mn mule said:
hell i live in saint cloud mn and he have so many dj's using harddrive based karaoke here that they are killing the profit of the shows . i can easily name 6 or 7 companies that have started for anywhere from 100 plus drinks to 150 and it seems to be getting worse. anyone have ideas what i can do to curb the people sellin these and running them they are ruining the bussiness.with all this sound choice stuff goin on i hope that something happens soon.
To my knowledge, other than myself, no one on this forum has attempted anything to fight piracy, and as to my efforts, they failed and aren't worth discussing.
And the situation is quickly becoming worse. I have been offered as little as $50 in an area that has a population of 2,000,000. In my market, for example, multi-riggers (all pirates), typically get $125 and share $50 of that with the host!
And with the ever decreasing rates for karaoke, many legitimate "old-timers" who used to get $300 a gig have left the business. Nonetheless, there is no shortage of hosts, and therefore no upward pressure on karaoke prices. Most likely, this also reflects an economy that is forcing many long established businesses to close, diminishing the demand for karaoke shows.
And while Sound Choice has filed suites in our area, their efforts have not reduced the number of pirates, it simply has caused the pirates to eliminate SC tracks from their libraries. Meanwhile, the local singers have been made aware in vague terms that "Sound Choice's has filed law suits against KJ's" (whatever that means)
and they are not turned off by the suits or the fact that virtually no local KJ has SC songs in their libraries. In fact, they continue to frequent the same shows they have been going to!
Now, if you still think that Sound Choices efforts, as some suggested, can help you, please consider the following entrepreneurial endeavors of one particular local pirate:
He has been around for over twenty years
operating one rig. He rightfully boasts about the quality of his equipment, and also brags about his library, which is extensive. He has developed a library, mostly illegal, in excess of 200,000 tracks. I would estimate that after eliminating dups he has between 50-70,000 distinct songs. And suffice it to say that even without Sound Choice Tracks, his library is still quite large.
Before he could eliminate the SC tracks from his rig he was sued by and settled with Sound Choice. And as is Sound Choice's policy, at a cost of $6500
he remains in business with his illegal library along with with his legal SC tracks
BUT THERE IS ONE BIG DIFFERENCE ABOUT HOW HE RUNS HIS BUSINESS TODAY. After 20 years of running just one rig, he now runs three rigs that I am aware of. And perhaps he added those additional rigs to offset the extraordinary expense of paying off Sound Choice?
Each rig has a copy of his extensive library
LESS SOUND CHOICE TRACKS . And each new rig is using the cheapest of equipment. And why not, considering how little karaoke pays these days?
In conclusion, I can’t help but ask if WE ALL, INCLUDING SC, WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF IF HE WERE NO LONGER IN BUSINESS? And I still wonder how many of you still think you have benefited or will benefit from Sound Choice's suits? While SC rightfully benefits from their efforts; I've been hurt by having more pirates to compete with, each working for less! One recently opened venue has 5 different karaoke shows a week ---- all using illegal libraries, all using junk equipment, all working on the cheap and all attracting singers!