Quote:
Originally posted by kenpattx
George, I'm with you and Jon. .... I have been making cdgs for quite some time the conventional way. But it would be SOOOOOO convenient to just burn one from the laptop via hoster instead of going into our stacks and stacks of cdgs and then locate the one song on that one disc and import them one at a time. We have way too many cdgs to sort thru. (1000 or more cdgs and 15000+ songs). It is so very time consuming doing it this way, when a simple click on a computer that already has them in it could be so very easy and convenient. When we go to a karaoke show as a customer, we like to take our own music, because we find really poor selections or poor quality discs at almost all karaoke shows we have attended. I think this could be a suggestion for MTU to add as a feature in their hoster programs. How about it MTU????
pat
|
We could write a translator that converts a KMA file to a CDG, but we have no plans to.
We are walking a very fine line at MTU. We are focused on LEGALLY enhancing the CDG Karaoke industry. For example, CAVS did write a translator from their compressed format back to CDG. Then, the Karaoke Producers got very mad and ceased to support CAVS because of the illegal distribution it allowed/encouraged.
So why won't MTU write a translator?
1.
We are protecting our Professional Host clients from LEGAL actions against them. If a professional, who makes an income from hosting Karaoke shows, has songs in their show that they did not PURCHASE, then ALL their equipment can be confiscated by a US Marshal, or in a law suit in a Court of Law. By not providing a means to convert from our KMA small, compressed file, we discourage illegal distribution. It is not an easy choice MTU makes on this. It damages our income now, but in the long run, I (as President/Founder/Owner of MTU) believe it is a matter of time before the music industry will crack down on illegal distribution in a VERY NEGATIVE way. I want every MTU customer to be exempt from this feared future action. I want every MTU customer to sleep soundly at night, knowing they are doing what is legal, not illegally copying and distributing Hoster KMA files.
2.
Becaue people today are inclined to "share" their songs with friends. The compressed format makes it very easy to distribute CAVS songs (or MTU's KMA files also) over the Internet. This illegal copying damages the Producers, just as bad as it does legal, professional hosts who must compete with unscrupulous persons who do NOT buy all their songs.
MTU is doing all we can to encourage legal use of copyrighted materials.
I do not understand why the music industry refuses to prepare course material for educators that covers what is legal and what is not. Most people today believe it is OK to make copies of CDs/CDGs they buy and swap with friends who make copies of their discs. This is the root problem in the world today... and I won't get up on that soap-box here or now.
Yes, we realize that it would be so much faster to make a custom CDG disc from your imported KMA files in Hoster. But, the legal implications do not justify this convinence.
My thanks to Danny_G for his well stated position. He has been a long-standing MTU customer who has read the mirid of posts about what is legal, and knows the hard stand that MTU takes. I appreciate his post here.
For the Record: Microstudio will only write uncompressed CDG or WAV files to a CDR/CDRW media as a CDG Karaoke or CDDA Audio format disc. It will not write a CDROM data disc. Yes, mlepine is correct in that some other program could be used to write KMA files to a CDR/CDRW disc.
Further, Microstudio will NOT import or play KMA files, so you can't click the Add Track from Hard Drive button and use KMA songs. Also, Hoster does not allow adding tracks in the Import Tracks screen from a CDROM. They must be imported from a CDG Karaoke disc.