UK producers could sell downloads here, but they would have to go through the U.S. publishers just like American producers have to.

First, France is not involved in the same licensing programs as the UK. Everything I've read says Karaoke-version is good to go in the US. So even though they are not US, they are still available here.

I fully expect to see Zoom and Sunfly re-appear in the US. Why would the publishers go through the trouble of shutting them down without also wanting to use those as an avenue for revenue? They may make them pay more.. And I would bet they will cost us more, but I can't see those guys simply allowing the US market to go away without pursuing it to the end with the publishers.

I'm not sure the actual US market is big enough for those guys to justify attempting to get US licensing.

First, France is not involved in the same licensing programs as the UK. Everything I've read says Karaoke-version is good to go in the US. So even though they are not US, they are still available here.

I fully expect to see Zoom and Sunfly re-appear in the US. Why would the publishers go through the trouble of shutting them down without also wanting to use those as an avenue for revenue? They may make them pay more.. And I would bet they will cost us more, but I can't see those guys simply allowing the US market to go away without pursuing it to the end with the publishers.

it's a bit of a catch 22. IF everyone who uses karaoke music actually bought it, then maybe North America would be a huge market.

Unforutnately, the more difficult the publishers make it to buy that karaoke music, the more people who are willing to circumvent the laws to obtain what they want.

In my opinion, if the publishers took the stick out of their butts and allowed/formed a publishing society in the US & Canada, just like the model based in the UK, things would improve DRASTICALLY!

Sunfly did state on their page to a comment I asked
"Sunfly Karaoke: Hi Lonnie, We are hopeful that we will be able to offer downloads to our US customers again in the first half of next year."

This is in their comment section
https://www.facebook.com/sunflymusic/?fref=ts

Awesome news! Thanks so much for pursuing this. I'll pay more for it if need be. The more sources we have the better!

I'm not sure the actual US market is big enough for those guys to justify attempting to get US licensing.

I fully expect to see Zoom and Sunfly re-appear in the US. Why would the publishers go through the trouble of shutting them down without also wanting to use those as an avenue for revenue? They may make them pay more.. And I would bet they will cost us more, but I can't see those guys simply allowing the US market to go away without pursuing it to the end with the publishers.

I'm not sure the actual US market is big enough for those guys to justify attempting to get US licensing.

I would think that the US market's demand would be just as much as any of the other foreign markets with (maybe) the exception of the Asian market. Being that's where Karaoke originated and all, I would think the Asian market would hold the largest market for Karaoke.

The demand for tracks in the US is very high. The demand for paid SC tracks in the US is not.

fixed that. i bet the other manus selling downloads would argue that there is a lot of demand for paid tracks.
since you have been out of the business, SBI, Sunfly, Zoom among others have made a great deal. just ask around here, where do you think all our money went?

I would think that the US market's demand would be just as much as any of the other foreign markets with (maybe) the exception of the Asian market. Being that's where Karaoke originated and all, I would think the Asian market would hold the largest market for Karaoke.

Actually, you don't know that. Foreign companies have local markets in which to recoup their costs, making their marginal cost to extend to the US very small, as long as they don't have to pay US royalties. The fact that all of those companies are in the process of exiting the US market should tell you what they think of the profitable demand here when US licensing is taken into consideration.

Virtually all of those sales were made without US licensing. When you factor in the huge administrative cost of US licensing, not just royalties but the time required to acquire and manage licenses, it's not profitable. We don't expect to make money off music in the near term, either. Merely breaking even will be a victory, which is why we're looking at other ways to supplement our business.

It is nearly impossible to compete with "free."