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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 1:52 am 
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i know it's me. i must be doing something wrong. i got the decent crowd in attendance. i don't really have singers nipping at my heels, but i'll spot one or two regulars singers mingling in the crowd. but nobody wants to sing. the night drags. everyone's got their faces buried in their phones. slowly, one by one folks are leaving as the hours wears on. and i'll have an anemic lineup of singers. and i'll feel like i could had more singers/ more entusiasm, more energy in this lackluster crowd but i must be doing something wrong, right?

so i'll think, ok maybe folks need to miss me and i'll get another KJ to sub a night for me. but then i get a ton of complaints from management and everybody at the venue like why weren't you there? don't leave us! we don't like the sub? don't ever go anywhere! ok, but i come back to the venue and nothing changes: everyone's noses are in their phones, the energy in the room is dead. but there's no complaints from bartenders or management. there are people in the seats. money hasn't fallen off. there just aren't singers or energy in the room.

i'm switching old school to new school music but it's not pulling anyone.

my only guess is i need to switch up my personality. maybe the crowd is feeding off me as much as i'm feeding off them. so if i go wildman on them, maybe they'll respond.

i can't see theme nights working at this venue.

any suggestions?

by the way, i've worked at this venue over a decade. so i know enthusiasm can drop off....


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:18 am 
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8) Sometimes it just boils down to a lack of talent at a certain bar. I have had this problem in the past and it takes some leg work on your part and salesmanship. You have to go to shows and meet various singers, you have to flatter them use psychology. What is it that most singers want? They want the mic in their hand every 30 minutes or less and an audience. Tell them that you have a great place, you use up to date equipment, the acoustics are fantastic, there is a good crowd, but that you don't have many quality singers that are on their level. This approach works well with singers that are actually really good, sometimes they are taken for granted by the host at their current venue. After all if you are going to import talent get the best. Just like when I was younger I would always approach the best looking single woman at the club, if she said no, at least you were shot down by the best. You would be surprised how many times I have used this line and it has worked. It especially works well at clubs where the waiting time to sing one song is two hours plus. Sometimes you have to import talent where none exists in order to make your show great. Just remember promotion, promotion, promotion. You have to play to your strengths and away from any weakness.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:46 am 
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Product 19, I frankly didn't think a situation could exist where you have singers and they don't want to sing :?. I have never experienced that. Do you have an extremely inviting environment on the stage for them to sing in? By that I mean... great mics, plenty of quality sound coming back at them (quality floor monitor properly aimed and set), and space to move around in?

How is you music selection, and how do they search it? Many on here have searchable song book available online, but that gives the singers more reason to have their faces buried in their phones, and you have stated that IS a problem. Is it a nice venue? What is your start time?


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 6:32 am 
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8) Sometimes everything can be perfect mrmarog and still it is not enough. I had a VFW where karaoke had always failed, I looked at the venue it had a cathedral ceiling so I knew the acoustics were good. It was clean, spacious, served food. I told the commander I could make it work, he told me to go and try others had failed. Of course the others failing was all I needed, I had to make it work. After seeing the type of talent at the post, I realized the reason it was failing was the need for good singers. I was lucky I found a group of 4 great singers to anchor the show, they had friends and pretty soon the place was packed. The only problem I had was too much success, the reason the patrons come was to get the mic in their hands, and not have to wait, after a few months the same problem began to happen again long waits for a song. The point is though I did manage to make it work. Even though the post didn't have any in house talent, still the members came to hear the excellent singers, and of course spent money.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 8:08 am 
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LR, product 19 has been at the venue for a decade.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 9:38 am 
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Maybe the drinks are too expensive at that bar. Check the prices against the other bars. Never underestimate the power of alcohol in the karaoke equation.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 2:39 pm 
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8) Very true even 25 cents more can make a difference believe it or not.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 12:19 am 
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KaraokeIan wrote:
Maybe the drinks are too expensive at that bar. Check the prices against the other bars. Never underestimate the power of alcohol in the karaoke equation.


The Lone Ranger wrote:
8) Very true even 25 cents more can make a difference believe it or not.


That may just make the difference between me deciding to leave early, or deciding to stay for the whole show, and never coming back to that place again. 25 cents more per drink ... not so much. $1 (plus) more per drink, and, on top of that, no buy-backs.... c-ya!!!!


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 6:45 am 
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8) You have to remember Cue that I live in a retirement city, lots of people on fixed incomes, to them 25 cents more for a drink is a big deal, don't ask me why it just is?


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 10:57 pm 
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I've seen waning enthusiasm happen a lot. I've been at one of my venues for seven years - and by God, there are times when I probably should have been canceled. I had almost a year straight of consistent four-singer nights. I, as has everyone else here, have come into a dead night, built it up to its critical mass, and seen great success for the bar, only to witness it sharply drop off seemingly out of nowhere. I even had a bar that liked me so much, they decided to switch to trivia when their karaoke night fizzled, because they simply enjoyed having me around and thought their patrons might respond better to a trivia night. (That night, tons of people showed up hoping for karaoke. We had to call trivia night a wash before it even started, and pull out the books and mics.)

I think the one thing that has saved me at my current seven-year gig is that I have grown VERY good at seizing opportunities - that is, when a couple or a group wanders in and participates, I've become pretty adept at making sure they come back. Whether it takes flattery, whether it takes tricky wording like "I love your song choices!" or "you bring a great energy here with you!"... I haven't changed up my style much, but I've seized a lot of chances to get someone coming back for more, and it's continued to keep a constantly-changing, big-enough crowd of regulars floating in and out.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:48 am 
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andrew3000 wrote:
I think the one thing that has saved me at my current seven-year gig is that I have grown VERY good at seizing opportunities - that is, when a couple or a group wanders in and participates, I've become pretty adept at making sure they come back. Whether it takes flattery, whether it takes tricky wording like "I love your song choices!" or "you bring a great energy here with you!"... I haven't changed up my style much, but I've seized a lot of chances to get someone coming back for more, and it's continued to keep a constantly-changing, big-enough crowd of regulars floating in and out.
My approach to having a long running show is to "give them a singing experience (environment)" that they will not forget. I am very aware of the mix to the audience and make sure that the audience can hear the singer clearly and balanced, but I am extremely concerned with the singer hearing themselves perfectly mixed and EQ'd. I get singers tell me all the time that it was "great" singing on my stage.

When singers can hear themselves well, they start feeling like rock stars which quickly equates to fun for the listeners. You also need a quality floor monitor, along with quality mics. GTDs are OK but they are not quality, neither are any vocopro mics. Compression on the mics is also a must.

I also have fun running my shows and the audience knows it. They know I am paying attention and they are confident that I will attend to their needs when they are up on the stage. When I sing I sometimes return to the mixer a couple of times to make adjustments that will not only improve my singing, but the next singers as well. The singers know that, and I never get "he turns his mic up when he sings, and then turns mine down when I get up there"


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:00 pm 
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mrmarog wrote:
GTDs are OK but they are not quality, neither are any vocopro mics.

I beg to differ with you on the GTD's. IMO, they are very high quality mics with sound that rivals a Shure SM58. They may at times need a little EQ to compensate for the acoustics of the environment that they're used in but all in all, the GTD Audio mics are awesome. And, so far they've stood up to being dropped (by idiots) several times. So yes, they're made good and they sound good. All in all, a quality product especially considering how cheap they are.

In addition to that, the range on them is fantastic. I've used them outdoors, indoors and up to 500 feet away and never any break up. So don't say that they are NOT a quality mic. Not everything has to be expensive to be good. If you're not getting good sound from them, you need to fine tune them. You can do this from the receiver and the transmitter. And make sure your gain is set right. When you learn to properly configure them, you won't be able to tell them apart from a SM58.

I'm very pleased with them.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:31 pm 
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I think anyone whose been in this business has experienced slow nights, lackluster nights, etc. What to do about them is a different story. Here are some of the things I have done..........

1) I change my voice inflection. If that means I speak higher, softer, country, regal, etc. then I do it. This will probably sound trite, but I demand people pay attention to me. One of my favorite lines during Karaoke is, "off your phones and into life". I say it sounding like a parent and I always get many people to look up at me.

2) Do a sing-a-long. I know it sounds like it won't work but it does. Know your crowd and pick an appropriate song they would like and start singing it. Walk out among the crowd and show them your energy. Have a second mic in your back pocket or nearby and offer the person you find singing along a microphone. Patriotic songs work well for me in these situations.

3) Tell people at the beginning of the night that there will be a drawing every hour for a free drink or appetizer for anyone who sings a song. I've split the costs with the bar out of my tips or the bar will offer it up.

4) Play a dj song and walk the room with song books and hand them a slip of paper and pen and ask them to write down a song they'd like to hear. Try to find a few you can at least sing and acknowledge the person when you sing it. Half-way through invite them up on stage to help. IT WORKS!!! Not always but it does.

Improvisation is key when a crowd is slow or acting disinterested. Creating an environment that is conducive for people to have fun and sing is your job. It can be very challenging at times but getting a crowd is the hardest part and it sounds like you have one already. That's why we make the big bucks, right?????

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PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 1:21 pm 
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mrmarog wrote:
Product 19, I frankly didn't think a situation could exist where you have singers and they don't want to sing :?. I have never experienced that. Do you have an extremely inviting environment on the stage for them to sing in? By that I mean... great mics, plenty of quality sound coming back at them (quality floor monitor properly aimed and set), and space to move around in?

How is you music selection, and how do they search it? Many on here have searchable song book available online, but that gives the singers more reason to have their faces buried in their phones, and you have stated that IS a problem. Is it a nice venue? What is your start time?


heck, it surprises me, too! and i can't ever help but be a wee bit hurt by it whenever it happens. it's not the best feeling to see your regular singers who you're cool with and are practically family, show up at the venue on a night where there are seats filled, but that regular singer walks the room, hangs out for 20 min and then leaves without singing or saying goodbye. sure they'll be back the next week and sing a dozen songs like nothing happened but you're like, what the hell happened tonight.

basically, i guess what i'm saying is my singers get uninspired to sing some nights. there's no pattern so i can never guess when it's gonna happen. the liquor isn't helping. the ambiance isn't inspiring at that moment to them and the energy in the room is dead. but there are folks in the seats. what's the cure?

i think you're on to something: get some new blood in there. so my singers can feel challenged or have new faces to sing to.

to answer some of your questions, my music selection is vast. it's online and in book form. the venue is nice. funny, but in all the time i've worked there, i haven't advertised for new talent or new blood. folks show up word of mouth. maybe it's time to advertise...


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 1:27 pm 
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great tips, spotlightjr

i like that idea of going around with slips of paper asking folks what songs they wanna hear. i may try that.

come to think of it, during my daytime job, me & my coworkers like to fool around and suddenly break into different accents: british, jamaican, irish so i may do that spontaneously during the shows.

i tried a sing-a-long once at this venue. gotta pick your spots for those in my case sometimes. that night it didn't work. i think folks may've thought i was being pushy or desperate. i will try it again, tho, 'cause it should work more often than not


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