[alanross]

First, let me thank muzicman144 for his kind words. It's nice to be visited and acknowledged by our peers. Many thanks!

I joined this thread in January, 2003 and have found it interesting to see that the rates vary very little across the spectrum. Basically, people are getting between $100.00 - $300.00 a night no matter where you go. Perhaps a new thread discussing how to maximize your earning potential?

I find it interesting that KJ's, as a whole, are still making less money than bands, yet often Karaoke brings in twice the crowd. It's so frustrating that bands get paid more, "because there's four of them in the band and you're just one person." That kind of thinking is so indescribably stupid it makes me want to scream. My new response to that is, "Would you pay four bartenders more money to do less business than one good bartender could do?" That usually gets the point across, but it's not the bands who are our competition. It's the industry we've chosen.

Face it, the dirty little secret to Karaoke is that there is only so much you can do to differentiate yourself. Better hosts, better song selection and better sound will only get you so far. After that, just having Karaoke available at a bar will bring in the customers. Bar owners have learned that there is a break even point, where if the KJ charges too much, the bar would make better money if they buy their own equipment and music and pay one of their staff a nominal fee to run it.

I've traveled around and viewed a lot of Karaoke. Most of us probably have. We've all seen the really lame host with the horrible sound system and 500 songs to choose from, but the shows are still packed. The types of people singing in those clubs are different, but they are still people spending money in the bar.

No matter how bad the show is, if the people are spending money, the bar is happy and they don't really care about quality. As a host, I prefer a quality audience, but the bar doesn't care and that effects my rate of pay. I will always continue to try to provide the highest quality show, because I prefer to make money at the high end of the scale, but further increases in price would eventually be my own undoing.

Close the thread, leave it open - doesn't matter to me. If I have time, or if anyone else is inclined, let's open a thread that targets new KJs and KJs looking to improve their standing and discuss ways to provide quality shows that make us, as professionals, more valuable.

- Alan Ross