[This message has been edited by GeminimALE (edited March 25, 2005).]

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Originally posted by Johnny holt:
GEM, make your singers write their names on their cases an disc's so it won't be so hard on you and them to keep up with, that's what the k,j's around here do,that way you can anounce for them to pick them up.I have several k,j frend's and they don't have any problem with it.

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Originally posted by GeminimALE:
I do not have the time nor want to take the time to track down costumers for their CD or keep track of them.

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Or you put a disclaimer out & make it THEIR responsibility to pick up their disc. I also have a sign up saying any disc left behind for more than 30 days becomes the property of Lonman Productions. This has been a policy for more than 5 years & 99% of the discs get picked up. I think I had 1 in 5 years that got left behind.
You don't have to track anyone down, it's their responsibility if they are going to hand you a disc, then they need to come & get it.

Last night I told a semi-regular singer to put his disc back in the car...He just smiled and said O.K. I wanna sing #4. ya see, I wrote down the disc info two weeks ago and bought 3 of them.

We've also had people realize that since they only sing at our shows they don't need to carry the discs around and donate them to the library for all to enjoy. How cool is that!

Our people are the same way, anyone can sing from anyones discs - as a rule. I have over 8,000 songs and by no means can get EVERY song available - it's virtually impossible, especially if they are looking for out of print discs.

<INVITATION> If anyone ever comes across a club that won't accept your disc, feel free to bring it on down to mine - we'll be MORE than happy to take your business (away from someone else ), like DQ - we treat you right!!!

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Originally posted by Lonman:
...Going to steal that idea......if'n ya don't mind?

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Originally posted by Geminale:..I just might have to put an invite to people who would like to donate to our cause...

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However...the generosity of our singers is due in part to our willingness to take care of our patrons. These are people who brought their own private collections to our shows. We played their disks. We made them happy and they paid is forward (so to speak). You can't EXPECT anyone to be generous. That comes from the heart.

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Originally posted by Dog:
We have a couple of singers that bring their own discs.
With 5K, 8K, & 11K tracks in the 3 libraries there isn't allot that we don't have, but some people have their favorites. Usually it's an SC custom that they bought through us.
All of my people are giving types. If they bring a disc, anybody can sing from it.

Last night I told a semi-regular singer to put his disc back in the car...He just smiled and said O.K. I wanna sing #4. ya see, I wrote down the disc info two weeks ago and bought 3 of them.

We've also had people realize that since they only sing at our shows they don't need to carry the discs around and donate them to the library for all to enjoy. How cool is that!

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Yea we have that happen down here too. With 8,000 songs in the main system I have a decent variety to sing from, but I realize that even though 8,000 songs is a decent list, it's not everything, and when people bring their own discs, it's really not worth my while to cater to that niche market. Most of the updating that I do is always customer requests, but they're ususally asking about semi popular tunes. Most of the people that bring their own discs have a specific artist in mind, or specific genere in music.

One customer actually told me his disks look like they are in better shape than when he gave it to me. Sometimes when I inspect the disks I find fingerprints and I use a disk wipe on them before I play them.

Isulting & rude - PUH-LEASE, you just don't want to feel like a twit because you don't have something that someone else does - at least that's the feeling I get from your statements. The 6K songs you boast of isn't a lot these days especially if you are counting as a complete total (duplicated songs included in the total).
As far as buying songs for customers, you can only GET stuff that is still available so if your customers have a disc but you refuse to play but say you will get it, but can'tbecause it is no longer available, then what do you say, Sorry I know you have the song YOU want to sing & I can't get it anymore so if you want to sing it - GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! Many manu's have several upon several discs out of print or discontinued.

I brought my discs last night and made one guy's day--he wanted to sing "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down", which the KJ didn't have, but I did and was happy to share it with him. Now I really want to sing the song myself...LOL!

I have no problems getting discs back. I always write "My Disc" on the slip (or "Mark's disc" if someone else is using one), and the KJ returns it to me safely. No problems here!

Maybe those of you who are having trouble with bringing your own stuff should come up here and hang out at some of the shows I frequent. We'll take care of ya!

Best,

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Originally posted by Mark Speck:
Around my area, I've never encountered any KJ's who had a problem with me bringing my stuff. Most times, I don't, 'cause it's such a pain in the a** to lord over my little CD binder the entire time. Sometimes, I'll just bring one or two discs with the songs I really want.

I brought my discs last night and made one guy's day--he wanted to sing "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down", which the KJ didn't have, but I did and was happy to share it with him. Now I really want to sing the song myself...LOL!

I have no problems getting discs back. I always write "My Disc" on the slip (or "Mark's disc" if someone else is using one), and the KJ returns it to me safely. No problems here!

Maybe those of you who are having trouble with bringing your own stuff should come up here and hang out at some of the shows I frequent. We'll take care of ya!

Best,

Mark

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That actually happened to me back in October. I brought my discs from my main show with me on a working getaway. I was all excited when I was checking in at the hotel and found they were having karaoke at the lounge. The KJ had maybe 3,000 songs, no Sound Choice. We met our friends there whom hired us for the weekend and we started doing karaoke from my discs. Next thing you know some of the patrons that were there asked if they could do a song off my discs (I had at the time 3 full binders that held 210 discs a piece). Come to find out the KJ and his wife had been to my show up in Newport when they got married, so they were all excited that I had popped up down their neck of the woods.

The thing is if I couldn't use any of my discs that night, none of us would have stayed. Cause nobody carries the Headbanger Discs or any of the Hard Rock in the area like I do with my main system, and even the second system is starting to get those discs in. The point is you can't have everything, so you give a little to get a little.

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Originally posted by GeminimALE:
all the karaoke KJs added new music MAYBE every six months or MAYBE once a year ..IM THE ONLY KJ IN SALINA TO ADDS EVERY MONTH !!! SOMETIME TWICE A MONTH!!!!

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Yeah I hear ya there. I try to get about 3 - 5 discs per week, whatever is requested that week if possible, if not I keep track of requests & keep them logged for when it is possible. I don't jump on the "new to have it first" bandwagon, buy requests only, if it happens to be a new song, then i'll get it when it comes out - the new songs don't really mean anything in our area, although some still subscribe to it & I may lose a customer for a night, but they come back the next night. Been there, done that. You usually end up with a ton of new music that doesn't get sung in 3 months once the song has been disposed of on the radio.

RJ you can come up to our show, I have all the Headbanger discs & many of the hard rock discs but if I didn't have the one you wanted, feel free to bring yours.
You are absolutely correct as well, you CAN'T have everything, it's impossible & sometimes not economically smart to try. If you have a request for 1 song that you don't have & it's on a disc of 15 songs but you already HAVE 14 of those songs, you'd be an idiot to purchase that disc for 1 song. This is where I encourage people to bring their own or send them where they can purchase "custom" discs for songs they would want personally.

[This message has been edited by GeminimALE (edited March 31, 2005).]

Considering the high level of customer service in our industry, what is the downside of allowing anyone to bring in a disc?

I understand the upside...pleasing the customer. Making the customer happy by allowing them to sing from a brand they are more comfortable with and perhaps even singing a song you dont have.

I dont understand how you find that rude. Also, when I play a customers disc, I dont announce it is a customers disc (unless it skips of course!) so how could this be construed as advertising by a fellow KJ?

Sound System
Song Selection
Host

I've been to a show where calling the sound mediocre was a kindness. The same show had a huge 85 disc library (approx. 1500 SGB & DK tracks)
I had a blast...The Host was great, dancing playing, lively banter, warm and welcoming. He took the time to learn my name before I put up 'Mack the knife', then treated me like long lost best friend all night...And I wasn't special, he treated everybody like that....

So what's my point??
Great sound & a huge library won't matter if people think the host is a jerk.
Pay attention, be accepting of others, be willing to do a little extra or stick to your policy... makes no difference to me.

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Originally posted by Harryoke:
Gemini, I have been following this issue, but I have a question.

Considering the high level of customer service in our industry, what is the downside of allowing anyone to bring in a disc?

I understand the upside...pleasing the customer. Making the customer happy by allowing them to sing from a brand they are more comfortable with and perhaps even singing a song you dont have.

I dont understand how you find that rude. Also, when I play a customers disc, I dont announce it is a customers disc (unless it skips of course!) so how could this be construed as advertising by a fellow KJ?

I just want to understand.

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Originally posted by Timberlea:
Actually there's a show by my place that plays on our night off. The first thing the host and singers ask is did I bring my discs and books and if for some reason I didn't they become very disappointed so I try to ensure I bring them.

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When other kj's bring in discs, no big deal. I now know what they have & I try to purchase it as well, but it still gets played regardless. They are a paying customer when they are in the club & I will make sure they are happy while they are there.
The kj you go to is very secure so when you bring he knows there is no threat. Lack of security may be a reason why someone would not allow personal discs, worried about singers seeing something that someone else has & wonders why a particular kj doesn't.
We have to speculate as no definitive answer why it SHOULDN'T be allowed has really been defined, many, many valid points have been brought up about why it is allowed in the majority of places. I think that is the whole question at hand. We know it may be a "policy", but WHY is it policy? This has not been explained with any standing argument except that it is the way you want to do it. This is a discussion board - sometimes a debate board.
So the question could be - Why is it your policy to not allow customer discs. Shed a little light to make us a little more understanding.

Bringing a customer's bought for disc is not a bad thing. What it does is this:

1.) frees you up from having to buy REALLY obscure songs (or if you want to concentrate on the "new" music, they can bring their standards in)
2.) allows the customers to feel special in that for their 3 and 1/2 minutes under the spotlight, they're singing exactly what they want, the version that they know, etc.
3.) your customers would NEVER know the difference, unless they walked up to you and said "hey, I was looking for that song, and I don't see it!"

One reason I spent a lot of time waiting to get in this business is I was painfully aware that my collection of "new" music wouldn't carry a real show. I knew I needed the core of songs, such as the old Lasers or SC's foundation1 and bricks. Cause in order to have a successful show (at least around here and everywhere else I've been), you needed to appeal to all groups.

The only thing I've taken a stance on is the
"Urban" or severe hip/hop. I just don't want that in my show. Most of the "pop" discs have some of those cross-over songs... and I fully realize that there are going to be some gigs I may not satisfy some customers on, because although my song library IS extensive, it lacks in many of those areas.

Just because a customer brings in a disc, doesn't make them a rival kj. With the advent of custom cdgs, many home users are going this way. And now that SC is doing the full artists discs more and more, you're seeing more and more home users. Karaoke machines are cheap! Whether it's the mini box that hooks up to a stereo, or a full "pro" machine, or even a dvd player that "can" play that format... the point is, it's not your father's karaoke anymore! Times are a changin', and those that aren't flexible in this business are doomed to suffer.

What would BE the harm in allowing a customer disc? The only thing I've ever said to someone is "I can NOT be responsible for your discs! If you get a scratch... I'm not liable!" Course that hasn't happened so far, but I'm aware it CAN!

I'll even approach this from yet ANOTHER angle: I thought I had every Beatles song out there... come to find out, I didn't! So I ended up getting a custom disc to add even THREE more... but this was AFTER I'd had customers looking and being disappointed I didn't have a certain one. One gal HAD it on her disc... she made a room full of people VERY happy by allowing a singer to use that disc. And this person WAS a kj... but you think I got my feelings hurt or felt intimidated?? NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST!! I'm FLATTERED when a KJ visits my show!! Means I'm doing SOMETHING right. We (as hosts) are NOTORIOUSLY fickle about how we like our sound, rotation, etc.

one of the regulars who did a show came in with a binder full of cdg's....to be honest, i didn't know that "regular people" could buy those things! she told me where she got them, and I went right out that next weekend to buy 3 discs of my own.

when i came back to the show, armed with 3 new discs, so many people wanted to sing from them, it was unreal! i started buying more discs for my own benefit, and before long, i had a selection that kicked butt over the selection of the bar. to make it easier for people to choose a song from my collection (which they looked forward to doing so), i created an access database at home and started printing out my songlist.

thus, the secret origin of "super georgetto, karaoke host"!

i have no problem with people bringing their own discs, for that's how i got started. i always try to follow the golden rule (it applies in our secular walks and it will serve to show others that we aren't hypocrites) when it comes to my customers.

besides, what's different from 1998 is that you see an entire aisle at best buy devoted entirely to karaoke discs. where before i probably had the only copy of a song, now pretty much everyone of my singers has his/her own copy. and depending on the song, there may be 5 different versions of it out there in my audience.

i'm not one to even try to be crass enough to force a customer to sing "my" version of a song.....whatever makes them happy is what i'm here for. i may have an opinion on the quality of a manufacturer, and maybe my customers agree. but i also know that for some of them, price played a factor in their buying decision. far be it from me to tell them that their purchasing decision is not welcome at my show.

people are good about grabbing their discs as soon as they walk offstage. there's no dead air as my bumper music is faded in during the transition to another singer. everyone sings the songs they want, and everyone stays happy.

karaoke has changed. where i could buy a cdg machine only at kmart during christmas time during the 90's, now they are everywhere.

as for other kj's coming to my show, i'm secure enough to announce to people who and where his show is....and he/she does the same for me. it helps everyone in the area to get the word out that you can get up and sing karaoke several times during the week. maybe not at my place (i would be loathe to do host karaoke every night of the week), but i'm happy to tell you where else you can go to sing on other nights.

besides, if i'm hosting a show and i don't treat you right, then another kj SHOULD take your business away from me.

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Originally posted by Georgetto:
hosting karaoke should be all about the customers. there should never be an instance where we consider their wishes to be inconvenient or a breach of protocol.

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Nice post & so very true!