I am noticing the crowds getting smaller by the week. Pick any night. Pick any kind of entertainment.
The following article should be taken very seriously. Decide what you will do with this information.
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/arch ... -is-coming
The Economy, Karaoke & the really Big picture
The economic downturn is completely caused by bankers greed.
They caused a massive market crash and people haven't been getting wage rises, since (I certainly haven't). Therefore, people want goods at lower prices.
Where are these goods coming from?
China, of course!
I bought a 32" CRT TV about 11 years ago that cost me £600 and it gave up the ghost about 6 months ago.
So, I went out to get another and given progress, there are NO CRT TV's about any more but I got the same size LCD with LED backlighting for £300.
Taking inflation into account, this new TV is approximately a quarter the cost of my 11 year old unit.
The reason? MADE IN CHINA.
If you have an enormous population being paid 3rd World wages and with good work ethics, the result is produce at very low cost.
The knock on effect is that buyers will not now pay the extra money for USA or British made goods when they get equivalent perceived quality at a 1/3 the cost.
Unfortunately, when China goes the way of the rest of the World and starts charging realistic prices, Industry in the USA and already in the UK will be gone.
People don't have money to burn on nights out, so it's inevitable that crowds will decrease and sadly, it's only going to get worse.
Sandy.
They caused a massive market crash and people haven't been getting wage rises, since (I certainly haven't). Therefore, people want goods at lower prices.
Where are these goods coming from?
China, of course!
I bought a 32" CRT TV about 11 years ago that cost me £600 and it gave up the ghost about 6 months ago.
So, I went out to get another and given progress, there are NO CRT TV's about any more but I got the same size LCD with LED backlighting for £300.
Taking inflation into account, this new TV is approximately a quarter the cost of my 11 year old unit.
The reason? MADE IN CHINA.
If you have an enormous population being paid 3rd World wages and with good work ethics, the result is produce at very low cost.
The knock on effect is that buyers will not now pay the extra money for USA or British made goods when they get equivalent perceived quality at a 1/3 the cost.
Unfortunately, when China goes the way of the rest of the World and starts charging realistic prices, Industry in the USA and already in the UK will be gone.
People don't have money to burn on nights out, so it's inevitable that crowds will decrease and sadly, it's only going to get worse.
Sandy.
Super Bowl weekend sucked. Friday saturday & sunday.
Wednesday I went home at 11PM. There were only 10 people that came into the bar all night. 6 were there when I got there to set up. Nobody was there at 10:30.
I've heard about DJs having bad weekend nights lately. So it's not just karaoke.
People (karaoke singers) are talking about staying home to watch movies. Going to the casino. I don't know if that's a way to score free drinks while you pretend to gamble. 40 mile round trip. One karaoke singer started a band and he is telling everyone if they show up he'll buy their drinks.
I know of a KJ that buys birthday cakes for everyone on their birthday. Does that include celebratory drinks too?
The smoking bars seem to be doing better. They seem to be younger and smoke heavy. Most of my heavy smokers have disappeared. Smoking is a $200 a month habit that needs to be fed. May as well be heroin or cocaine. But the result is less money to spend on entertainment.
For liability reasons I refuse to buy drinks for people. That gives them an excuse to sue you if they get into trouble. I'm not buying birthday cakes every week. Taking constant pay cuts isn't worth it. Just about any sporting event on TV guarantees a dead singer night. People just leave after it and nobody comes in.
This reminds me of the country line dancing thing. Nobody showed up to financially (all water drinkers) support them. Many bar owners are looking at their bottom lines and shortly karaoke won't be bringing in enough to make it worth doing. The singers I still get showing up regularly drink mostly soda or water and don't smoke. Or they tell me they drank at home before coming out. So they came in buzzed and nurse a drink or two all night.
We can't continue on this course forever. The remaining DJs, KJs and bands will be working for much less money. If they want to work.
There is talk in Washington of doing away with minimum wage to stimulate business growth.
The main outcome will be...if you don't take the $2 an hour job you can't get unemployment compensation because you refused work. The unemeployment numbers will drop and it will appear that there is an economic recovery. So how many $2 an hour jobs will it take to be able to just live under a bridge and have something to eat?
Buckel up kids the ride is going to get very bumpy.
Wednesday I went home at 11PM. There were only 10 people that came into the bar all night. 6 were there when I got there to set up. Nobody was there at 10:30.
I've heard about DJs having bad weekend nights lately. So it's not just karaoke.
People (karaoke singers) are talking about staying home to watch movies. Going to the casino. I don't know if that's a way to score free drinks while you pretend to gamble. 40 mile round trip. One karaoke singer started a band and he is telling everyone if they show up he'll buy their drinks.
I know of a KJ that buys birthday cakes for everyone on their birthday. Does that include celebratory drinks too?
The smoking bars seem to be doing better. They seem to be younger and smoke heavy. Most of my heavy smokers have disappeared. Smoking is a $200 a month habit that needs to be fed. May as well be heroin or cocaine. But the result is less money to spend on entertainment.
For liability reasons I refuse to buy drinks for people. That gives them an excuse to sue you if they get into trouble. I'm not buying birthday cakes every week. Taking constant pay cuts isn't worth it. Just about any sporting event on TV guarantees a dead singer night. People just leave after it and nobody comes in.
This reminds me of the country line dancing thing. Nobody showed up to financially (all water drinkers) support them. Many bar owners are looking at their bottom lines and shortly karaoke won't be bringing in enough to make it worth doing. The singers I still get showing up regularly drink mostly soda or water and don't smoke. Or they tell me they drank at home before coming out. So they came in buzzed and nurse a drink or two all night.
We can't continue on this course forever. The remaining DJs, KJs and bands will be working for much less money. If they want to work.
There is talk in Washington of doing away with minimum wage to stimulate business growth.
The main outcome will be...if you don't take the $2 an hour job you can't get unemployment compensation because you refused work. The unemeployment numbers will drop and it will appear that there is an economic recovery. So how many $2 an hour jobs will it take to be able to just live under a bridge and have something to eat?
Buckel up kids the ride is going to get very bumpy.
buzz-at-home drinkers, nursers and waterboys are the natural enemies of the karaoke business - as dangerous to the economic livlihood of our craft as the notoriously BAD singer who drives customers from the bars with just a few measures of his up.
That said, there are some advantages to karaoke as bar entertainment, the first being that even tho u can sing at home it is NOT the same as singing in public, that is a rush that cannot be duplicated, even at home parties. Also, it tends to be cheaper than other kinds of nightlife, such as live bands or expensive dance clubs.
Usually karaoke has no cover, and clubowners pay karaoke hosts less than they pay bands, which is why bands originally took a very sour opinion of the karaoke craze.
i read your link, and in a general sense without debating specifics, its premise - and yours - is essentially true, the economy never really recovered, can likely get worse and probably will never get back to where it was.
We can either get the hell out of the business ourselves (not the best idea since they aren't actually lining up to buy our systems lol) or adapt and promote like our life depended on it, which it does.
I ran a "sing-for-your-six-string" promotion where I bought a near mint good quality stratocaster copy for well under a hundred (but with a list price of $300) and collected slips for three months at all three of my clubs for a random drawing at one of my clubs from all slips collected. In that time, sept/oct/nov 2011, it helped build interest and scored me several new regulars. I run other promotions too like six-foot-subs or pizza (kind of like the birthday cake idea - about $30 worth of food maybe once every three months, and i milk it it for all its worth on FB before and after, plus me and my girlfriend eat too of course.) The guitar came with thre free lessons, after that the winner had to buy the lessons and is still astudent who has subsequently purchased more gear.
I take tons of pics at shows and post them on FB, which helps me get more play and publicity as these get shared out ~ and gets me in good with my clubs, most of whom I am a FB admin for so I post the pics out directly from their page as well as my own. FB is overrated and oversaturated but it does help, pictures are always better than words, and if you're in it to win it you will land new singers and entice non-singers to become singers if you snap some pics. Real oldtimers on here will recall shows where KJs snapped pictures, developed them and put them in their songbooks (way back when songbooks needed to look beefier lol) well that developing and film cost real money, digital pics just costs batteries and not even that if you have rechargables.
i have also branched out BigDog. I made a studio facility in my home where I record demo CDs for singers and even some bands now. I am more of a pre-production song-construction type of facility, but my years of karaoke hosting and singing in bands now helps me to become a good vocal coach, and along with guitar lessons and recording projects I supplement my KJ income with a nice sideline that amounts to about five or six club gigs a month and no commuting };=D
You have posted many times about KJ bootleggers, dooshbags who claim 100,000 songs but obviously don't/never had/never will have the resources to legally purchase karaoke at the honest rate of 25 cents (older collections) to $2 per song (new releases). How do I fight against these bitches, who have, in fact, taken over my shows in the past? Well for one thing, I use the bad economy to my advantage. i have purchased - at rates that would have given me stiffies in the 80s - nice lights, speakers, amps, mics, TVs etc. off craigslist, that far exceed the plasticky powered speakers and bootleg craptop shows of the KJ-come-latelies.
I buy candles at garage sales or dollar stores for what amonts to pennies a night to transform the environment in ways that other DJ/KJs may not consider. I put them on the tables at my shows. Who would have worried about this kind of stuff in a booming economy? If anything, it would have been an overheated competition for who had the most dazzling effect lights. Now, its what's the most I can do to standout in apositive way for the least amount of money? Want another way to stand out over the cutrate competition. Try a table cloth. My basic show is designed for the typical six-foot folding table, like alot of DJs. If you don't want to do the hwo9le frontboard at least cover your white plastic table with a cloth. In a tough economy, you can outshine your punkass competition right there for peanuts.
I used to spend extra money printing out custom slips, but with lost/wasted slips, at about a penny a slip it was costing me five bucks a week, twenty bucks a month meaning two lower-end bar gigs a year just to pay for slips. Now, i recycle paper for slips. my books have plenty of contact information, i don't need printed slips that say "bookings:djbe@rock.com"
Sorry for dancing around alot of topics generally related to the state of the economy and our particular business, but lastly I must touch on one final thing...the thing we all think of on this site when we think BIGDOG - hardcore karaoke purist. No dance music. No hybrid gigs. Very admirable, and on a case-by-case basis that sort of diedication can hold a gig and sometimes even attract gigs. But sometimes you have to adapt, too, and there can be lucrative gigs where the particular clientele of that particular establishment responds well to a well-timed mix of the two. Remember old friend from whom I've learned much from on here, A bad economy means people can afford to go out less and so maybe have to combine their desire to go dancing with their desire to go singing into ONE night of actually hitting the town...think about it...
In the words of, well, me, Big Dog "Cheer Up It'll Only Get Worse! "
That said, there are some advantages to karaoke as bar entertainment, the first being that even tho u can sing at home it is NOT the same as singing in public, that is a rush that cannot be duplicated, even at home parties. Also, it tends to be cheaper than other kinds of nightlife, such as live bands or expensive dance clubs.
Usually karaoke has no cover, and clubowners pay karaoke hosts less than they pay bands, which is why bands originally took a very sour opinion of the karaoke craze.
i read your link, and in a general sense without debating specifics, its premise - and yours - is essentially true, the economy never really recovered, can likely get worse and probably will never get back to where it was.
We can either get the hell out of the business ourselves (not the best idea since they aren't actually lining up to buy our systems lol) or adapt and promote like our life depended on it, which it does.
I ran a "sing-for-your-six-string" promotion where I bought a near mint good quality stratocaster copy for well under a hundred (but with a list price of $300) and collected slips for three months at all three of my clubs for a random drawing at one of my clubs from all slips collected. In that time, sept/oct/nov 2011, it helped build interest and scored me several new regulars. I run other promotions too like six-foot-subs or pizza (kind of like the birthday cake idea - about $30 worth of food maybe once every three months, and i milk it it for all its worth on FB before and after, plus me and my girlfriend eat too of course.) The guitar came with thre free lessons, after that the winner had to buy the lessons and is still astudent who has subsequently purchased more gear.
I take tons of pics at shows and post them on FB, which helps me get more play and publicity as these get shared out ~ and gets me in good with my clubs, most of whom I am a FB admin for so I post the pics out directly from their page as well as my own. FB is overrated and oversaturated but it does help, pictures are always better than words, and if you're in it to win it you will land new singers and entice non-singers to become singers if you snap some pics. Real oldtimers on here will recall shows where KJs snapped pictures, developed them and put them in their songbooks (way back when songbooks needed to look beefier lol) well that developing and film cost real money, digital pics just costs batteries and not even that if you have rechargables.
i have also branched out BigDog. I made a studio facility in my home where I record demo CDs for singers and even some bands now. I am more of a pre-production song-construction type of facility, but my years of karaoke hosting and singing in bands now helps me to become a good vocal coach, and along with guitar lessons and recording projects I supplement my KJ income with a nice sideline that amounts to about five or six club gigs a month and no commuting };=D
You have posted many times about KJ bootleggers, dooshbags who claim 100,000 songs but obviously don't/never had/never will have the resources to legally purchase karaoke at the honest rate of 25 cents (older collections) to $2 per song (new releases). How do I fight against these bitches, who have, in fact, taken over my shows in the past? Well for one thing, I use the bad economy to my advantage. i have purchased - at rates that would have given me stiffies in the 80s - nice lights, speakers, amps, mics, TVs etc. off craigslist, that far exceed the plasticky powered speakers and bootleg craptop shows of the KJ-come-latelies.
I buy candles at garage sales or dollar stores for what amonts to pennies a night to transform the environment in ways that other DJ/KJs may not consider. I put them on the tables at my shows. Who would have worried about this kind of stuff in a booming economy? If anything, it would have been an overheated competition for who had the most dazzling effect lights. Now, its what's the most I can do to standout in apositive way for the least amount of money? Want another way to stand out over the cutrate competition. Try a table cloth. My basic show is designed for the typical six-foot folding table, like alot of DJs. If you don't want to do the hwo9le frontboard at least cover your white plastic table with a cloth. In a tough economy, you can outshine your punkass competition right there for peanuts.
I used to spend extra money printing out custom slips, but with lost/wasted slips, at about a penny a slip it was costing me five bucks a week, twenty bucks a month meaning two lower-end bar gigs a year just to pay for slips. Now, i recycle paper for slips. my books have plenty of contact information, i don't need printed slips that say "bookings:djbe@rock.com"
Sorry for dancing around alot of topics generally related to the state of the economy and our particular business, but lastly I must touch on one final thing...the thing we all think of on this site when we think BIGDOG - hardcore karaoke purist. No dance music. No hybrid gigs. Very admirable, and on a case-by-case basis that sort of diedication can hold a gig and sometimes even attract gigs. But sometimes you have to adapt, too, and there can be lucrative gigs where the particular clientele of that particular establishment responds well to a well-timed mix of the two. Remember old friend from whom I've learned much from on here, A bad economy means people can afford to go out less and so maybe have to combine their desire to go dancing with their desire to go singing into ONE night of actually hitting the town...think about it...
In the words of, well, me, Big Dog "Cheer Up It'll Only Get Worse! "
Visit my page on FB....Karaoke Karolina. Check out my store/studio/art gallery AXXTACY GUITARS & GEAR M-F 2PM-7PM, 5285 Main, Shallotte, NC. 910-795-9083
Tonight was a great night. 25 singers all night and that hasn't happened at any job for a good while. I saw someone on FaceBook started an invite list to come to my show tonight. It was basically a bunch of people that worked together. About 13 replied and actually showed up. That plus some other new people and regulars made it a good night. But that said, a bar I used to play had a karaoke finals last week and gave away $500. So they were probably dead tonight since the money is gone now. Could be why I was busy. Can't wait to see if I'm this busy next week...
A local beer distributer put up the prize money. The contest was based on buying a certain beer to cast votes. Sounds like a very unfair contest to me.
DjBe, what is the ratio of smokers/nonsmokers at your jobs. Lately I haven't even heard anything about new KJ pirates in the area. Not saying there aren't any...but haven't heard about any new ones.
I really hate the idea of dance sets during a karaoke show. I highly doubt I'll ever do it. I still say it drives away the good singers. Contests suck. I want to know where all the promotional materials from the beer reps is going? Getting a beer depot to give away a $500 prize had to be a major big deal.
Only one bar has drink specials during karaoke. That's just on draft beer.
I really think ignoring the karaoke crowd for halloween and with no drink specials isn't helping the situation. No sports fan is as loyal as a karaoke junkie week after week. That kind of loyalty should be rewarded with a few cents off on a drink. The football fans get free halftime buffets. The hockey crowd gets big drink specials. Karaoke crowed gets screwed.
In the beginning the karaoke was priority. But gradually the sports fans got priority. It ruined the big karaoke night we had going.
Weekend jobs aren't much better for the DJ or karaoke. But the smoking bar is good.
The next big KILLER is going to be the high gas prices again. Close to $5 is being predicted for this summer. That should be a major factor.
All my jobs are within 10 miles from my house.
A local beer distributer put up the prize money.
The contest was based on buying a certain beer to cast votes. Sounds like a very unfair contest to me.DjBe, what is the ratio of smokers/nonsmokers at your jobs. Lately I haven't even heard anything about new KJ pirates in the area. Not saying there aren't any...but haven't heard about any new ones.
I really hate the idea of dance sets during a karaoke show. I highly doubt I'll ever do it. I still say it drives away the good singers. Contests suck. I want to know where all the promotional materials from the beer reps is going? Getting a beer depot to give away a $500 prize had to be a major big deal.
Only one bar has drink specials during karaoke. That's just on draft beer.
I really think ignoring the karaoke crowd for halloween and with no drink specials isn't helping the situation. No sports fan is as loyal as a karaoke junkie week after week. That kind of loyalty should be rewarded with a few cents off on a drink. The football fans get free halftime buffets. The hockey crowd gets big drink specials. Karaoke crowed gets screwed.
In the beginning the karaoke was priority. But gradually the sports fans got priority. It ruined the big karaoke night we had going.
Weekend jobs aren't much better for the DJ or karaoke. But the smoking bar is good.
The next big KILLER is going to be the high gas prices again. Close to $5 is being predicted for this summer. That should be a major factor.
All my jobs are within 10 miles from my house.
My state of NC went smoke-free 13 months ago, and it it didn't hurt the barbsiness as much as the other factors we all lament - the recession, DUI roadblocks. But it hurts the room nonetheless as up to a third of my crowd can be gone at any given time, smoking outside. These are people who are missingother people sing becuase they have to go outside to smoke. This is really a separate thread weshould start because it is a real issue.
Most bars I have ever worked at have drink specials. If not, I turn whatever the best deal is at that bar and treat it like a drinkspecial in my promotional stuff - flyers, FB, emails, etc. For example, my Saturday bar has $2 PBR bottles all the time. Fine. That's the "special." LOL.
Contests sure do suck, BigDog. I hate them with every fiber of my being! But giveaways are great, i always pick a non-singer from the crowd top pick from the pile of the night's slips so my slips often do double duty, and the giveaways encourage singers to fillthem out the way i like them - one song per slip.
Getting free stuff to giveaway is easy...thrift stores are good for finding new t-shirts for 50 cents or a dollar. Bars can usually give you something if you remind them to remind their distributors though i have not had much experience in approaching distributors myself. If I happen to catch a rep at a bar they are always happy to run to their car and grab you somthing but coozies, keychains, mardigra plastic necklaces and the like are not prizes people want. They want t-shirts and ballcaps. I used to give away CDs all the time, but that era is fast fading. Cheap fashion jewelry items make good prizes too if you can get them or find them cheap and if they look nice. Sometimes bars will cough up gift certificates...always make them say "good for the next visit" though. Now that I am doing studio sessions I am thinking of giving away some of those. Currently, i give all my good singers a coupon for a half-price 3hr, CD recording session, $50 instread of $100. It has led to several sessions this month and last.
My three jobs are within ten miles of my house too, so gas for me isn't a problem. My little town is wedged in between the river and the ocean so most people dont use too much fuel to get to shows, but high gas prices do give people anxiety which can make them cut back. Then again, maybe more people will carpool to the shows with a DD!
The problem with never running break music is you don't have that tool to break up a run of bad singers. Since u also don't "adjust" your rotations, that means you won't be slotting in any good singers to break up a rough room-chilling run of poor talent.
And what about break music between singers while they are coming up to sing..you know, a few seconds of random tuneage to keep the music and energy level going? That's another advantage of having regular songs on hand too.
Glad to hear you got 25 singers at your last show...hope u got them on your FB and email lists too!
Most bars I have ever worked at have drink specials. If not, I turn whatever the best deal is at that bar and treat it like a drinkspecial in my promotional stuff - flyers, FB, emails, etc. For example, my Saturday bar has $2 PBR bottles all the time. Fine. That's the "special." LOL.
Contests sure do suck, BigDog. I hate them with every fiber of my being! But giveaways are great, i always pick a non-singer from the crowd top pick from the pile of the night's slips so my slips often do double duty, and the giveaways encourage singers to fillthem out the way i like them - one song per slip.
Getting free stuff to giveaway is easy...thrift stores are good for finding new t-shirts for 50 cents or a dollar. Bars can usually give you something if you remind them to remind their distributors though i have not had much experience in approaching distributors myself. If I happen to catch a rep at a bar they are always happy to run to their car and grab you somthing but coozies, keychains, mardigra plastic necklaces and the like are not prizes people want. They want t-shirts and ballcaps. I used to give away CDs all the time, but that era is fast fading. Cheap fashion jewelry items make good prizes too if you can get them or find them cheap and if they look nice. Sometimes bars will cough up gift certificates...always make them say "good for the next visit" though. Now that I am doing studio sessions I am thinking of giving away some of those. Currently, i give all my good singers a coupon for a half-price 3hr, CD recording session, $50 instread of $100. It has led to several sessions this month and last.
My three jobs are within ten miles of my house too, so gas for me isn't a problem. My little town is wedged in between the river and the ocean so most people dont use too much fuel to get to shows, but high gas prices do give people anxiety which can make them cut back. Then again, maybe more people will carpool to the shows with a DD!
The problem with never running break music is you don't have that tool to break up a run of bad singers. Since u also don't "adjust" your rotations, that means you won't be slotting in any good singers to break up a rough room-chilling run of poor talent.
And what about break music between singers while they are coming up to sing..you know, a few seconds of random tuneage to keep the music and energy level going? That's another advantage of having regular songs on hand too.
Glad to hear you got 25 singers at your last show...hope u got them on your FB and email lists too!
Visit my page on FB....Karaoke Karolina. Check out my store/studio/art gallery AXXTACY GUITARS & GEAR M-F 2PM-7PM, 5285 Main, Shallotte, NC. 910-795-9083
I don't do FB or email stuff.
I am noticing the younger crowds downstairs where the DJ plays.
First, the downstairs bar is the smoking bar.
Second, the music is nearly all rap type songs.
Third, the majority of them smoke.
The downstairs bar is always busier than the nonsmoking upstairs bar I play in. The young kids are not worried about spending all their money like older people.
But the downstairs bar has all the fights. All the vandalism damage. All the drunks & punks.
I honestly can't remember when a bar owner has said to me...we have some stuff to give away.
The karaoke crowds always get the short end of the stick.
Halloween fell on a karaoke night. The party was on the weekend for the DJs crowd.
The football crowd gets a halftime buffet. The hockey crowd gets drink specials...the karaoke crowd gets screwed with no specials..no snacks....no repect for the many more times they show up verses the sports fans.
I suspect $5 gasoline will kill just about everything. Since the economy is already hanging by a thread....that should be the final nail...
I am noticing the younger crowds downstairs where the DJ plays.
First, the downstairs bar is the smoking bar.
Second, the music is nearly all rap type songs.
Third, the majority of them smoke.
The downstairs bar is always busier than the nonsmoking upstairs bar I play in. The young kids are not worried about spending all their money like older people.
But the downstairs bar has all the fights. All the vandalism damage. All the drunks & punks.
I honestly can't remember when a bar owner has said to me...we have some stuff to give away.
The karaoke crowds always get the short end of the stick.
Halloween fell on a karaoke night. The party was on the weekend for the DJs crowd.
The football crowd gets a halftime buffet. The hockey crowd gets drink specials...the karaoke crowd gets screwed with no specials..no snacks....no repect for the many more times they show up verses the sports fans.
I suspect $5 gasoline will kill just about everything. Since the economy is already hanging by a thread....that should be the final nail...
I added a new night in october....still haven't had big enough crowds to get full pay.
I'm working 5 nights a week and have been taking a cut on at least two of them since October.
It doesn't matter which day of the week you pick. I've taken a cut on all of them at different times.
Last Saturday I never played one note. No singers. Last night I had 4 singers and 6 people in the bar..
It isn't the first night that has happened. It has happened on every night.
I saw a post on Face Book from a DJ I know and he was complaining about having to quit jobs because the owners don't/won't pay him full money. I would guess that is based on the crowd size.
Now I don't like taking cuts either...but some money is better than none. I don't know what he's thinking but he may be unemployed if he keeps that attitude. This isn't the economy we are used to. Things changed in 2008 and it's gone steadily down hill since.
I also heard a story tonight about another KJ I know that had a night where he never played a note from lack of singers.
So it's not just karaoke. I talked to some people that have a band....They would like to get at least $500 a night...for 6 people and a sound guy.
Some places only want to pay $350.....
Hey at least the economy is getting better....
Yeah OK sure it is...
One of my bar owners showed me some of his money stats....he's banking on the summer to pick up from college kids being out of school. It has in the past...
If it doesn't pick up soon.....there won't be any entertainment left to go see... In 20 years it's never been this bad......Gasoline is ready to break $4 and keep climbing.....
I'm working 5 nights a week and have been taking a cut on at least two of them since October.
It doesn't matter which day of the week you pick. I've taken a cut on all of them at different times.
Last Saturday I never played one note. No singers. Last night I had 4 singers and 6 people in the bar..
It isn't the first night that has happened. It has happened on every night.
I saw a post on Face Book from a DJ I know and he was complaining about having to quit jobs because the owners don't/won't pay him full money. I would guess that is based on the crowd size.
Now I don't like taking cuts either...but some money is better than none. I don't know what he's thinking but he may be unemployed if he keeps that attitude. This isn't the economy we are used to. Things changed in 2008 and it's gone steadily down hill since.
I also heard a story tonight about another KJ I know that had a night where he never played a note from lack of singers.
So it's not just karaoke. I talked to some people that have a band....They would like to get at least $500 a night...for 6 people and a sound guy.
Some places only want to pay $350.....
Hey at least the economy is getting better....
Yeah OK sure it is...One of my bar owners showed me some of his money stats....he's banking on the summer to pick up from college kids being out of school. It has in the past...
If it doesn't pick up soon.....there won't be any entertainment left to go see... In 20 years it's never been this bad......Gasoline is ready to break $4 and keep climbing.....
The economy is getting better only for that top one percent. The rest of us are still waiting for any sign of improvement. Things are tough all over and unfortunately entertainment expenses are the first thing people cut back on. I've been in this business for a long time and maybe now would be a good time to retire.
If you go through my posts in this thread, you will learn the many unique things I do to keep interest in my shows high. Even so, there is always one slow night out of the three or four I run each week. Its frustrating.
Recently, I added a bright red prop guitar to the proceedings...its a real fender squier strat with strings, but i took out the pickups and other electronics for use in other projects. I add bongos, when appropriate and desired, to some songs which always pumps the crowd up. I take and post tons of pics, friend new singers on FB, run a website (meetup.com/wamclub) and still its hard work to "make a party" out of every show. I do giveaways and I offer recording services, guitar lessons and vocal coaching in my home studio on the side.
But is it really just the economy? No, people are just as prone to spend money on entertainment as ever - and as pricier offerings (rock concerts, plays, fancy restaurants, etc.) become too expensive, karaoke night at the local Bigdog and Wiseguy shows can look quite reasonable by comparison.
The real culrpit is choice....too many forms of entertainment have come too quickly and too many of them are designed to keep people at home or in their backyards. X-box, Wii, computers, cheap big screen TVs along with culprits like the Redbox and $8 per month Netflix, and, yes, home karaoke too, are changing society into a stay-at-home world experiencing outside reality through a sceen.
You can argue its $4 gas or 10 percent unemployment and there is no doubt that is a factor in everyone's decision to skip karaoke nights (and the fear of career-threatening DUIs), but its the lower-priced alternatives that are sealing the deal.
All we can do as KJs is to make our shows as interesting and fun as possible to give an experience that cannot be duplicated at home. We have to deal with the fact that "regulars"no longer means "every show" or even "one show a week." The new regulars are coming to shows once or twice a month. We have to try to be the last KJ standing in our communities as the lesser and less-committed KJs move on.
We have to encourage our singers to support our shows by buying a fair amount of the establishment's offerings, and by tipping the staff a fair and customary amount. We have to keep finding singers through all of the means at our dsiposal...FB, email (which still works by the way), any and all free listings on line and on the streets.
Do you print custom slips? I have been saving money using recycled paper but I think I may go back to printed slips just so I can list all my shows, website, email, on them.
If you do private shows, be sure to announce that a few times a night.
We should try to turn this thread into asemi-positive one by offering up more tips to svae money, build loyalty and stay alive in this tough economy and changing society...
Recently, I added a bright red prop guitar to the proceedings...its a real fender squier strat with strings, but i took out the pickups and other electronics for use in other projects. I add bongos, when appropriate and desired, to some songs which always pumps the crowd up. I take and post tons of pics, friend new singers on FB, run a website (meetup.com/wamclub) and still its hard work to "make a party" out of every show. I do giveaways and I offer recording services, guitar lessons and vocal coaching in my home studio on the side.
But is it really just the economy? No, people are just as prone to spend money on entertainment as ever - and as pricier offerings (rock concerts, plays, fancy restaurants, etc.) become too expensive, karaoke night at the local Bigdog and Wiseguy shows can look quite reasonable by comparison.
The real culrpit is choice....too many forms of entertainment have come too quickly and too many of them are designed to keep people at home or in their backyards. X-box, Wii, computers, cheap big screen TVs along with culprits like the Redbox and $8 per month Netflix, and, yes, home karaoke too, are changing society into a stay-at-home world experiencing outside reality through a sceen.
You can argue its $4 gas or 10 percent unemployment and there is no doubt that is a factor in everyone's decision to skip karaoke nights (and the fear of career-threatening DUIs), but its the lower-priced alternatives that are sealing the deal.
All we can do as KJs is to make our shows as interesting and fun as possible to give an experience that cannot be duplicated at home. We have to deal with the fact that "regulars"no longer means "every show" or even "one show a week." The new regulars are coming to shows once or twice a month. We have to try to be the last KJ standing in our communities as the lesser and less-committed KJs move on.
We have to encourage our singers to support our shows by buying a fair amount of the establishment's offerings, and by tipping the staff a fair and customary amount. We have to keep finding singers through all of the means at our dsiposal...FB, email (which still works by the way), any and all free listings on line and on the streets.
Do you print custom slips? I have been saving money using recycled paper but I think I may go back to printed slips just so I can list all my shows, website, email, on them.
If you do private shows, be sure to announce that a few times a night.
We should try to turn this thread into asemi-positive one by offering up more tips to svae money, build loyalty and stay alive in this tough economy and changing society...
Visit my page on FB....Karaoke Karolina. Check out my store/studio/art gallery AXXTACY GUITARS & GEAR M-F 2PM-7PM, 5285 Main, Shallotte, NC. 910-795-9083
The musical props won't go over too well.
I had a guy that used to bring his own tambourine and he banged on it to every song. It became annoying real fast. Pissed some singers off too. I don't want to encourage it. And I worry about it turning into a circus...The more serious singers hate the interuptions from people laughing and getting loud... It could scare singers away..
I print my slips on cheap paper with the lowest copier toner setting. I tried reusing/recycling the backs of old song book pages in the late 90s...people freaked out and started calling me cheap....
I went back to virgin paper....
I agree that TV programming can hurt our nights.
I used to do a country themed bar and I could always tell when the country music awards were on...the bar would be dead..
More water drinkers and people drinking before they come out. And just spending less... I've had what I thought were buzy nights by judging from the crowd size...the bar owners bytched about low register readings....the place was buzy but the money wasn't flowing.. so now we need even more bodies to make up for the lost revenue..just to get back to where it was.
Tonight on the ride home I see gas just hit $4 here....March was a 5 weekend month so the spending money ran out early..
It just might end up being a fight to the last man (KJ) standing...that will definately mean price breaks/reductions on slow nights...I've been living it for a few months now...
We can't collect unemployent because we don't pay into it. Maybe I should start..
I had a guy that used to bring his own tambourine and he banged on it to every song. It became annoying real fast. Pissed some singers off too. I don't want to encourage it. And I worry about it turning into a circus...The more serious singers hate the interuptions from people laughing and getting loud... It could scare singers away..
I print my slips on cheap paper with the lowest copier toner setting. I tried reusing/recycling the backs of old song book pages in the late 90s...people freaked out and started calling me cheap....
I went back to virgin paper....
I agree that TV programming can hurt our nights.
I used to do a country themed bar and I could always tell when the country music awards were on...the bar would be dead..
More water drinkers and people drinking before they come out. And just spending less... I've had what I thought were buzy nights by judging from the crowd size...the bar owners bytched about low register readings....the place was buzy but the money wasn't flowing.. so now we need even more bodies to make up for the lost revenue..just to get back to where it was.
Tonight on the ride home I see gas just hit $4 here....March was a 5 weekend month so the spending money ran out early..
It just might end up being a fight to the last man (KJ) standing...that will definately mean price breaks/reductions on slow nights...I've been living it for a few months now...
We can't collect unemployent because we don't pay into it. Maybe I should start..
Sorry your bar bit the bullet, Big Dog. Keep an eye on the building, maybe you'll pick up a gig fromthe next owners.
I just agreed to a tiered-pay system for a new Tuesday show at my Saturday night bar, basically half-pay until we hit a certain pricepoint, then fullpay, then an extra $25 if one higher point is hit. I wouldnever do that for a new bar, but since its a bar I alreayd have a reliable income from and since it is very close to my house (the gas thing lol) and since it is on a night where its hard to get any gig, I thought I'd give it a go. We are going earlier cause its an early workweek night -8PM-midnight. I will be bringing down the CD recorder and offering 5 dollar 2-song CDs, and first rotation will be two-songs-in-a-row if singers want, to induce people to come early. Then one at a time. I'll keep you allposted. Oh, the recession deal is $2 domestics and one $2 drink special, food until 11PM, too. Wish me luck!
I just agreed to a tiered-pay system for a new Tuesday show at my Saturday night bar, basically half-pay until we hit a certain pricepoint, then fullpay, then an extra $25 if one higher point is hit. I wouldnever do that for a new bar, but since its a bar I alreayd have a reliable income from and since it is very close to my house (the gas thing lol) and since it is on a night where its hard to get any gig, I thought I'd give it a go. We are going earlier cause its an early workweek night -8PM-midnight. I will be bringing down the CD recorder and offering 5 dollar 2-song CDs, and first rotation will be two-songs-in-a-row if singers want, to induce people to come early. Then one at a time. I'll keep you allposted. Oh, the recession deal is $2 domestics and one $2 drink special, food until 11PM, too. Wish me luck!
Visit my page on FB....Karaoke Karolina. Check out my store/studio/art gallery AXXTACY GUITARS & GEAR M-F 2PM-7PM, 5285 Main, Shallotte, NC. 910-795-9083
I actually had the bar on my countdown list to failure.
I gave it 1 year 3 months ago.
My girlfriend predicted 3 months last month...She won...
Just lost 2 nights a week.
Well the building owner was getting $8000 a month for rent..
That's before any other expenses...
New owners just took over a few months ago and fired everyone...these people just want to make money but don't want to do any work.
How does that work?
I gave it 1 year 3 months ago.
My girlfriend predicted 3 months last month...She won...
Just lost 2 nights a week.
Well the building owner was getting $8000 a month for rent..
That's before any other expenses...
New owners just took over a few months ago and fired everyone...these people just want to make money but don't want to do any work.
How does that work?
I replaced one of the nights...upscale bar and restaurant...from the age group he said he gets...I'm expecting to sing a lot of oldies...but he decided against an all oldie night. I told him I'll sing to the crowd..
I expressly told the owner in todays economy don't expect any instant crowds. I said this is going to take a lot of time.
What I didn't tell him is...since the is a high class place and the prices are probably a little high many regular karaoke singers might not come..
I expressly told the owner in todays economy don't expect any instant crowds. I said this is going to take a lot of time.
What I didn't tell him is...since the is a high class place and the prices are probably a little high many regular karaoke singers might not come..
