Karaoke Forums

What does anyone think about sweet georgia brown 1-66, backstage 1-73 sav A and sav P and karaoke party pack 1, 2, and 3 to get started with karaoke in a club?????????? thanks, sally

Sally,
Coming from a KJ, and A Consultant to Presently 15 Independant KJ's shows. Sweet Georgia Brown is medeocre at best. the arrangements are not the best out there.. Neither are the Backstage. An expierenced singer (one who goes to a fair or better shows a week) will be able to spot a good music selection, smart and talented KJ with a Good sounding system in a heartbeat. I'd highly suggest to start out with the top 4 companies as follows as per a recient survey that was conducted of 35 retailers that replied with storefronts that did not mail order or sell on e-bay, across the US and Canada... Sound Choice, Chartbuster, Priddis, & DK. You can find these company's media in just about any reasonably decent show in the country by now.

I hope ya find what you are looking for.

Okay, whats so bad about sweet georgia brown selection is it the sound quality in the cdgs or is it theres not that big of a selection in music. The club that im going to be doing my shows at is used to sweet georgia brown because there is another company in there using thoes cdgs and a few laser discs so i didnt want to shock the crowd with a total different list of songs than the ones there use to.... what should i do????

If your just starting up go with the sgb and sav to start up the collection. STAY AWAY from the backstage!! OK I have a few so go ahead and get them for filler and the drunks that dont care. But after your initial investment go Sound Choice, DK, Pioneer and fill up that library..... good luck , rokkenroke

Sally,
SGB has a reputation for inconsistant quality.. coming form a Professional KJ and A Professional Singer's point of view, other than that.. My better singers seem to sing mostly from the big four that I mentioned from the previous thread.. plus also the latest Stellar Karaoke Product Which I'm also very impressed with...

By the way.. I track all the song slips and songs played and sung by every show that I consult... and every Karaoke Media request for new music so I can purchase them for my own, or track release dates.

Some think this is a fun business. I have a reality check for some..

Well for me it's as serious as a heart attack. and business is busy..

Try going 12-18 hrs a day non-stop 7 days a week.

Have fun! and I hope you enjoy your business... Because I see to it that the KJ's I work for have a great time doing what they do.

Sally
You will most likely get a consistant reccomendation when it comes to CDG quality. As Brian suggests the top four give or take provide consistant quality products. But if your starting out and are on a budget you can pick up the SGB and Backstage for a decent price. You mentioned that the CLIENTELE is used to SGB and therfore they wouldnt recognize any substandard sound. Try looking at starter packs from
DK , Chartbuster , Sound Choice. I like and suggest some of the TOP TUNES packs as they provide a decent product for a good price.

Good luck

I've seen the Sweet Georgia Brown pack for $59. BUT you get what you pay for Sally!

The problem is, people don't really realize how much quality karaoke really costs! You see these NUMBERS of songs for a fairly cheap price, and they sucker you into it... you buy them, and think you're doing okay... then the complaints come in from singers about the bad versions... and suddenly, you're scrambling trying to cover and get the better versions.

Fortunately, the better ones are lower priced (about half price when I first got going, and that was half of when many of the INITIAL kjs got into it! I remember my buddy Tig telling me he bought Pioneer laser discs for $130 each! Right before they stopped production, they were down to $75, and now, when you can find them, they're pretty reasonable! The problem is, there's only a couple you can get now. They're all discontinued.

The CDG format when it first came out was around $75 for each disc. Then the price slowly started going down. Sound Choice just recently dropped the prices on their stuff... so it's quite affordable.

Karaoke Scene seems to have a problem with hyperlinks to places... so the only thing I can recommend is you either email me and I'll give you some good links, or do some internet searches for various retailers...

SHOP smart! Many are good, but the prices vary vastly from retailer to retailer. Also, the manufacturers themselves sell the stuff, but usually at quite a bit of a markup compared to the retailers, that are just trying to make a living! !

Best of luck to you!

Matt

Sweet Georgia Brown some decent sound quality, some not - good for filling in "holes" on a good core set.
SAV C series is OK for country although some of the swipes are off IF they swipe at all. Music is generally OK though.
SAV P series is more miss than hit. Music is tinny & thin sounding, swipes are sometimes off, again IF they swipe at all.
Assuming the Party Packs you are talking about are from Hot Stuff. Music is generally off & midi sounding, swipes & words are generally wrong. Not worth the media it's printed on.
The music is going to be your biggest & most ongoing investment. Don't
"SKIMP" just to get going. The customers you get will laugh you out of the business because they generally won't return (unless they are just plain despaarate). If you buy small potatoes, you are labeled small time!!!
If anything else, put your money into a good, "quality" core like the Sound Choice Foundations, or the DK Millenium. Then you can buy the SGB & the SAV C series for filling in some. Look into the Dangeous set - underated by most but have mostly useable songs - I prefer SOME of these over anything else. The Pop Hits Monthly Series to round out current songs from 2000 on if you get the Foundations - 1997 on if you get the Millenium. I would also recommend the Sound Choice Bricks. I use both Foundations & all 5 Bricks along with the sets mentioned & these all get used nightly.
Once you get a good solid "core", then you can start picking & choosing songs that your customers want to sing & buy them - but stay with the quality manufacturers. Don't just buy songs that you like for yourself, you are a KJ now, what YOU like doesn't matter anymore.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I tend to lean with Jam on this one - If they have nothing to compare it to, who's going to know.

Start with that because chances are they're not going to sing it anyway (karaoke 101). It's missing alot, but that will grow with time. Don't think for one second there's an all-in-one library.




The new generation of singer now usually brings their own music in-

Sammy

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The opinions of Sammy do not necessarily reflect the views of the Karaoke Scene Magazine - Advice is given with a sence of humor and should be taken accordingly - If you have problems setting the clock on your VCR - You've come to the right place

Sammy.... Welcome back!!

Thanks for cleaning out my office and my closet for me!!!

While you were gone I had to pull a few manuvers of my own...

I have a truck you can wash too if ya want...

Sally, I'm not going to look down my nose because I've been in your shoes.

My opinion,

Just starting out, Get as many songs for your book as you can by hook or by crook.

If you need to, Go Nikkodo,Nutech,Backstage,SGB,Northstar ETC.

Grab yourself a large songbook and when you make money Immediately invest in upgrades to DK, Sound Choice, And PHM.

There are many business angles depending on startup cash.

If you have a huge budget go DK/SC all the way! If not, Get as many songs as you can.

Be prepared to reinvest any gig money into upgrades for some time to come.

Thank you everyone youve been so helpful!!!

Quantity is not always a great factor. If all the songs are of crap quality, then having alot of CRAP is not a big selling point. Don't waste your money to get alot of stuff that you are probably going to end up replacing down the road anyways.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

NOBODY MENTIONED CHARTBUSTERS, ARE THEY GOOD QUALITY MUSIC?? UNFORTUNATLLY I ALREADY GOT SGB, BACKSTAGE AND SAV A AND SAV P.. SHOULD I BUY A FEW CHARTBUSTERS TO GET SOME QUALITY SONGS INTO THE MIX??

Sally,
I really thought about this long and hard today.. actually I almost blew a fuse in my head.. REALLY!.. It gave me a MIGRAINE!!!!

If I was billing you as one of MY client's... I would have cut your contract and billed you by the hour for the frustration.


Lon is right on this one..

But I will elaboriate and vent.

I don't care where you play how big or small of a fish you are in the karaoke pond, The quality of the media and the class of a show you put on... reflects on your company's reputation.. ALWAYS!! The way you treat your customers reflects on how your customers will view you and your show too.

If you don't have the stuff people will go elsewhere to sing... you have lost the game before it has even started.

As a marketing instructor had told me in high school.. "It takes money to make money, and a lot of times most people will go deep into debt to make it happen and end up really hitting it big, others will die trying to keep thier heads above water, that's the AMERICAN DREAM."

the option is yours sally you can either be the dying fish of karaoke in less than 2 years and be struggling to book shows with media that few wants to sing.. or really do it "right"..


and I don't mean get 10,000 songs either.. just get decent versions.

The choice is yours... 'nuff said.

EXACTLY Brian!!!

Yes Sally Chartbuster is very decent for Country. Don't rely on them for Pop/Rock. Some of their Pop/Rock is ok, but most of the stuff i've heard was lacking anything good. But again, don't just buy discs to have the most. You already bought, so you'll have to make do & work with it. If you have the money, get a better "core" set & use the rest to fill the holes.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I'm not a KJ, so I can only speak from an observant customer's point of view.

Without mincing words the short is "Don't buy garbage". The customers are sensitive to it. I am originally from Detroit where there are shows everywhere. I have always bought my own disks because of my specialized taste in music. As a consequence I often buy "off brands" to get the material I want and also as a consequence, I need to put a lot of work into them before I get what I consider a listenable song (as far as my voice and style go).

My friends in Detroit are not lunatics like me but they follow their instincts when it comes to good songs on good CD's. Without them really knowing why I have often heard them remark.."I'm going to so and so's show because I sound better there." They are doing the same songs on equivalent systems with competent KJ's running them. I have heard them all sing at all these places. The difference that I notice is the label on the intro. They don't. They figure the same song is the same song. They only know they sound better.

Much of their business is lost by the places that don't use quality disks. Even though the KJ is good and they like them, they go elsewhere because they "sound better".

Don't know how much value my remarks are. Hope they are helpful.

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Jazz and Swing Live (as long as I do).

Norm,
Your "Personal" versions come as a matter of preference. but every manufacturer has some song arrangements that do have a downfall.. my point has always been certain manufacturers do it better than others.. and those are the ones to keep as the "Core" media manufacturing groups to keep as your media sets in your systems. that's all I have been trying to driving home.

I agree with most of what is said here, but offer a little more nit picking.

As far as Sweet Georgia Brown, they have some kick butt 80 rock and hair band songs you can't get anywhere else. And for the most part, these are good versions- I have yet to find a better version of Van Halen's "You Really Got Me", or Poison "Nothin But a Good Time".

Same is true for Backstage- barring a miracle find of Sound Choice Eagles, the Backstage is very good. Same for their Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan, and George Michael. OK so their Queen disc sucks but what can you do!

My 'Backup library' since I use a digital machine that came with a pre-loaded library, is all SGB, Backstage, Karaoke Hits/Fun, and oddball discs.

Go with what you can afford, and build as you go- to echo other peoples sentiments here. In no time you'll be more concerned with how to keep the rotation straight, how to keep the drunk from swinging the mic, and "What do you mean can't put my beer on top of your case?", and all the other fun things associated with being a KJ.

Good Luck!

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

DBK, You and I agree on some points. Regardless:

7 Sound Choice cdg's including sales tax would exceed 200.00

Those 7 discs would represent about 105 songs vs major packs of hit and miss.

I'm sorry Lonman, Right here I totally disagree with you. As a singer I loved selection, And generally if your selection sucked so did your show. I could usually sing past shortfalls in certain brand cdg's, If you can't, Good luck.