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

Eric Godfrey — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 09:52:34 +0000

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!

Fantasy Entertainment Launches “BlabaEVENT”

Ryan Burger — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:40:22 +0000

Fantasy Entertainment Launches “BlabaEVENT”

Technology for Event Rental Photo Booths

New Service Offering extend the Photo Booth Experience through

Video Messaging, Web-based Access, and Integrated Social Networking.

ORLANDO, FL – November 16, 2010 – Fantasy Entertainment (www.fantasyent.com) today announced the launch of “BlabaEVENT”, a software option for its growing line of event rental photo booths. This announcement takes place at the annual “International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions” (IAAPA) Conference and Tradeshow in Orlando, FL, where Fantasy Entertainment is exhibiting in booths # 319 and 420.

“Since the launch of our BlabaBooth product at IAAPA in 2009, we’ve seen how customers of our coin-operated booths appreciate the many benefits they receive as we extend their photo booth experience to the web,” says Casey Cammann, Fantasy Entertainment’s Vice President of Business Development. “With the launch of BlabaEVENT, we’ve built upon this success by merging complimentary video and photo technologies into a turnkey rental service offering that adds significant value for our customers – as well as their clientele and guests.”

About the BlabaEVENT Experience

With each BlabaEVENT session, guests have the option to commemorate the occasion by recording a personal video message for the benefit of the guest of honor or hosts. Next, guests choose their desired photo effect and favorite graphics to enhance their printed photos. Captured video is played-back to entertain while photos are printing, and all video and photo content is saved for exporting. Each photo strip includes a unique code that provides the owner with direct access to their own content, as well as that generated by other event attendees. All content can be automatically uploaded in real-time via cellular air card (requires cellular plan, sold separately) or after the event through a direct Cat-5 network connection.

After every event, the experience is relived as content is viewed and shared via the web in secure, brandable albums that operators configure through an intuitive interface. If needed, photo content can be pre-screened and approved prior to publishing. Event attendees navigate to published albums via their code, or from a link on the operator’s website. Attendees can add their own text comments to albums, and seamless integration with the most popular social networking sites (such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and content sharing sites (YouTube, Flickr, etc.) and instant messaging (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc.) makes it easy to share memorable content with friends and family everywhere.

Benefits to the Operator

BlabaEVENT provides a comprehensive, integrated system that allows operators to offer a full-featured, premium service with unique, differentiating features. Much of album configuration can be automated so that operator involvement is minimal. In addition, operators benefit from increased website traffic as clients and guests access their content, and from additional exposure generated through the viral nature of the video and photo content.

Pricing & Availability

Pricing and availability details are available by contacting Fantasy Entertainment at (800) 933-2682, ext. 162 (US Toll Free), or +001 (603) 324-3240, ext. 162 (International), or via the web at http://www.fantasyent.com.

About Fantasy Entertainment

Fantasy Entertainment is a privately held company and North America’s largest owner/operator of electronic self-service photo imaging kiosks. Started in 1995, Fantasy Entertainment now operates nearly 2,700 photo kiosks within marquis destinations, major malls, zoos, museums, aquariums, casinos, and hundreds of other high traffic outlets and tourist locations. Fantasy Entertainment is also an international supplier to distributors and operators in over 30 countries. The company is headquartered in Salem, NH, USA.

And The Winner From Chauvet Is….

Ryan Burger — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:17:19 +0000

AND THE WINNER IS…
CHAUVET ENDS 2^ND ANNUAL DJ PRODUCT REVIEW CONTEST

SUNRISE, Fla. – CHAUVET®, a leading manufacturer of professional lighting, announced the end of their second annual DJ Product Review Contest [link: http://www.youtube.com/user/chauvetlighting#p/a/u/2/1w9_Qrs6tEo]. The contest yielded two winners in what became a tight race for victory. Both DJ Wicked Jester and DJ Omega80 were named grand prize winners, and official YouTube product reviewers for CHAUVET®, receiving products to review in the coming year.

Originally the contest was to have one grand prize winner and one first place winner, but the entries from DJ Wicked Jester, who reviewed the Scorpion™ Storm FX [link: FX http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-FUWN8OIbU], and DJ Omega80, who reviewed the COLORstrip™ [link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9paeZ1axE8], were considered by the judging committee to be the most informative and creative product reviews. It was a close competition which yielded two grand prize winners for this year’s contest.

“The review for the Scorpion Storm FX exhibited great product knowledge and really shared an understanding of the fixture,” said Allan Reiss, product manager for club/DJ line at CHAUVET®. “But the creativity delivered for the COLORstrip was just another galaxy away from the other reviews.”

The top 15 finalists will receive a special edition CHAUVET® T-shirt. They are listed here by their YouTube name: BigShowMobileEnt, bigshowmobile, clarkfrank123, DJRockinRob, keithdivel, djboentertainment, ChadAlanEvents, DJJoey100, DJAdvise, DjwickedJester, DJMIKEYB1000, crankupthevolume1517, DJOmega80, atakid920, and MikeLtheDJ. And the top 25 finalists will receive a CHAUVET® road case sticker.

The DJ Product Review Contest was the second for this annual event. All submitted contest entries were posted on YouTube. The goal of the contest was to find the most creative and informative review of one of the fixtures from the extensive line of club/DJ products from CHAUVET®.

KJ Hosting tip!

Eric Godfrey — Sun, 16 May 2010 01:27:59 +0000

KJ Hosting tip from Eric Godfrey

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

Hey guys, I was writing an email to a couple of new host trainees and thought it would make a decent short article to share with all of you. In my opinion, this topic is the number one thing in running a quality karaoke show! Master this first and get comfortable; then you can work on your personality as a host.

Lesson 1 on sound – You need to listen at the beginning of EVERY SONG! They are all recorded at different levels and every vocalist has different traits and vocal ranges. When the song starts, you need to listen intently and match up the levels. Then, you need to listen to the vocalist for at least 10 or 15 seconds and adjust their volume and equalizer levels to get them mixed nicely… If it was a sound recording for a record or demo then you would want a nice blend of the two. In Karaoke you boost the singer a bit over the sound, unless they are really bad, then you add some re-verb and try to bring them down slightly so it is not as noticeable. No, this is not being snobby or offensive. You want your singer to sound the best they can. Sometimes, the best way to do this is to raise the music to a higher level.

If you are a patron at a show, always let the host have the beginning of the song to make these adjustments. If you see that a host is not doing this, observe how much better each singer would come across if they were doing it properly! Pointing this out to a host is purely up to you. Most hosts not following this procedure, will probably be defensive or even hostile and not thank you for your good intentions.

Get out there and sing!

CHAUVET to Help Build Homes in Haiti with Food For The Poor

Ryan Burger — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:13:36 +0000

CHAUVET® to Help Build Homes in Haiti with Food For The Poor

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – In the wake of the catastrophic earthquake that left more than 1.2 million homeless in Haiti, CHAUVET® has teamed up with the charity organization Food For The Poor to raise funds for the construction of homes in the devastated Caribbean nation. Starting in April, the Florida-based company aims to raise $52,000 in four months to build 20 homes in Haiti. Owners Albert and Berenice Chauvet, who are both Haitian-born, are kicking off the campaign with a personal commitment to fund four homes.

“This is a human tragedy that we can all relate to,” Albert Chauvet said. “The good news is that, with very little money, you can have a huge, concrete impact in someone else’s life.”

Food For The Poor has a strong tradition of involvement in Haiti, where it builds housing units at an average cost of $2,600. In addition to providing emergency relief and housing, the organization aims to break the cycle of poverty by offering solutions for self-sustained living with vocational training, agricultural programs and the establishment of fishing villages equipped with boats, motors, sheds and freezers.

CHAUVET® plans to solicit donations primarily through a dedicated Web page www.foodforthepoor.org/chauvet, digital communications, and its network of media organizations, suppliers, designers, dealers and distributors in the entertainment and architectural lighting industry. CHAUVET® has pledged to match donations of up to $10,000.

Haiti‘s ongoing housing crisis has found itself acutely exacerbated by the earthquake. Right now, hundreds of thousands of Haitians live in tents or dilapidated shacks made of cardboard, plastic, tin or whatever materials can be scavenged from garbage.

“Our donors have given a tremendous amount in the past two months to ensure that their brothers and sisters in Haiti have a chance to eat, drink clean water and lie down under some kind of shelter at night,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “We are grateful for their committed support and we will continue to count on their generosity in the long recovery we have ahead of us. The most immediate threat will be the rains that come with hurricane season.”

The 12 x 12 square-foot homes are built with cement blocks and covered with galvanized sheet roofs. To address the need for larger accommodations, two housing units are sometimes joined to form one double-unit home.

In 2009, Food For The Poor built 6,371 new housing units in the Caribbean and Latin America. Since 1982, the organization has built more than 61,200 housing units and completed more than 1,000 water projects among others. Find out how you can get involved, by visiting www.foodforthepoor.org/chauvet or watch http://www.youtube.com/user/chauvetlighting
BEFORE AND AFTER HOUSING PROJECTS
About Food For The Poor: Food For The Poor, the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.

Capitalize on social networking

Robert Starkey — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:37:55 +0000

The DJ Intelligence News & Information Blog allows you to quickly and easily publish articles on your website. The benefits of writing articles for your blog are vast, and experts agree that publishing a blog is a one of the leading ways to increase traffic to your website and gain free exposure for your business. The articles you post on your DJ Intelligence News & Information Blog are streamed directly into the Google search index (and other top tier search engines) which means that unlike traditional web pages which can take days, weeks, or months to appear, you will often find that your blog posts show up in the Google results within hours, giving you immediate exposure. Additionally, your clients and prospects can subscribe to your blog’s RSS or Atom feed to automatically be notified anytime you publish a new article (unlike bookmarks which depend on visitors to return to your site to read the newest updates). These two elements alone can drive significant traffic to your website, but there are other simple steps you can take to further enhance your blog’s reach.

Using free services such as TwitterFeed and Ping.fm, you can effortlessly syndicate the articles you publish to your Twitter page and Facebook wall (as well as countless other social networking sites) using your blog’s RSS feed. If you do not yet use Twitter and Facebook for your business, consider setting up accounts. These are two great methods for communicating with clients and prospects, while further spreading the word about your professional services through the power and reach of social networking.

As you know, DJ Intelligence is also fully integrated with MailChimp, a leading broadcast email provider, so you can send mass emails to your past, present, and future clients. Using your RSS feed, you can set up an “RSS-driven campaign” to automatically email your clients the day after you publish an article to your blog. This is another great way to stay in contact with your client base. If you do not yet use MailChimp to send broadcast emails, consider signing up and integrating with your DJ Intelligence account.

To find out the URL of your DJ Intelligence blog’s RSS feed, visit your blog’s home page and click on the “RSS” icon. The URL which appears in the address bar after you click the “RSS” icon will be the direct URL of your RSS feed. If you have any questions or need our assistance, please contact the DJ Intelligence support team anytime 24×7 at http://support.intelligenceinc.com

So the only question that remains is, what will you blog about? Share company news & information, author and publish articles pertaining to your company or industry, tell stories from past events, share client testimonials, or post any other important information you wish to share with your customers and potential customers. The possibilities are endless. If you do not yet use DJ Intelligence for your business, please sign up today and start reaping the rewards of blogging!

Midwest Mobile Entertainers Seminar – Less Than 2 Weeks Away!

Ryan Burger — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:46:01 +0000

The Midwest Mobile Entertainer’s Seminar is now less than two weeks away. November 8-9, 2009 at the airport Hilton in Wichita, Ks.

Featuring:

Andy Ebon, speaking about marketing to the 21st Century Bride and blogging your way to success.
Stevie Ray, covering the five steps of persuasion to make your sales soar.
Jim Cerone, will be presenting THE Perfect Host parts one and two.

Your seminar pass includes the two day MMES, plated dinner and entertainment Sunday night, breakfast social Monday morning, great networking opportunities and your door prize ticket. As always, we have great sponsors and thousands of dollars worth of prizes and products to be given away.

Login to www.mmesonline.com right now to register for the seminar, watch the video from MMES-08, view the entire seminar schedule, check out our sponsors and learn everything you want to know about the only seminar held right in the center of the United States. You can also call Cain Humphrey at 888-398-6593 with questions or for more information.

Your competitors will be there… Will you?

Phoenix, AZ Takes Center Stage in Karaoke Piracy Battle:

Eric Godfrey — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:03:29 +0000

Sound Choice, a leading manufacturer of karaoke discs has filed a federal trademark violation lawsuit against 15 karaoke venues and Karaoke Jockeys (KJ’s) in the Phoenix area. Alleging use of illegally obtained and unauthorized copies of karaoke content on hard drives, Sound Choice is asking for a jury trial to determine damages for lost revenues, “statutory damages per trademark infringed by counterfeiting”, and all profits realized by the defendants as a result of their unfair business advantage from counterfeiting of the trademarks. Intellectual Property lawsuits have been prominent in recent news with the RIAA winning a nearly 2 million dollar verdict for willful infringement and a Blogger being sentenced to a year’s probation after leaking a Guns N’ Roses album to the internet.

Local Phoenix establishments and companies listed as defendants in the suit include karaoke hosting companies; Dennis Gorrel d/b/a Big D Productions, Abraham Cortez d/b/a Carousel Karaoke and DJ Company, Dan Dan the Taxi Man (actual identity unnamed), William Ludlow II d/b/a Dirty Goat Productions, Greg Kimble d/b/a Dynamic Sound Production, Debbie Simmons d/b/a Karaoke Fever, Trey’s BadAss Karaoke (actual identity unnamed), Ernest McCullar d/b/a Wired for Sound, and restaurant – bar establishments; Boston’s Bar and Grill located in Tempe, the Breakroom located in Phoenix, the Grapevine located in Scottsdale, Hazelwoods First Place Sports Grill located in Phoenix, Hurricane Bay Nightclub located in Phoenix, Lighthouse Sports Bar located in Avondale, the Regal Beagle Sports located in Chandler. Representatives of Sound Choice with assistance of United States Karaoke Alliance (USKA) members conducted investigations and amassed evidence in the months preceding the lawsuit being filed.

Sound Choice is a leader in the karaoke community and has invested nearly 20 million dollars in their karaoke music catalog. In the mid 90′s Sound Choice routinely put out up to 5 new Karaoke discs per month and employed 75 people. With the actions of those pirating their music, they now employ less than 10 people and their last disc release sold under 800 copies, yet can be found on thousands of karaoke systems across the United States. As stated in their suit, “Sound Choice has been forced to undertake this litigation in order to ensure that it survives and continues to produce the high-quality karaoke music its fans demand, and to level the playing field for the legitimate KJs.”

US Karaoke Alliance President, Eric Godfrey, stated, “As legitimate KJ’s, we support Sound Choice’s endeavors. Due to piracy we can no longer get a fair price for our services as a substantial majority of karaoke jocks are using illegal content. Almost every disc that comes out is now being shared on the internet or sold on hard drives. As a result of this piracy, all legitimate karaoke disc manufacturers already have or are in danger of going out of business”.

Bobby Brooks, Vice-President of the USKA added, “While KJ’s buying music legally have spent tens of thousands of dollars, KJ’s using pirated content have no cost and therefore have offered services for much lower fees, driving down the actual fair market cost for KJ services”.

Sound Choice started these actions, but other Karaoke publishers are watching Phoenix as the test case for legal action. Asked what the future holds, Kurt Slep, CEO of Sound Choice, responded, “We hope to set a precedent in Phoenix. We have already finished investigations in several other markets and those actions will follow in time.”

The Michael Jackson Influence

Ryan Burger — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:12:18 +0000

DJ Intelligence is the service that allows DJs to place interactive event planning tools on their websites. Our flagship tool, the Music Database, allows DJs’ clients to search a DJ’s music library, listen to song samples & view song lyrics, and create customized request lists for their event. Every year well over 3 million requests are cast through this dynamic online system, which we are then able to aggregate and compile to generate some useful statistics and “most requested songs” lists. Our Top 200 Most Requested Songs (of the past 12 months) list is a hit among DJs and listed on tens of thousands of DJ sites.

Even today, Michael Jackson dominates the Top 200 Most Requested Songs chart with 5 of his hits, appearing more times on the Top 200 than any other artist! These songs include Billie Jean (ranked #17), Thriller (ranked #42), Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (ranked #55), Beat It (ranked #118), and P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (ranked #160). Reference: http://www.demo.djintelligence.com/music/requested.asp

Additionally, Michael Jackson further dominates our Top 100 Most Requested 1980′s Songs chart with 8 hits, again appearing more times on this Top 100 than any other artist! These songs include Billie Jean (ranked #6), Thriller (ranked #11), Beat It (ranked #27), P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (ranked #37), The Way You Make Me Feel (ranked #49), Rock With You (ranked #58), Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (ranked #66), and Smooth Criminal (ranked #94). Reference: http://www.demo.djintelligence.com/music/requested.asp?list=1980

What’s also interesting is that over the past 12 months, up through June 24, 2009, there were just over 16,000 individual requests for Michael Jackson songs from brides and party planners around the world. That is an average of about 300 requests per week. However, since June 25, 2009, the King of Pop’s death, there have been over 3,200 requests for Michael Jackson songs! This means that since his death, requests for Michael Jackson songs have increased by over 500%!

There is no question that Michael Jackson has shaped the playlists of mobile DJs around the world and will continue to do so well into the future!

G-TOUR Hydraulic Assisted LCD / Plasma Screen Rolling Lift Cases

Ryan Burger — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:56:48 +0000

Gator’s revolutionary lift case is now available in two sizes to fit 52″ and 65″ LCD and plasma screens. The G-Tour Lift series still boasts its ½” plywood construction with durable PVC laminate exterior, Penn Elcom® hardware with MOL latches, carpeted interior and high-performance industrial casters.

The Gator G-Tour Lift case uses an advanced-technology, non-electric hydraulic assisted lift which extends smoothly with a load of up to 125 pounds locking into four center mounting bracket height positions of 52″, 58″, 64″ and 72″.

The Lift case features an included universal mounting bracket, built-in retractable UL approved electrical cord with 3 grounded receptacles, side mounted laptop tray that stores in the case and black presentation drape for a professional appearance.

Additionally Gator has added 2 new features to the case by including an external dry erase writing label for identification and a self adhesive ”Tilt Watch” indicator to warn you of improper handling during transport.

For more information on this and other Gator Cases, check us out at www.gatorcases.com.