[alanross]

Location is a definite factor. I live in a resort area on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and pay rates here are extremely low. Because the area relies almost entirely on tourism for revenue, and there are only three good months of that tourism in the summer, the rest of the year is all about stretching out your summer earnings. We are the only entertainment company in this area including, solo acoustic guitarists, duos, DJs, bands and comedians that are able to remain profitable all year round. Even in the off season, we're doing 12 shows a week - unprecedented for this area. During the busy summer months, we are doing anywhere from 22-26 shows a week.

It has been a hard fought battle to get our pay to $200.00 a night year round, but we make $300.00/night in season at the larger venues. Many wanna-be systems have tried to come in and undercut our prices, but they've all left within 6 months because they couldn't match the quality of the sound system, the selection of music, the professional presentation of our shows and most importantly, they couldn't come close to the energy of the shows we run because of our talented, audience-friendly hosts.

The problem is most bar owners are looking at us through the wrong prism. After much discussion, I have finally brought people around to my way of thinking. How many of you play in a club which also does live bands on other nights of the week? Does the bar owner pay them $200 a night? Even the low end bands usually get $300 or $400 a night. The bar owners usual reason for paying them more? "There's four of them in the band, you're only one person."

Here's where their thinking is totally wrong!

I have had to spell it out to them, more than once, it doesn't matter if there is one person or twenty. When I play in your club, your bar sales are consistently over $2000.00, more than any other nights of the week. But when bands play here, your bar sales are only $1000.00. If you want to keep me playing here, and generating that kind of revenue, I need to make more money. You're not paying for the number of people who are coming in to entertain, you're paying for an entertainer to increase your bar sales! That's why you're doing entertainment in the first place!

Bar owners forget that they have entertainment at night to increase the number of people coming into their club and therefore increaseing their revenue. Once you explain that you are their best revenue generator (which I have fortunately been able to prove), they understand why you deserve more pay and they will pay.

Only once did I have a bar owner tell me that it would be cheaper for him to buy his own equipment, and disks and have one of his own employees run the show. He did that, and now he's regetting the decision because he failed to realize that not just anyone can host a karaoke show and generate the kind of revenue our shows did.

I have taken years to find just the right personalities to hire a show hosts and because of it, all our hosts are top quality and they all put out the type of shows that people like to see.

First you have to be the best at what you do, then you have to do it consistently. Once you've established your reputation and a following, you can demand the higher rates.

Here's a few tips to any new or potential Karaoke hosts: Remember, no matter how much you like to sing and no matter how great you may be, it's not about you. Make the show all about the audience. Set up strict guidelines for behavior and adhere to them. Give every vocalist a huge round of applause, allow no booing! Eliminate disruptive influences. If someone is getting out of hand, cut 'em off. Don't call them up to sing again that night. Be nice and explain that you have to entertain the whole room, not just him and his friends, and if he wants to come back next time and behave himself, great! Put together a sound system that makes people sound fabulous and you will get the fabulous vocalists at your shows. This doesn't have to be expensive, it's all about having a good enough ear to hear what you're doing and the patience to adjust the settings for each and every vocalist.

I HATE going to Karaoke shows where the host never adjusts anything but the volume. Each disk and each vocalist needs to be tweaked in the high, mid and low ranges of the sound. Some people have very shrill voices where you have to cut a lot of treble out, while others have very bassy voices that need less bass, more treble, less mid. The trick is learning how to adjust each vocalist within the first verse and chorus of each song so you can still mingle with the audience and work the room.

Doing a show RIGHT is work, but done right, you can earn what you're worth and not even worry about being undercut. We've kept going no matter how many other systems have tried to knock us out. QUALITY QUALITY QUALITY!!!!