It's only water

[Bigdog]

I can tell the difference between the begininng of the month crowd when everyone has money and the end of the month when everyone is broke and they are absent or nursing the free water.

Many of my bars stopped having bands because nobody wants to pay the $5 cover charge....bands are not bringing in their regular groupie followers.

People are not spending money for any kind of live entertainment (karaoke, Bands & DJs) But they still spend on cigarettes and Farmville and smart phone plans with all the bells and whistles....

Maybe if I was smarter and knew how to use one to it's full potential and wanted to pay $200 a month for a phone, I would have a smart phone..That's an entire world of entertainment in the palm of your hand...(I'll refer you to my thread on the subject...)

People would rather text than talk on the phone or even face to face....they will text someone across the room rather than walk over...

The probelm we face is getting worse...

I am still predicting the end or at least a very drastic slow down to our kind of entertainment.....Much of which is economy related....but also there is a change in the way we get our entertainment...SMART PHONES keep getting more entertaining.....we are not...everyday there is a new app or exciting new feature.....we are not...

Sports bars are losing their sports fans...attendance is down for the football games.....HOME entertainment is taking over.

People have bigger TVs in their living rooms than bars do...Even when the team wins people are rushing out at the end of the game where they used to hang around and drink...

My bar practically stopped having karaoke if the football game is on..on karaoke night.....nobody stays for the karaoke...and nobody comes in after the game...

There has been a major entertainment shift....economics is playing a part...DUI...is playing a part...Smart phones are playing a part..maybe a lack of interest is playing a part....but it's across the board involving karaoke, bands & DJs...

I'm working for money I turned down 20 years ago....just to keep the jobs...

I'm playing 5 hours for less money than I charged for 4 hours...

One more thing....smoking bars and bars that cater to younger people seem to be doing better... more bad habits and they spend every nickel they have....not worrying about tomorrow...like the more mature responsible people...


Hope & Change has turned into....Hey Buddy I hope you have some change...

[djBe]

My recommendation to bar owners is this: $2 soda, $2 bottled water, $2 juice, and at least one domestic beer on special for $2. let the customer choose, chances are they will go with the beer special. If not, all the better for the bar.

[djBe]

My recommendation to bar owners is this: $2 soda, $2 bottled water, $2 juice, and at least one domestic beer on special for $2. let the customer choose, chances are they will go with the beer special. If not, all the better for the bar.

[Bigdog]

It's been an accepted practice ever since they started having entertainment in bars that the drink prices would be increased to help pay for the entertainment.

Nobody seemed to mind and all the bar owners did it.
For some reason now bar owners are reluctant to increase their prices during entertainment. (Unrelated to the current economic conditions) And they also offer free drink refills on pop. It just happened to me last night. I went to the bar I play in to see the DJ there. I paid for my first pop and the bartender gave me free refills.

I expected to pay, I even had my money out. Granted the place was busy...but it was also a Saturday night and the college kids are home.

They are expecting a big crowd tonight for karaoke because most peole are off tomorrow.

Don't continue to cry about not making money when you are still passing up much potential income by not making people pay for live entertainment with increased drink prices and free refills and free water.

All the while expecting me to take a reduced rate because your bottom line sales were not that high.

[The Lone Ranger]

Like Dylan said in his song times they are a changing. I think I picked a good time to retire from the karaoke service business. I'm glad I never quit my day job and always did my shows on the side until I was fully retired. The business became more of a grind the older I became, and working six days a week in the business will eventually burn out anyone. Working ten months a year I could earn 40 to 50K, and I had a partner that took over the 2 months every year I was on vacation. There is a time when the gold loses it's shine, and my partner wanted to quit. That and my health issues due to old age caused me to hang up the old speakers.

I really feel for hosts that are trying to run a successful karaoke service business in this current economic reality of today. Entertainment is becoming more home centered, and it seems like every host newbie starts at home. People do not want to go out and deal with people at large, they would rather be at home with a few good friends, and who can blame them. There are some very strange people out there, being hosts you have probably met some of them.

I think I was in at the right time and got out at the right time. It's all about timing in anything you do. The Golden Age of hosting I fear is behind us. The only hosts that still seem to be positive are the ones who are trying to corner the local KJ hosting market. The multi-riggers who are using scale of operation to make up for the meager fees paid by most venues. I was always a hands on one guy one show type of person and the idea of overseeing other hosts and running many shows and various venues never appealed to me. Good luck to all of you still trying to make a living in the business. It is true what they say you really never appreciate what a person has to go through to achieve something until you have to do it yourself.