I'll tell you my story. I first learned about Sound Choice only about two years ago! I started really getting into Karaoke back then, and I would follow a certain KJ around my home town about three nights a week, trying every song she had that I thought I could do... learning about my vocal range, what songs I liked, what songs other people liked, etc.

One night, I went ahead and tried Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science." Afterwards, my friends were amazed that I had never sung it before. They said I sounded just like him. Anyway, that song became my first big "hit".

My sister's boyfriend was going to this contest and wanted me to enter. Naturally, I wanted to sing my new song, but I was afraid they wouldn't have it at the venue. That's when I had my first thought of buying my very own CDG for this type of situation... I could sing whatever song I wanted wherever I went as long as I owned the CDG.

So, I went to my first local Karaoke store to get the disc for the contest. I felt like a kid in a candy shop! I went through all their catalogues, had them look up all types of songs in their database, etc. They told me they only had one version of "She Blinded Me With Science" by a company called "Sound Choice." I assumed it was the same one my KJ friend had, and bought it.

I saw another song in their catalog that I loved: "One Night In Bangkok". I had to get that disc too just for fun! My thoughts were to go back to my friend's gig and put them in to sing (we were all pretty new to Karaoke). Everyone loved the songs I was bringing in! And, that's where it all began. The next week I bought New Wave Hits Vol. 1 and we all had a blast! (We were all deprived of song selections ... the KJ never bought new discs and we had no idea what even existed!).

Eventually I exhausted my list of songs I wanted to sing but couldn't before because the venue didn't have the CDG. So, I wanted to see what else was coming out. I found Sound Choice's web site, and then regularly checked their new releases. And, that's when I discovered the forum.

As far as the forum goes, One of my karaoke buddies told me about the soundchoice site and I found the forum from there!!

I have to start buying Cd's though, I go by what the Kj's have. My host keeps up to date with the releases which is good,but then again I would like to start my own collection.They're just to expensive!!

I spent a lot of time looking for a player and they told me I could have a free disc, I did not know I had to pick it from certain discs - after all there were just two sets of music to my knowledge. I found a disc I wanted by a new label Sound Choice that had songs I really wanted so I picked that 8122 I also ended up with a U-Best laser. When I went back to see about more I saw a list of upcoming releases - wow 8148 looked like the most wonderful set of music I could hope for - but I had to wait for what felt like ever, arg. I got it and wow, could not wait for the new releases. And I've been like that ever since.

As to finding the board this is the second one I ran into - it was different before. I found out from the mailings they sent me. I also ordered a free disc (8300) from them that was advertized on a front cover.

It feels like ancient history. But 8148 is still my favorite disc.

Thanks for posting this topic. This is proving most entertaining and educational for me. This is really neat to see how people found us and made it here to this forum.

I would like to thank everyone personally for all your efforts and activity on this forum. It has proven to be as educational as it has entertaining. I would also like to thank BC for his time to engage with everyone. It has, IMHO, added alot to the discussions.

My first post here was about trying to fix this KJ's system. Every time I gave her an SC disc to put in, it came out muffled. I asked the people about it here, and I got so many helpful and friendly suggestions... it was the "One Touch" button that was doing it. I still go to her place this day, and I always check to see if that button is off before I give her the disc.

Although there's 594 members as of today, if you divide that by the number of states in the U.S., that's only 12 people per state. It seems like it should be quite a bit higher, considering the URL is on every SC song. I'm sure many singers have access to the internet, so I wondering why they haven't been here? I was trying to figure out if it was a lack of interest, lack of knowledge, or maybe the link to the SoundBoard is not very obvious from the SC home page. Don't know... but I'm starting to secretly track the number of members every month to see how it grows . It definately has come a long way since I first got here.

I also posted the topic to try to discover the source of where people come from. The consulting company I work for in California has no tracking system to where our clients came from. I tried to implement one, but it's hard for me to personally collect that information. They're mainly from conferences/expositions, referrals, product sales, mailings, etc. It's hard to focus on marketing tactics if we don't know what's effective or not.

Surprisingly many people are still newly finding karaoke. I know I had to fight hard to get people here to understand that karaoke was not for losers in some dive bar who couldn't sing. I have taken karaoke to any event and venue that uses music. I have done complete wedding ceremonies, wedding receptions, rehearsal parties, riverboat cruise, children's karaoke shows,formal Mardi Gras Balls, SPCA benefit, Southeastern regional Bridge club Convention, numerous private parties and events, etc. KJ's whatever a band and DJ can do karaoke can do!

Sound Choice-THANK YOU for giving people singers and KJ's the opportunity and place to discuss CIVILY online in your forum, it benefits us all to compare notes by sharing information. This helps not only you but us all as well.

I'd also like to remind Grateful that his stats are a little off, as some of us regular posters are from outside the US. It would be interesting to know how many countries are represented on the Board.

I also agree with Debra that the number of registered users doesn't accurately reflect the popularity of the Board. I have received email from people that have read something I have posted about, but they don't want to post themselves.

I was looking at the KJ List and there are 766 KJ Listings so there are more here then we actually see.

Back in 1995 I was KJ'ing every Monday. I always was the type of KJ wanting to supply the songs to the people "they really want to sing". I didn't make it at that venue, though (I used their system and discs), but I talked to the owner of our Karaoke store who came by from time to time to sell the newest releases to the (a little senile) bar owner, and he said to me "I'll sell him the whole DK library, and then some additional products". When I asked what he meant, he said, "Sound Choice". That, however, was when SC had under 100 disks in their library, and DK was at about DKG-86. However, until today, that venue doesn't have a single SC disc, only the whole DK library, all German disks (laser and CD+G), some Sunfly CD+G's, and some obscure lasers.

About 6 years ago, I first started doing karaoke by accident. I've always liked to sing (in Middle School and College Choir)and I got hookwinked into going into a bar with my brother that happened to have karaoke that night. After I did my first song I was hooked when the audiance applauded and came up afterwards and told me how good I was. Well, this venue had just your basic Pioneer laser set and a few SC discs. About a year later I found another venue that had TONS of SC discs that had songs on them that boggled my mind. Another year passed when, by chance I was lamenting to a friend that I wish the songs MEXICAN RADIO and TURNING JAPANESE were in the book. About a month later, in the new pages, those tittles appeared (on the same disc no less with a bunch of other killer tunes) and it was at that point I knew I had to OWN that disc...of course that was after I found out that just regular people like myself could buy those items. I found out where to buy discs here locally and got myself a copy and everything snowballed from there on.

Well, it would be a few more years until I got internet access. I never even thought about looking into seeing if there was a website for SC until one day it came to me in a flash. I went to WEBCRAWLER and put in the name Sound Choice and came up with a link to the site. I remember never posting in areas besides the REQUEST page and it wouldn't be until the first site change (to the Ultimate Bulletin Board) that I started to in other areas.
I think I've been active on the board for about 2 years now. I've seen 3 (I believe) total site changes since then and things have just gotten better.

Now, this brings up a question that only the "very old timers" and Rodney can answer...

He had not upgraded or purchased any new music in about a year and a half before I took over (7 months ago). It was time to spend a little scratch and do right by the people who had been asking for new music. I still play the same bar that I always worked in, so it has now been 11 years in the same location for this company- now just under new ownership. Sound Choice ROCKS for selection and the always annoying habit of most companies to put 1 new song in with a group of other standards that everyone has had for the past 10 years. This really helps stretch the spending money and get more bang for the buck. I hope to speak with more of you on other threads as well and hopefully become a "constructive" member.

*sigh*

Some links to karaoke dealers in Canada for you to call.
www.karaokeworldnews.com - Calgary www.mrentertainment.com - Edmonton www.laserland.com - Toronto www.karaokecanada.com - London www.karaokecloset.com - Hamilton (Dundas)

and a phone number for a place in Vancouver I got from another forum.
The TV Guy 604-581-9101

The Canadian distributor of Sound Choice is a company in Toronto called Singer's Choice. Their number is (905) 479-4085. You can try calling them, and seeing if they can tell you any stores closer to you that carry SC products.

8 = Directly looked for SC's site (for new releases/song requests)
4 = On-screen CDG advertisement
3 = Referral from friend
3 = From another karaoke site/forum
2 = Print advertisement