posted
We had a book come up missing two weeks ago at a very large show we do. The venue searched and searched but could not find it. Then this week it suddenly came up near the end of the night sitting on top of the coverd tub we keep the books.
Theories:
1) A patron took it home to go over it for a competitor KJ
2) Someone is thinking of trying to start a show and will try and copy my book format
3) Someone just getting ideas on songs to sing
4) Spilled a drink on it and took it out for dry cleaning
5) Short person needed it for a booster seat at Denny's that evening
6) Wanted a good chuckle watching me look in vain for it that night (hee-hee)
7) Has a smoke/beer/plastic/paper smell fetish
8) Loves the color 'fushia'
9) Photocopies my book thinking in future will try and steal my discs for instant show
10) (INSERT YOUR OWN THEORY)
Dale
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Posts: 175 | From: Grand Rapids, MI | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted
I think someone who is probably a KJ and you don't know it probably took it to be a jerk. A couple weeks ago when another KJ showed up one of my flyers that is in every book advertising my business which is really cool by the way happen to be missing and I know he stole it to steal my ideas. I seen his books what a bunch of slop.
posted
10) Alien abduction...advanced civilization? A planet where karaoke evolved from APE?
We had one of our books go "missing" about three weeks before a bar decided to buy their own equipment and gave us the boot. We think they prolly took the book and went over it to see what songs they should by to match our selection. I hear that they now have a system that's about as 1/4th as powerful as the system we had in there and they now have a 1,500 song selection...when they used to have 20,000+ with our rig. Think the customers will notice the difference??
Posts: 1201 | From: Kansas City, MO USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted
You know, we had the same thing happen at one of our gigs a few months ago. Had just updated the damn book too! We never did get it back although we know who took it, just haven't seen them since. What anybody would want with a Karaoke book is beyond me. A little light reading before bed and sugar plum dreams of songs to sing? Takes all kinds!
posted
11) Spontaneous Evolution. Your book suddenly grew legs and walked south for the winter, where it is probably right now singing Jimmy Buffet songs in Florida.
12) In the Bermuda Triangle, where ships, planes and socks from the dryer all end up.
I KJ at a bowling alley, and my books seem to end up down on the bowling lanes, then sometimes out the door. I even had one book come back several months later; a singer "couldn't decide what songs to sing, and wanted to plan out all of his songs at once."
Posts: 622 | From: Santa Ana | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I lose books all the time. I start out with 15 when I redo my books every few months & when I go to redo them again, i'm down to around 10. Since I have posted them online in a pdf format a few months ago, it has cut down on the book loss, they can have a brand new book exactly like what they would see in the bar & updated with the most current songs. I believe they are just singers getting an idea of what they want to sing. http://lonmanproductions.com
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Posts: 1845 | From: Tacoma, WA, USA | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
My friend Nick came up with an idea to keep books from being stolen. On the cover of his most recent books, he put $19.99. The idea is that people will probably think that is how much one book costs. Also, if they ask to purchase a book, they'll think it actually costs that much and think twice about asking to buy one!
One girl showed up at the show and asked me if $19.99 was how much it cost to sing!! I told her exactly what that meant, just like I did here.
Best,
Mark
Posts: 1595 | From: Willoughby Hills, Ohio, USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted
that's a cool idea Mark. Through the years i've had many book stolen.. mostly from patrons who don't realize how much these things cost. My books have 200+ pages(16,000 titles) that are inserted into plastic page protectors and placed into a good plastic 3 ring binder. I think i've lost some books to scavenger hunts as well.
------------------ DJ Mad Maxx Karaoke at it's finest!! www.djmadmaxx.com
Posts: 1898 | From: DuBois, PA | Registered: Jun 1997
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posted
Same story here. I seem to lose 3-5 a year. I found one at my brothers and asked him about it. He said he wanted to go through it and come up with new songs to try. I once found one in the garbage, and figured I pi**ed someone off when I told them 'if you're too drunk to look it up, you're probably to drunk to hold a mic'. Growning legs and singing with Buffet sounds good too. I try to collect them a half hour before show ends, to avoid upset the people who crawl in at the last second, find out they're to late, storm out with book in hand. I did catch a guy walking out with one and I asked him, he said it was a Scavenger Hunt. I like the price tag idea!
Posts: 650 | From: Massillon, Ohio USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
*got Tim's "Johnny Dangerously" reference* Mark? Your books only cost 19.99? I've gotta find a better way then...my books are about twice that much. Fourtunately (knock wood) I have yet to lose a book. When I'm feeling particularly generous to one of my regulars, I will loan a book to them on my last night for them to peruse until the first night of my next week.
Posts: 745 | From: Portland, OR, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
the cost isn't the factor to me really, as much as the SHEER TIME it takes to reprint them, sort them, stuff them (that's the longest)... only to have some drunk spill a pint of Guiness on it!
Matt *the cig burns gotta go too! OY!*
Posts: 3332 | From: Independence, mo | Registered: Oct 2001
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Not sure if Nick's books cost $19.99, but he mentioned that they sure as hell were expensive to produce! He couldn't make a spare copy for yours truly (who helps him put together the books) for that reason.
He also hasn't updated the books in a while, as he only has one gig and can't afford it.
Best,
Mark
Posts: 1595 | From: Willoughby Hills, Ohio, USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted
You guys ain't kidding! I'm not a KJ, just a home user; but a former boss of mine asked me to KJ their company party once, so I printed up some songbooks. That stuff ain't cheap! I had planned on printing 5 books, but when I saw the costs piling up, I had to settle for 3. And I'm sure my collection is a lot smaller than most KJ's!
Posts: 1153 | From: Buffalo NY | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
Our books are 1¾ inch thick, spiral bound with laminated front and back covers (back covers have a montage of photos of our singers - we have 3 different back covers)...the books are arranged by genre, title, artist and new additions...they cost a LOT of time and a fair amount of money to produce. We print 15 per set and like lonnie...reprint when we're down to 10 (every 3-4 months or so). it's part of the cost of uh....advertising? I don't like losing books, but we except it. we keep the old out of date books to give prospective clients and any of our singers who want one.
Posts: 878 | From: Ottawa, ON, Canada | Registered: Dec 2000
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Tim D
unregistered
posted
Well, you got a cheap way of printing books and an expensive way.
My books are 59 pages of single sided paper, in a $2.00 binder. The cheapest way I could go.
It doesn't look as professional, but given how many times per year I re-print (for intefrating song additions), I'd go bankrupt if I had to invest in sleeves and new binders.
No one has ever complained, nor said anything about my presentation looking cheap.
posted
Our books are simple... they're 84 pages, double-sided, 2 columns per page. We print them ourselves, including the covers and staple them together. (Yes, a BIG stapler)
Our finished cost per book is approx. $2.73 each for a total of 125 books.
We lose a few every week, it's just the cost of doing business.
Why someone would want one is beyond me: we don't use manufacturer's ID's... we have our own numbering system so they're really not useful to anyone else.
We replace these at least 3 times a year and we received a very nice compliment from a customer just a month ago: They like the non-binder and plastic version because they're "cleaner"... and they don't "smell." Their complaint with the standard plastic sheet protectors and binders are that a month after you have a beer spilled on one, they begin to reek. The are the non-smoker-types that have very sensitive noses...
posted
I had recently printed a test run on a spiral notebook. They are flimsy, yet continue to hold up okay.
Will try this out full scale next time. If one gets ruined to beer, cigarettes, or pages ripping out, I'll reprint and still use most of the original material! I'll let you know how it turns out!
Matt
Posts: 3332 | From: Independence, mo | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
I've had books disappear for very strange reasons... mainly from shy regulars who can't seem to make up their minds during the 4 hours of show time on which songs to sing. One woman decided it was okay to treat me like the public library, and borrow a book to go over at home. The good thing was she brought it back a week later with no hassles. Posts: 575 | From: West Hartford, CT USA | Registered: Apr 2000
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posted
I've been really lucky! No books have gone missing... yet! However, I've had to fork out the expense and TIME of having 2 sets to do 2 different venues. Some are in binders, 2-sided with plastic page protectors for one bar and another set with just plain one-sided put in cheap duo tangs!
One venue seems to think that my books need to be washed with beer! I do replace them if they begin to look ratty!
... and then... you have your updates...
Makes me ugly, but it's the 'price' of doin' business, I guess!
Posts: 92 | From: new brunswick, canada | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Once someone steals a book at a venue I hold your drivers license when you take a book. Bring it back, get license back. I haven't lost a book in years now.
Posts: 37 | From: So Cal | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Some kj in so cal has the bar code system so when someone tries to sneak out with one an alarm sounds. He has over 30,000 songs and his books are huge.
Posts: 57 | From: Santa Fe Springs Cal. | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Losing books is just a part of the cost of doing business. It doesn't matter if another KJ took a book. So what if they did and got some of the songs you have. That just increases competition and that is good. Look at Coca Cola and Pepsi. This may force everyone to be more professional which is good for business. Having your library on computer is good and is good PR if you can E-mail it to your singers. If they're happy, you'll be happy.
Our library is on a CDRW and we take it to Staples who print them and we put them in plastic Duo Tang report covers. Total cost is about $250 for a total of 39 books containing over 15,000 entries and look professional.
Posts: 377 | From: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
Once, a KJ gave me one of his out-dated books to take home. It was cool. He was like "Good job singing tonight, take one of these books home if you like and check it out. Hope to see you back here."
posted
Yeah, I've handed out the pages after I took out the old ones.
For my online customers, I have my updated songlist online! So THAT's never a real problem!
It's the VANDALS like what Debra mentioned that get to me. I had someone literally tearing a book up once, and tossing the pages around the room. I calmly walked up and asked for thirty-two dollars and eighteen cents.
He asked why.
I said that's the cost, minus labor, of my book.
He said no.
I had him 86'd from the bar, until he paid for it. All week long, he tried to come back, and the owners were really kewl and wouldn't, asking again and again if he had the money I asked for.
When my Sunday gig came back up, there was an envelope of $33.18 in the form of a money order, along with an apology.
He actually became one of my favorite regulars. We just started out bad. I think he respected that I didn't get too upset about it... but if he could have READ my thoughts!! OMG!
Matt
Posts: 3332 | From: Independence, mo | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Guess I've been fortunate thus far and haven't had any taken at regular weekly gigs. I have been doing more fill-in work for other KJs, and people have been real good to actually bring the books up to me when I'm shutting down. I suppose it wouldn't be too intelligent for someone to take a book at venue I may not be back to for months, if ever at all, but you never know. Alcohol and that karaoke "madness" can do strange things to the mind!
Posts: 232 | From: Chicago area | Registered: Nov 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Pony^: Yup. We keep the old out-of-date books to give prospective clients and any of our singers who want one.
What a novel idea. See I put to use all of your comments and suggestions.
BTW, since I have updated books, none stolen, and best of all of a month of use none broken or torn. If anyone is using binders make sure you buy the durable or heavy duty ones, they last.
Posts: 1795 | From: Fall River, Ma | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
OMG! LOL! RC, I just got done folding another sphere out of 3 inch papers. LOL! I am corresponding with a woman on eBay with the greatest origami paper selection. Way better than anything you can buy in a store around here. LOL! I folded 2 tiangular shaped boxes for you out of your 4 1/4" used song slips... with LIDS! LOL! Practice, practice, practice.
I had no idea that you folded your old song book pages as well!!!
don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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[This message has been edited by Diane (edited July 15, 2005).]
posted
I use the paper for printing out hings like orders to ship, things I need to proof read, etc.
Posts: 542 | From: Mobile, Alabama, USA | Registered: Jan 2000
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TM
Our books are 1¾ inch thick, spiral bound with laminated front and back covers (back covers have a montage of photos of our singers - we have 3 different back covers)...the books are arranged by genre, title, artist and new additions...they cost a LOT of time and a fair amount of money to produce. We print 15 per set and like lonnie...reprint when we're down to 10 (every 3-4 months or so). it's part of the cost of uh....advertising? I don't like losing books, but we except it. we keep the old out of date books to give prospective clients and any of our singers who want one.
