Karaoke Forums

any opinions? any stories? any advice?

to 'define' each:

kj vs the jukebox as you can guess is when the jukebox is already on when you get there.

kj vs the TV as you can guess is when you get to the venue ready to work but there's a good football or basketball game on and you might have to wait

i used to be really irked when i got to the venue and the jukebox was on because someone's paid for a rack of songs, blah, blah, blah. i mean, the staff will turn it off immediately for me, but having it on when it got there really irked me.

nowadays, i don't care. i'll wait out the jukebox gladly. luckily, the venue pays me regardless. i only step in if it seems like if i don't the crowd will leave, etc.

as for the tv, i wish sometimes the venue would be better at letting me know when a tv event could cancel my night

I can't really answer you regarding the TV issue (as I personally have not had that problem, although I have attended may shows over the years that have had this issue).

Regarding the jukebox: Whenever I did a show, I would show up at least 1 hour early (so that I could take my time and set up without breaking a sweat... if I had to, I could set up within 20-25 minutes, but I would be dripping wet). One of the first things I usually do is put a piece of duct tape over the Bill Insert Slot (so that nobody could put anymore money in it). I would also place a note that says Karaoke will be starting at xx:xx (fill in the x's with the time). Usually, by the time I have finished setting up, the Jukebox has run its course. At this point, I just play some regular music from my CDG Player. That usually fills the void and keeps the "Dead Air" issue out of play.

i don't have an issue either usually.
my main venue the jukebox has a separate zone outside on the patio so i cant cover the bill collector, i either wait till it runs out then take over with dj music till it's karaoke time or if it's time i just get the remote and turn down the inside zone. nobody can get mad, i have been there over 6 years and there are posters (including right next to the jukebox) stating show days and times. anyone who tried getting mad at me i pointed to the poster right by the jukebox and they shut up.
maybe that could help you too.

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Our place has a sign on the jukebox - karaoke begins at 9PM & jukebox will be shut off! I will usually let the current song playing finish out, and if I don't have a singer at start, may let it finish the next song or two until I get singers, but usually I have singers from the start.
TV's, we change over unless it's a home sports game or some other important sports game (we may just turn the volume down on a non home sports game if someone is watching & leave the picture going since we have 2 other TV's for karaoke).

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Same here. There's a sign on the jukebox stating that karaoke starts at 9:00, and no refunds will be given. If there are only a couple songs in the jukebox, I'll wait them out, but if it's a bunch, off it goes. I do make an effort to play the in queue jukebox songs as the first couple filler songs of the night if they are upbeat and fit my format.

Then, there's the idiot that will try to play the jukebox WHILE the karaoke show is going on. When our jukebox is in music pause mode, it still accepts dollars for the "photo booth" mode. Again, no refunds, so those idiots typically get $5 worth of photos sent to their e-mail address. Sometimes the owner will give them a free drink if they dropped a $10 or $20.

My bar is a sports bar, and they will show important local events instead of my show sometimes. In those cases, the owner and I have an understanding that as long as I come in at my normal time and smooze with the karaoke regulars, then do my show once the sporting event is over, he will pay me for the full night's work. More often than not, I can get most of my karaoke regulars to stick around and patron the bar while they wait for the show, so it's a win/win.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

great posts, everyone thanks

Been discussed before but as a singer I would prefer that the TV be off of course but if it's a local event, that ain't gonna happen

However, there was one bar i worked at that was extremely fair about the whole thing.

More people watching a game than karaoke singers = TV sound stays on
More singers than people watching game = TV sound gets muted


pretty staight foward in that case

I never had an issue with both. In my venues, TV's are on but muted and the Juke box gets cut when I'm ready to start. I never had to use tape over the slot but I like that idea and will keep it in mind if I ever need to.

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