Show Poacher - Poetic Justice

[letitrip]

So I had a fun experience last night. Was running my regular Thursday Night show and the first singer up is a guy who immediately hands me his flier and tells me he's a DJ/KJ. OK cool, I've had other KJ's come to my shows before, it's usually a lot of fun, so lets see what this guy can do. Well can't carry a tune in a bucket, I mean I don't normally criticize people's singing but this guy was BAAAAAAAD.

So as the night goes on, I notice this guy's moving around the bar handing out his little quarter sheet fliers to people at the bar. Some of my regulars told me what was going on and expressed their displeasure with the guy's tactics. One asked me if I'd mind if he started throwing out the pink slips because he thought this DJ/KJ was being "cheesey and unprofessional".

Ultimately, this guy who came in to my show for apparently no other reason than to try to book private shows of his own, made himself look the fool. Everyone of the people I watched him hand a flier to promptly put it down and left it on the bar once he walked away. I picked up over 30 of them at the end of the night and threw them out. I talked to the bar tenders and apparently they asked him to leave after twice telling him his behavior was inappropriate. Everyone that I talked to about it had the same impression, the guy was unprofessional, amateur and lacking in the personality department. One regular told me that when he was approached about booking a private show he told the DJ/KJ guy that he'd rather "hire someone with a personality who can sing better than a 2 year-old" Absolutely precious!!

[Bigdog]

It has been my observation over the years that karaoke (at least around here) is very cut-throat. I have had this happen many times. New KJ just starting out with crap equipment, can't get jobs because they suck at everything, need work. So what better place to find karaoke singers than at someone elses (that knows what they're doing) karaoke night?

I have had many people want to start karaoke business' just to put me out of business, why??? Jealous of what I can do and you can't?? They never become anything but out of business. It's a little harder than I make it look. And you don't have my dedication level. I have KJs that want to taker over my established nights, why??? Cause you can't do what I can do??? When you have invested as much time, money, dedication and energy into your karaoke business, you may have a slight chance of becoming what I am.

Most KJs that can not sing rarely become successful. People never usually acknowledge the KJ whenever they sing a song. It's expected that you can sing. But a KJ that sucks (singing) will quickly kill a crowd and have to pass out ads at other karaoke shows. I laugh to myself at their fruitless efforts. Maybe if you have a better sounding system than I do and a bigger song selection...but you won't attract anyone that I care about keeping....

[djBe]

I take the high road and announce other KJs like they are colleagues and local celebrities when they attend my shows. And I always mention at least one place they are working when they step up to sing - usually a night when I don't have a gig ;) I also list some of my favorite non-djBe shows on a page in my website, thedjbeline.com.
In return, they always announce me when I attend their shows. i DON'T hand out flyers at other shows, and i don't work the room. But if I'm talking to someone specifically at another's show, I might give them a business card which does list my shows at the bottom.

[Sabrina59]

So I'm a little bit late on this thread ....

I actually like your idea, djBe. Perhaps it is just because of the area I live in, but we are a "karaoke community" where a lot of people and KJ's know each other. Perhaps that is the case in your location?

Why not show a little comraderie ... it helps everyone. One question though, what do the bar owner's think of you plugging the competition?

[Bigdog]

I use to do it for some friends. But I always announced a job that was not too close and on a different night.

In my early days..... I quickly found out that bar owners didn't like it when I would announce where I was the following night. They figured it was taking business from them.

So I devised a secret plan to advertise right in front of their nose without actually saying a word. All night long.

I bought a small LED message board that scrolls messages. I put my schedule on it. Every 5 minutes the name of every bar, night and location scrolls by along with my phone number and other stuff. It's mounted right on the front of my mixer rackbox. Bright red letters. I always catch people reading it.

The bar owners have never said anything about it. I guess because it also advertsised their business in other bars. I knew they wouldn't. Brilliant idea.

This is also where having a monthly calender comes in to play. I have one displayed on the back cover of every song book. When I put the books out I make sure the calender side is up.

I personally hand every singer my new calender.

[Sabrina59]

You are devious ... and I love it!