with the ability to do intricate math, remember music by rote, and keep perfect pitch no matter what is playing. I had several folks come up and find a selection (I totally dispensed with request sheets, and let them bring me the books to select their song) AND THEY ROCKED! After that first singer, they all wanted to use the microphone. That’s when you have the staff near by to ensure that everyone gets a turn and helps to supervise the flow. Often a family member or staff member would come up to assist the autistic person in their singing.

After a while, I broke out of Karaoke and did some dance sets, and did some skits with the YMCA and the Hokey Pokey, and also a humongous conga line. They all wanted to see my CDs, and I basically just turned off all my pre conceptions, and treated them just like any other crowd. They responded to me like any other crowd, and a good time was had by all.

The most important thing I learned was this: Autistic people like music and can generally respond just as well as “normal” people can. Treat them with respect and a smile like any other audience, and reap the rewards of doing a really good thing. Of all the Christmas parties I did this year, my time with the Wake County Society of Autism left me with the best feelings and accomplishments.

KARAOKE AND SENIOR CITIZEN HOMES:

In my area, we have several organized efforts to pay special attention to senior citizens with respect to DJing parties and offering up entertainment. I network with two KJs, and together we have come up with a format for doing senior citizen’s parties. I am going to share those with you. First, here are some technical aspects. You won’t have to bring a lot of sound. Often the shows take place in a cafeteria or meeting room. Pare down your set up to one good sized speaker and only what you absolutely need to run Karaoke. You must be very careful to run sound low, because these folks often have hearing aids that are turned all the way up. Avoid feedback at all possible costs. Those are particularly painful with hearing aids. The staff is generally very good about helping you set the level of music and sound. You also won’t be playing very long. I have never done more than an hour and a half in the past two years.

There are several very important aspects to successfully entertaining seniors. The MOST important aspect is to play and sing the music that they know. For the most part, that means learning to sing some of the older crooners like Ray Price, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby etc. For you lady singers out there, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne and Judy Garland were some of the staple singers of that era. That also means purchasing Karaoke CDGs with these performers on them. Often, you can get specialty CDGs that have the big band singers from the 30s to the 50s on them. For example, Sweet Georgia Brown CDGs have a lot of these selections. Sound Choice has several “Great Male and Female Standards CDGs”. I sing from one of these CDGs non-stop for an hour. Start out your show with a couple of instrumental hits out of your DJ library like In the Mood, Take the A Train, etc. Introduce yourself over these songs, and get your singing shoes on.

Another very important aspect is to understand that some of these folks haven’t (sadly) had much attention from their relatives, and are often starved for affection. Once I had a sweet old lady hang onto my arm for the entire hour I sang. Get right out there with them, and sing to them. LOSE YOUR INHIBITIONS! As an example, I like to kneel right in front of the ladies and sing “For the Good Times”. I have gotten comfortable enough to lay my head on their shoulders and sing right to them. It is very helpful if the Home has a big screen TV that you can hook into, so you can help lead the audiences in a singalong. Remind them of the days of Mitch Miller and the bouncing ball in TV, and explain that when the words change color, that’s the cue to sing.

It isn’t necessary to have music running non-stop for the hour either. After I sing a song, if I am by myself, I like to talk about the next song while I am programming it, so as long as you are filling the time with something, it works out OK. Pace yourself and don’t be in a rush. If you have a routine for telling jokes, tell a couple of jokes. THE Home you play at will often determine the level of participation. I play one place where everyone is bed ridden and is wheeled in. You won’t get a lot of reaction, and some of the seniors will fall asleep (take that as a positive, your singing is so good that people relaxed enough to fall asleep to it!) I play another place where the residents read through the Karaoke books and want to sign up and sing! It is a real sight to see several 70-somethings crowding around the TV screen and singing. Their friends really give them the applause.

I often times will select very good Karaoke singers that I know from the local clubs to come along with me to do a show if they are available. This breaks up the “sameness” of having one person doing all the entertaining, and gives your seniors the chance to see more smiling faces. This also gives you a break as well to concentrate on the sound, and spin a real tight show. Most times, these shows are done on weeknights after the dinner hour. I don’t charge a huge amount (75.00) because I think it’s important to give back to the community. My fellow DJs in this area feel the same way, and we often go out to the same seniors facility and work with each other at the SAME show in a non club environment, share fellowship and have fun.

Senior Karaoke is very rewarding, whether or not they actually sing. The chance for these folks to be entertained is simply a good thing to do if your schedule permits it. You can use your Karaoke collection and entertain in a way you never thought possible. This is a type of event where you end up being the focal point of the show, but they like it that way! This type of entertaining will sharpen and hone your overall entertainment skills. You will leave with a feeling of satisfaction of having touched these lives that club work will never give you. You need to be very patient and run your show at a slower pace so that you are clearly understood and appreciated.

SCHOOL DANCE KARAOKE:

School dances are perhaps THE most challenging form of Karaoke there is. The kids are energetic, they swarm you like bees, they are all talking at once, and they all want to see your CDs. And, they all want to sing at the SAME time. If you are by yourself, this is like trying to take a drink of water from a fully opened fire hydrant. So the first thing I want to share with you is this: Don’t do school dances by yourself. Either bring an assistant or arrange in advance with the school to have either a student help you out with the requests, or assign a staff member or chaperone to help you out.

PROBLEM AREAS:

Language:

The biggest problems with School dance Karaoke are the song selections. They will invariably pick the tunes of today with overt sexual and explicit lyrics. Even though the Karaoke CDGs have these words blanked out, the kids feel like they have to sing them. I like to warn the kids ahead of time.

“Now everyone, we know what this song says, please do NOT repeat these words, or I will have to turn the song off”.

I did this at one school function where the kid actually said the F word. I stopped the song and told the audience EXACTLY why I stopped it. I told the kid why, and even though he argued that this was what was in the song, I told him that if he didn’t have enough smarts not to say the F word in front of adults let alone over a PA system, he didn’t need to be singing. Next!

Moshing:

The kids will also pick trigger songs to Mosh to. This happens more at College parties, but I have seen it happen at a 6th to 8th grade dance I did! The kids got in a circle and started crashing into each other. Again, you can only do so much. Warn the staff ahead of time that this is possible, and to be out on the dance floor to control this. It’s impossible to say what they will do and not do and to which song it might happen with. Every crowd is different. I do try to limit this, and so if I get a request for Limp Bizkit or Korn or Kid Rock, I tell the kids to pick another song.

Crowding of the Karaoke area:

The other very difficult thing is that everyone will crowd the singer and watch the TV lyrics. So what ends up happening is that you have a huge crowd, they are wrestling the microphone, banging it, and screaming into it. As a side note, I wouldn’t do a school dance with Karaoke WITHOUT a compressor. If the school has a big screen TV on a cart (from the A/V room), hook a second line from your player to this TV. This will often diffuse the crowd around the TV stand and Mics. One of the things I like to do is set up my TV stand about 3 ft in front of the stage area and the Big screen TV about 10 ft away from that. Often, you won’t get as many kids crowding around the TV stand.

CONTROL APPROACHES:

So what can you do to try to control an audience of 80 to 200 exuberant kids in hormone and sensory overload? How much dance are you going to do? How much Karaoke is going to be done? It will be more chaotic than even a club will. Listed below are possible approaches.

MINIMIZE THE NUMBER OF SINGERS:

Buy a huge roll of numbered tickets. Have the staff GIVE those out as the kids enter the dance area. Introduce yourself, and Explain to them that you will be drawing for people to sing. You can draw three tickets at a time to do sets, announce them, have ONLY them come up to select songs from your lists, and continue dance sets. Then once you are ready, you can bring your singers up with wedding style “grand introductions”.

Another approach is to simply try to instruct the kids that only the person who selected the song can sing it, and there is to be no crowding of the stage area. This is less effective because the attention span when kids are in party mode is ZERO. Most times, they don’t listen. This is when your chances of having equipment damaged are the greatest. This is when you definitely want to get the staff involved, and let them be the heavy in controlling.

What about the distribution of songbooks and sign up? I am a big fan of the slip system, so I like to have a table out away from my booth area with the songbooks, loads of blank slips and pencils. Let them crowd each other, then bring you the slips, then you can arrange them and screen them for completeness. This is much easier on you, as they won’t be pushing and crowding the DJ booth.

Now what I have described so far may make you think, “why in the world am I going to do this IF there are so many negatives?”

The fact is that if you can maintain some semblance of order, you can feed off their energy and give it back to them in the form of interactivity skits and dance music as well as Karaoke. Unless it is an ALL Karaoke party, you won’t be doing Karaoke exclusively, so you again have the options of doing skits and dance music. Not all of the kids will want to do Karaoke, but they will want to be close by to check it out. The kids are more curious than anything else. Very few of them are obnoxious on purpose, but you need to be friendly and firm if you have problems. Be patient, explain it to them, and move on. Above all, work closely with the staff during the show; maybe arrange some discreet visual signals to involve them if you see things getting out of hand. Good luck at your dance!

CONCLUSIONS:

Karaoke is not only a club thing. It can be done at various other types of events with a high degree of success. This will enhance your reputation as an overall entertainer. The more things you know how to do, the more well rounded you are. We have covered possible approaches to use Karaoke creatively in Weddings, Senior Homes, with autistic adults and children, and school dances. As you book these types of events and have these encounters, feel free to email me at bsmith5356@aol.com to share your experiences. If you would like to add your success and approaches that worked but were not listed in this edition of KARAOKE 301, just say so and we will do it.

Interactive Approaches for Karaoke

This installment of Karaoke is going to deal with some ideas that you can use to spice up your shows, and these are good for ANY age group, demographic makeup, or group size. First off, many of the things that a DJ would use in a normal non-Karaoke show will work at a Karaoke show. Although the focus is different, and the primary goal is to get people up to sing, they still want to party and have a good time. There are several keys to successfully executing interactivity at Karaoke shows, and we will cover them here.
Karaoke vs. Dance: 

 

When I did clubs, I was always torn between pleasing my audience and the night club owner. The owner wanted more dance music, and the Karaoke singers wanted more Karaoke. This was a classic catch 22, because the owner never realized that the ONLY reason patrons were there WAS to sing!! However, his motivation was to get more alcohol sales AND do Karaoke. Of course, none of us have ever run into that problem have we? The way I solved that problem was to schedule 4 or 5 very intense dance sets interspersed through at least one or two full rotations of Karaoke singers. The way I used to lead this in was after my last singer at the bottom of my rotation was done was simply to slam on the Electric Slide, and follow on with some fast dance music (at least 120bpm on up) for my first set. The 2nd set I slammed on the Macarena, and followed on the same way. Use the most popular dance tunes to pack your floor, then make them sweat. They got thirsty, crowded the bar, and ordered more drinks, everyone was happy. Here’s a tip to pass on to your club owners. Ask them to put out free Tortilla Chips and salsa. Keep it going all night long, and as the night progresses, people will order more drinks, increasing the sales. Do those intense dance sets, and the combination of dry Tortilla chips and fast dance music WILL produce more sales.

Karaoke Games:

I like to use several approaches:

Scary Karaoke:

One is what I call Skaraoke, in which you announce that you have a tune loaded up, and the first singer that can answer your trivia question and bring you the right answer written on a napkin gets to sing the song. You announce that these tunes do NOT count against a singer’s regular rotation position. So if Johnny is signed up to sing a song right after these tunes, and he wins the trivia contest, he will sing twice in a space of 5-10 minutes. Of course, you load up a really silly song that is either hard to do, like “Beat It”, or load up a very well known song that someone can vamp to such as “Like a Virgin”…. Do two or three of these in a row, get the singers up, then go back to the regular rotation.

Wrong gender duets:

This is exactly like it sounds. Get the club to put up (or buy yourself) a six pack of beer in an iced bucket. Announce to the crowd exactly what you want…which is two volunteers to sing an unidentified song that is the wrong gender. (I E two guys sing “Does He Love You”, or two girls sing a Righteous Brothers tune). Give them the big warm up announcement, play the tune, and let the fun begin. Occasionally, you will get two singers that will really nail a tune and they will get a huge ovation.

Novelty songs:

Announce to the audience that you need several guys and girls to sing Love Shack. This wonderfully tacky tune attracts the mid 30′s crowd like no other tune. Go to other shows in your area to pick up tunes that really seem to get the crowd going, and are group participation songs, and use these in your shows as novelty tunes.

Contests:

There are pros and cons to doing this. Unfortunately, you have some very serious Karaoke singers out there that think they should win every contest. There are still others who will load up the crowd so that even if they really can’t find the bucket, they still win with their tune due to audience acclamation (if that was how winners were determined). It gets worse the bigger the contest prize is. I am going to give you my personal insight on this topic. I know this very well from personal experience, because that is how I started as a singer. I won the Air Force’s Worldwide Entertainment award for vocal duet in 1982, beating out 3500 other individual duet teams from around the world. I had very high expectations of how I would fare in singing contests when I discovered Karaoke in 1994. Contests were a major way to attract people to bars back then.

I would go around to the clubs and enter contests and was lucky enough to have won a Bahamas Cruise, a trip to the Poconos, and several cash prizes as well. On other occasions, when I didn’t win, I would place 2nd or 3rd and was objective enough to know when I had not performed well, or simply bested by a better singer. In many instances, however, when the judging was by audience acclamation, or whenever the judges were well known locals, the best singers didn’t always win.

As a Karaoke Host, this can backfire on you, because then the singers don’t get a good impression of the Karaoke host’s show, nor do they want to revisit the venue where they ‘lost’. What really bites is that even though you didn’t participate in the judging, you still get held responsible for the outcome.

In those instances where I would travel to a location I had never been before, I expected as a singer to have a panel of judges that would be objective about the scoring. I also felt that if the judging was objective, and I sang my best, I would either win or come in 2nd or 3rd. What would often happen is that the judges were local, and knew the singers that they wanted to advance, and the “home team crowd” would raise the roof for their favorite. Here are other things to consider.

Pros -

Increased attendance
The opportunity to hold a contest on a night where you might normally not play (Money)
Promote your show
Increased exposure
Less of the “when do I get to sing” question from the audience
Much easier show to “run”
Cons

Figuring out the fairest way to judge the singers (picking a true winner)
Getting qualified judges who are impartial
Providing or arranging adequate prizes to attract participants
Dealing with disgruntled or angry performers who did not win
OTHER COOL STUFF:

Many of the DJ tricks you use for weddings and other events work well in Karaoke shows. Here are several:

Limbo contest
Conga line (watch your night club owner have a STROKE as you tell the line to LEAVE the restaurant or bar and go outside, then come back in)
Hokey Pokey – As corny as it sounds, this does work, although you will need to read the crowd first.
Pass the hula hoop
YMCA
And the list goes on. For a complete list of Games you could pick from, go check out DJU. We just added a whole bunch of new games.

IN CLOSING:

We have presented several topics here in “Intermediate Karaoke”. These topics were designed to give you food for thought and an honest forthright approach in helping you decide if you want to add on Karaoke, or spice up your existing Karaoke shows. Remember to do two things:

Never do the same thing week after week. Repetition is boring. Keep it lively, and do something different every week
When you sing, as the Karaoke host, give it everything you’ve got. If you can’t sing, or don’t want to sing, cultivate relationships with the “regulars”, and spotlight a different regular each week, and introduce them, and let them do the singing for you.
I hope that you found this article informative, stimulating, and provoking. IF you have any questions, email me at bsmith5356@aol.com

Happy Karaoking!!
Bill Smith

 

 

 

Karaoke Songbook Creation

The creation of Karaoke songbooks for your Karaoke show should do several things FOR you.They should neatly and logically be organized so that even really drunken people can understand how to pick a song from your list. Sort alphabetically by song, or Artist, or BOTH!
A secondary purpose of your books should be to ADVERTISE your business, and get people thinking how they can book you for a show that is not centered in a club.
The books should also be fairly durable and easy to maintain.
Your books should be designed so that they look attractive and get people interested in looking inside.
Let’s start with basic items.

DECIDE HOW MANY TO CREATE:

If you are doing a small to medium sized club, 20-25 books should be all that is needed to adequately supply your audience. I have rarely passed out all 20, and never had an occasion where more than 20 were needed. If you have a huge club, you may decide that 30~50 are more adequate.

WHAT TO BUY:

Binders:

Most everyone in the Raleigh area and the country use some sort of 3 ring binder. I choose binders that have a clear plastic sheath on both sides. Within these sheaths I have printed off portrait size sheets of paper that have my company logo, a phone number, and advertising information. This is like having an 8×11 business card on the front and back of each book. I also believe that if your books look really elegant and classy, they will be taken care of better. I have only had to replace 1 book in three years.

You can buy these binders at places like Office Depot, Office Max, or some other office supply store. If you opt for plain binders, no sheaths, you can buy them for less than a dollar a piece at places like Walmart or Kmart, or other department stores. I buy 1 1/2 inch white binders with sheaths for about 1.65~2.00.

Sheet protectors:

Why sheet protectors? Well, if your clients spill beer or food on the pages, they are ruined and so is the book. Sheet protectors go a long way in protecting your investments and reduce the maintenance effort you spend in keeping the books clean for each performance. Buy the thinnest protectors you can, so that inserting song list sheets inside them is an easy task. These too, are available at an office supply store. You can get them in boxes of 100 and 200, so to find out how many you need for 20 books, multiply the number of books you want to make by the number of pages in your song list (E.G> 20 books x 61 pages=1200 sheet protectors /number of protector sheets in a package)

Pencil and slip pouches:

If you use the slip system, you need to buy pencil pouches like you used to have when you went to grade school. Inside these pouches you should have several pencils or pens, and sign up slips. Buy these at a department store, as they are cheaper.

Sign up Slips:

You can create your own (I do) or get to a Karaoke company on the web that will do this for you. I have seen several that will do this for you, and also make up batches of personalized pencils for a reasonable price. I designed mine in Microsoft PowerPoint, and keep a master sheet, and run off a bunch on my copier. They have 12 sign up slips on a page, with space for name, song, song number, and key change information. Again, sign up slips are also a GREAT WAY to advertise your business, so at a minimum, have your company name and logo and a phone number on them.

You have now bought everything you need to START to create a songbook. The next step is deciding on a software package to use to create your song lists.

Song List Creation

There are many ways to create song lists. I will show you a few with which I am most familiar. If you are a busy single op or multi op, you may not have or want to spend a lot of time making a list that is extremely personalized or intricate. There is a program called Karaoke Spigot, created by Biff Mele, headquartered in Florida. Here is the URL for the Karaoke Spigot http://www.karaokespigot.com/. This program by far is the best I have seen at performing the function of making a song list when you are in a big hurry, or wish to spend minimal time doing this task.

This program assumes that you use a Microsoft Operating System. The Spigot uses Microsoft ACCESS to create a customized song list based on CDG discs that you have bought. You can select multiple discs, add them, and create a song list from the master database (which is very impressive and is updated regularly). All the songs are transferred to your list. You can make lists that are sorted by disc, by artist, and by song. About once every two months, new updates with the newest song titles are available from the web site. You can update your song lists, then print them off, and take the list to a printer to get multiple copies made. There are some limitations. Unless it has changed very recently, you cannot export the list to a different program, like Excel while inside the Spigot. You also cannot change font size or type, unless that too has recently changed. And many of the features normally found in ACCESS are not available with the Spigot program. However, it is functional to make a song list, and does that very well.

I personally use Microsoft Excel. I like the customized approach that Excel provides me in selecting font size (which affects the number of pages you have to reproduce) I have also seen other song lists created on Macintoshes and Apples using a spreadsheet functionality on those operating systems as well.

So now you have created your song list, printed it off, and it is ready to take it to a printer.

Now Put It All Together

Be sure to get the best deal possible. Shop around, get the best price. Specify front and back pages (two sided copies) which of course should cut cost in half. I advise that you have a couple of extra copies made, and the reason for that will be obvious later as you read on.

You need a lot of room in your home to put the song lists inside the sheet protectors and then into the books.

Here is the best and most logical way to accomplish this:

Determine the number of sheet protectors for each book. If your song list is 61 pages long front and back, you need 31 sheet protectors. Add a couple of spares to each book for expansion of your song list.
Starting with a complete song list, insert the sheets into the sheet protectors of each of your books. A common mistake is to put them in backwards, so remember ODD numbers show first.
Put the pencil pouches in the front of the books, and fill them up with pencils and slips.
If you did as I do, place your information sheet in the front and back of your clear sheathes on the books. This final touch ensures that people know who you are, what you do, and get people interested in your business.
I reserve a page in the front of each book before the song list that has a welcome paragraph. I also include a list of do’s and don’ts, and things that I want and expect from the audiences. This is another chance to portray your self even more personally. Print one of these off and place it in each book.
Maintenance

As hard as you try, your books will need attention. Food and drink will get spilled on them. Use Windex and paper towels to disinfect and clean your exterior covers. Keep them clean, for obvious reasons. When a binder gets raggedy or if it breaks, replace it. Your image is always on display in the public eye, so make it a neat and tidy one. If you find that a book is totally ruined, try to salvage the sheet protectors, replace the binder, and reload with one of your spare copies of your song list.

Other Tips:

How often do I replace my list each year as I update with more songs?

This depends on the program you are using. In Excel, I create a section in my books called 1999 updates. Instead of replacing all 61 pages, I replace 8 pages per book, and reduce my workload in a significant manner.

The Karaoke Spigot can do that as well, and has the option in the print menu to create an “updates to the main song list”.

I plan on reducing the number of times I redo the whole song list to once a year from the two that I am doing now. Just make sure you point out to the audiences that your book has two sections, 1999 updates, and your main song list.
2. How often should I review my books for damage?

Go through your books after every performance and well before your next one. Flip through the pages, and clean as needed. Always make sure that you have plenty of pencils and slips on your books. Attention to detail is a virtue in this particular aspect of the Karaoke business.

Conclusion:

This article covers some of the finer points of Karaoke songbook creation. It does not cover all of the ways this can be done. If you have an equally effective method for creating songbooks, or know of some smart software out there, we would like to know about them, and will feature them in follow up articles and also credit you properly with their “discovery”. I hope that you found some good information in here about creating songbooks and that you will have some ideas about how much a song book costs to make and what goes into them.

Karaoke Performance Basics

Introduction:So, you have bought the CDGs, the players, and all of the equipment you need to put on a show. You have even booked a show. It’s this Friday night. Now what? What do you do to actually pull off a successful show? This installment at DJU deals with what we shall call “basic performance techniques”. These are the things that you need to run a professional and successful show. We will deal in several areas, including setup, preshow preparation, show execution, and some general notes… Lets rock!!

Setup:

Setting up your show so that it suits the area that you are playing is the number one essential to making your show run smoothly. As an example, speaker placement and TV monitor placement are crucial to prevent feedback into your system from the singers’ microphones. Another example is if the club fails to clear out your area and customers are seated in the area where you are supposed to set up. You should make it clear that this needs to be accomplished at least an hour ahead of time. There is nothing worse than coming into your club, and there are 8 guys watching the sports TV and swilling loads of beer seated in the area where you are supposed to set up.

You need to visit your club before you do the show, and become familiar with the layout. Where are the electrical plugs? Do you have adequate room to load in? Will you require a table on which to set your CDGs and music? Is the area big enough to accommodate all of your gear? Answering all of these questions only ensures that you don’t get overly stressed on your big night. If your working conditions are not adequate, you need to work with the Club manager or person in charge to ensure that the area is big enough to work in. You need to be friendly, but assertive. Remember, this is your gig, and you know what conditions are needed to make the show run well.

I like to set my show up so that my back is to a wall. I find this to be an advantage when doing a show, because there are fewer distractions from multiple directions. Plus, if you set up very close to an electrical outlet, you can practically guarantee that you won’t lose power due to someone tripping over your power cord.

My mixing board and road cases are facing the audience, and my table is on one side of the road cases. My speakers are out in front facing the main room, and are set at least 20-25 ft. apart. You need to make sure that your singers and the TV monitor setup are not parallel with the main speakers, but are about 3-5 ft. in back of the speakers. This prevents that nasty feedback loop from occurring. Make sure you TAPE all cords down, for safety reasons as well as preserving your cords.

Pre Show Preparation:

Sound Check:

Now it is time to turn on everything, and run a sound check. The simplest way to sound out a room and understand the acoustics at work is to place your master volume halfway up. Slowly bring up each microphone channel first, and notice at which point you begin to get feedback. Make a mental note of this volume, and ensure that as the night progresses, you do not exceed this volume. Note also, that as the place fills up, you may need to nudge up the master volume a bit. Play a CDG in your player to make sure that the Karaoke TV works. Test your other players as well.

As you sound test, ask members of the audience how they like the levels. This gets them involved, and makes them feel like you care. Also, it gives you a chance to meet the people who are going to make your night work…your singers!! Remember that in Karaoke, sound is MUCH different than if you DJ. Singers need to hear the melody line, and as such, you need to take the bass levels way down, and increase your mid range and treble. The music needs to be clear and non-bass sounding. And the most important item of all: Your microphones need to be louder than your music levels. All music, whether live, taped, CDG, whatever, is a BACKGROUND for the singers. Never let your background override your featured singers.

Pass out the books:

About 15 minutes before you start up your show, you need to pass out the song books that you have worked so hard on creating. If you are using the Signup sheet system, place that out so that your singers can sign up. If you are using the slip system, then singers are ready to sign up by filling them out and giving them to you.

Announce that Karaoke is about to begin:

Now it is time to introduce yourself, and announce that the show is about to start. Advise everyone that the books are available for them to look at, and to please bring all requests to your booth.

Here’s an example:

Good evening everyone. My name is Bill Smith with the Magic of Music, and I want to welcome all of you to the Cary Tavern and Grill. Our show will be starting in about ten minutes. I have passed out the songbooks, which are arranged in alphabetical order by Artist. Simply fill out the request slips, bring them up to me, and we will crank it up very shortly. So that everyone gets their chance to shine in the spotlight, please bring up one request at a time, so that we get a rotation of singers going. Remember to also take good care of the people that are taking good care of you. I am looking forward to 4 great hours of fun times with you, so get those request slips ready, and lets rock this place!

Naturally, this depends on your own personality. No format is wrong. Use your own creativity to build on and create your own “schtick”. Everyone is unique. Use something that fits your personality and comfort level.

Arrange your songs:

As people start giving you slips, you need a quick way to access them. I use a wide plastic bread clip that you can get from any store. It is velcroed onto my road case where I can pick it up. As I get the singers requests, the first request goes on top in the clip. For the rest of the night, I work requests from top to bottom. New requests go in on the bottom, the next singer is selected from the top of the stack.

Show Execution:

Start the show:

I have never been to a show anywhere in the US where the Karaoke host did not start the show off singing if he/she was able to sing. This is the point of the show where you get people excited about being there. I like to start my shows with a theme, like the “2001: Space Odyssey”, or “Sirius Theme”, and fade right into my first song. I like to start off with high-energy songs, so I crank up songs like ” I Can See Clearly Now”, by Travelin Band, “Johnny B Goode”, or some other really uptempo song that stretches my abilities. You want people to see your talent showcased right off the bat!! Your first song (or two) should be “home runs’, where you are swinging for the fences. Of course, you need to tailor this for your area, and your tastes. A high energy opening however, is a great way to get your show on the right track.

Once you have finished singing, it is time to start getting other singers into the act. Fade over into some CD music you have set up on your other player, and talk over it as you introduce your first singer. This is where multi tasking is so important. You have to develop the skill of talking while you are programming your CDG player at the same time. Here is an example of something I might be saying, and DOING at the same time.

“Thank you so much for that warm welcome. That is how I want you to treat every singer up here tonight. We are all in this together, so lets support each other the best way we know how. Guess what time it is now?? It’s time for YOU to entertain ME. Its time for our very first singer tonight.” Give it up for Jonny D. Jonny is going to sing a great song for us, takin us back to 1986 with “On the Road Again”…here’s Jonny! Hey Jonny, pick either microphone, they both work just fine.

(During this intro, you have selected your CDG, programmed it, watched Jonny come up to get his microphone, waited until he stopped tapping it, then turned his sound on, pushed play, then used your cross over to fade in the Karaoke selection)

This is a skill that you must develop. Work on this at home, and mentally time it. Unless the singer is really drunk or totally deaf, it takes about 20-40 seconds for a singer to come up to the stage area, pick up the microphone, and get ready to sing.

(When Jonny finishes, be sure to say something positive about him, and recap what he sang. Fade over your music CD so that you have music going…)

“Hey, that was Jonny, and he says he can’t wait to get back on the road again…give him a big hand everyone. Nice job…all right…According to this, our next singer is the lovely and most talented Faith Evans. Faith has a great tune standing by for ya tonight. She’s gonna tell you about how “Love Can Build a Bridge”…Lets hear it for Faith

(During this intro, you have selected your CDG, programmed it, watched Faith come up to get her microphone, then turned her sound on, pushed play, then used your cross over to fade in the Karaoke selection to begin the play)

You repeat this process over and over as the night goes along.

NOTES:

DANCE SETS:

Depending on your crowd, you may get a lot of singers, or you may get a lot of people that want to drink and dance. You should have already spoken with your club owner to understand exactly how they want things to progress. You must balance the needs of the person paying you versus the needs of your singers. A dance set does several things for you and your night club owner:

YOU get a short break. Go out there while the dance set is going, and work the crowd and your singers. Keep business cards on you. You never know.
The dance sets give your singers and the rest of the audience a chance to do something besides sit and wait for another singer.
The nightclub benefits because people will buy more food and drink to supplement the exercise they are getting on the dance floor.
Planning Dance sets:

I like to plan a dance set at least twice during the night, and run no more than 10-15 minutes. If you have a lot of Karaoke singers, you can plan this to happen just before your first singer of the night is scheduled to do his or her second song. If it is a slow singing night, plan to do this after the second rotation of singing is completed. Pick up the tempo with some fast music. Most of the girls will do the Electric Slide, and if you’re in the South, a follow on that really cranks is REDNEX’s version of the Cottoneyed Joe. Do the Macarena as a follow on, and maybe Whoomp There It Is. That is a pretty fast sweaty dance set that should give the bartender a stroke.

Notify your singers:

Always let your singers know who is coming up in the next 3~5 songs. This speeds things up a little. Here’s one way to do this: (Again, you are multi tasking)

“Man, y’all are lookin good out there. OK, listen up, here’s the next 5 singers….We got Jonny coming up for his 3rd song, then we have Faith, followed by the lovely Miss Stephanie, then Boomer, and the Spike Brothers. Jonny, let’s roll with it brother, come on up and nail this one to the floor. Here’s Jonny!! He’s gonna “Roll With It, Baby”

Interactivity:

This is a tough call. There are some singers who want the entire spotlight, and are offended if you get others involved rather than just providing the platform for him/her to perform in. An example would be where you try to get the audience to clap more, or use props on the side, or otherwise make yourself more visible. This behavior is most likely more apropos at a private function. Karaoke in clubs has evolved for some singers into a deadly serious pursuit. You would not believe how many singers count the people in between their next time to sing, and are in your face if their count doesn’t conclude with you calling on them. Use your instincts to determine if a singer will appreciate you helping out the song, or if you should just be the “potted plant” for a few minutes.

Crash and Burn:

What happens when one of your singers gets halfway through the song, turns around and tells you, turn it off, this sucks, and I am not going to do it.

There are several ways to work it. First fade the song, and cross over to get some music playing. I like to get the singer over to the booth, and ask them if they want to try another song right then, or wait. Its 50 – 50. Here’s how I handle it BOTH ways:

“Jonny, I am so sorry. How about trying another song. No?…Ok, well then please bring me up another one. Everybody, give him a big hand anyway. Sometimes you just run into those things”

Or

Hey Jonny, Sorry that didn’t work out. Do you have another one to try? Ok, what’s the number, I will put it right in…While I am doing that everybody give him a hand. It takes a lot of courage to get right back in the saddle after that happens.

Here Jonny with “Angel Eyes”

Conclusion:

I tend to like the hands off approach in a nightclub. But that is because I am an older guy, and my approach is more conservative. I also realize that there are lots of ways to get interactive that will suit your style and ways of doing things as well as your personality that re not conservative by my standards. That is OK too, because its YOUR show. You have to run it the best way you know how. The performance basics presented here are designed to give you fuel for thought and action. There are certain basics that you will do over and over again for each show, and most of those are presented here. A good way to see what other people are doing is to visit other shows in your area. Look at what works and doesn’t work, and imagine yourself doing those things, or NOT!!!

Good luck out there. Happy Karaoking!

Introduction to Karaoke

So, you want be a Karaoke DJ? Well, before you can do that, it is helpful to have a place to start. If you are already an established DJ, adding Karaoke is not a great stretch, because you already have many of the components needed, such as your public address system and organizational skills won over the years from experience and advice from others. Lets talk about the personal aspects and expense, and equipment.
PROS and CONS: The personal sideFirst, are you suited to doing Karaoke shows? What does it take?

You still need to have the same skills of “emceeing” needed to keep a show rolling. You still have to talk, and in fact, talk more. The pace of Karaoke is MUCH slower than a regular DJ gig at a club. You need to be able to be a facilitator, and relegate yourself to not always being the center of attention, for as I say at all my shows ” it’s not about me singing, it’s all about you singing”. If you cant, accept the fact that you are not going to be the center of the universe, you will most likely not be happy doing Karaoke.

It is very helpful if you can sing.

Knowing how to carry a tune also allows you to help other singers out if they falter or ask you for help.

You also need to be patient.

No matter what happens, you can’t lose your temper. It is bad business. Know that you will not always have control over the pace of the show despite your best efforts. Singers who have had too much will not get up to the stage in a meaningfully rapid fashion.

Equipment selection:

KJ’s also uses many of the same components you use to DJ. For example, you still need to buy public address speakers, a quality Amplifier, a mixing board, microphones, road cases etc. The uniqueness of Karaoke, however, demands that you select components that are designed for Karaoke. Those include the following (NOTE: I bought all new – you may be able to swing much lower prices going usedJ )

A CD+G player: Different than a CD player, these players also process graphics for the songs on the CDG discs that you will have to buy. A good player will run you between 300.00 on up.
A 13 or 19 inch color TV to display the graphics for the songs. This allows the prospective singers to see the words to the songs. Cost is $150.00 on up, and you will need a TV stand to set the TV in. That can also cost you between 100~200 dollars.
A RF modulator to take the video output of the CDG player and converts it into a signal that a TV can interpret. Cost is about $40.oo~$50.00
Mixing board – Although we mentioned this before, if you are going to do primarily Karaoke, the average 2-3 input mixing board would be inadequate to handle multiple microphones. You should get a mixing board that does both CD’s AND CDG. A crossover is also very useful. Cost – between $300.00~$600.00
CDG discs – These are the discs that have the songs on them that your singers will sing. They are much more expensive than regular CDs, and not as available in retail outlets. This is most likely the most expensive and recurrent cost that you will bear if you decide to do Karaoke. The average Karaoke CDG runs $20.00 for 15 songs. If you buy new, and decide to start out with a library of 1000 songs, that is 66 CDGs at a cost of $1200.00. Then you must keep up with the changing musical tastes of your audience.
CDGs can range in price from $37.00 a disc (Sound Choice) all the way down to $9.00 (All hits Karaoke special). Not all CDGs are made equally either. You need to research the Web and get evaluations of CDG musical arrangements so you can choose a library “that sounds just like the radio”. That is what singers are trying to recreate.

Equipment philosophy:

Rather than tell you what you should buy, I am going to provide some philosophical guidelines for you to use when selecting equipment. Where I think the best equipment is used, I will say so.

Buy for Versatility. Could you do just regular DJing from the equipment you buy?
Whether you DJ or KJ, is your sound system going to be big enough to cover the typical areas in which you may be asked to play?
Buy quality within your means to do so. Cheap is rarely best for your long-term interest in either DJing or KJing.
Buy equipment that suits both your physical abilities to move it around and set it up on a regular basis.
There are tons of people out there selling both used and new Karaoke equipment. SHOP smart, and compare. Try to always see your equipment rather than just surfing the net and mail ordering. Although this is an easy way to shop, the reality of size and weight cannot be seen on a 15-inch monitor. Look, touch, feel, lift, THEN do the Internet ordering. If you can hook up with a local dealer, that is much better than over the phone or over the Internet.
CDGs – This is the heart of your Karaoke system. These are the CDGs that you will have to buy to provide your singers something to perform from. Years ago, when I started, there were two choices for good CDG Karaoke. There was DK and Sound Choice. There are now literally hundreds of brands out there. The new fashion statement in Karaoke is the emergence of a collection of CDGs that have the most popular Karaoke songs (as researched by the companies). The most complete libraries include the DK Encore series, the Sound Choice Foundation + Bricks, Music Maestro, and loads of others. I recommend the purchase of a BASE library that gives you at least 500~1000 songs to start. A great way to supplement your library is to buy CDGs that have the Top Hits for both Country and Pop on a monthly basis.
Mixing board – If you are doing primarily Karaoke, invest in a mixing board that will switch both audio and graphics, and has at least 4~6 microphone inputs. This allows you to accommodate large groups of singers. I use the Vocopro KJ6200. It is designed to be used primarily for Karaoke, but can be used to do DJ work as well, utilizing a crossover. A board like the 6200 is advisable if Karaoke is your main gig source.
CDG Player – As far as I am concerned, Pioneer is the best brand for CDG players. The dual tray with the pitch controller and vocal eliminator is by far the best-priced player and performs night in and out. You can buy one for under $400.00 and I recommend a backup (go used for this).
Songbooks: By far the most boring and also VITAL aspect of your Karaoke biz is your song books. There are software packages out there that allow you to create a songbook online, then print it offline. Others use a Microsoft product, such as Excel or Access to enter their songs. You will constantly be updating your song books with new music, and getting reproduction companies to print off your new song lists. Then you have to buy 1-2 inch binders and sheet protectors and stuff your books. Your book is also a great advertisement billboard. In each songbook, I have a pouch with sign up slips, pens, and business cards. I also print a “logo sheet” that goes in the plastic protector of each of the books front exterior.
CONCLUSIONS and WRAPUP:

So, where do you buy this stuff? A good way to discover the world of Karaoke is to ask existing KJs in your area who they go to for equipment and CDGs. You should pick a person who has a good rep. Ask the KJs several questions about availability of hardware, service after the sale, availability of Karaoke CDGs, and how much cost shipping and handling plays in your total purchase price.

Finally, are you getting a lot of requests for Karaoke as either an Add on for your DJ service, or outright offers to do a show ? As you can see, you will spend a lot of money just to get started. Can you recoup this cost in a reasonable time frame (say a year) to justify it?

We have talked a lot about Karaoke start up costs and personal aspects of being a KJ. It is not cheap, but can be very rewarding and a lucrative add on to your existing business. You need to be friendly, accessible, and understand that you will not be the center of the universe at the show. Patience is a virtue, and is a must when doing Karaoke. Lots of luck to you if you decide to ad this into your services.

If you do Karaoke at a club, you will run into a lot of stuff, like the drunk who gets right in your face and demands to sing now, even though he is way down on the list. Some people who sign up invariably will give you a wrong number and Patsy Cline’s Crazy comes up on the screen instead of Great Whites ‘ Once bitten, Twice Shy”. You have to stop the whole show, ask the singer what they really wanted, and then find that disk. You may also run into owners who want you to play lots of dance music (like a DJ?) and then all your Karaoke people get mad at you, because Karaoke is not happening. You also must wait for the singers to come up to get their microphone. They will bang it, scream into it, drop it, and occasionally throw it. I NEVER let a singer hang out to dry without either standing behind them and singing off microphone so they catch the tune, or ask for volunteers from the audience. This practice is especially effective at a private gig where kids are involved. By doing this, you let everyone who is watching that you care about the quality of your show and that you also care about making the singers experience the best that it can be. The ability to help someone on the spot enhances your reputation as a caring committed and professional KJ. It is not a requirement, but I have found (and I have traveled all over the US from North Carolina to California, and many places in between) that the best shows are the ones where the host is an above average singer. Many Karaoke singers are much more serious than say 8-10 years ago. They want to go to shows that have a talented host who can also attract listeners as well as singers. Not everyone comes to a show to sing. They come to listen as well. I cannot count the number of times I got a booking because I sang a song to open my show and impressed someone in the audience. Being a good singer also enforces the perception that you are a professional KJ.