Internet, downloading, and karaoke

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by swany

www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com(website address x'ed out by Sam) They make custom disks at $1 per track all soundchoice. I would think they would be out of business if doing something wrong. But you make the list of songs you want and you don't have to pay for something you don't.

I know for a fact Sound Choice will not release songs to custom burn sites untill the songs are at least a couple months old.
They have songs released by SoundChoice just a couple of weeks ago which proves they are pirates

Why they and others like them are permitted to remain in business is the subject of much speculation on different karaoke forums.

At somepoint, someway, someday, they will get theirs . When they do go down I wouldn't want my name and address in their database.

Sam

[George]

The price alone tells you what's going on. $1.00 a song for S.C.and making a profit on that...get real.

George

[mindonstrike]

Kxxxxxxxxxxxxm is making a profit however Sound Choice, the songwriters, the publishers and all the honest KJ's are being robbed.


It's very patheticly ironic that they have a copyright notice on their website.

Sam

[swany]

Originally Posted by George

The price alone tells you what's going on. $1.00 a song for S.C.and making a profit on that...get real.

George

Don't really know if they are legal or not never bought anything from them and will wait and see, so far they have been in business for quite some time. However the $1 per track is not that far from what I'm paying a local music business for my CDGs, most of the custom makers are charging $5 per track and that includes CB and SC last CB I bought I paid $17 for out the door with 15 tracks on it. A custom CDG at $5 per track would have been over $75 and that my friends is why these people are doing business. When SC and the other majors offer custom CDGs for a much smaller fee, that woud put them out of business for good. Which is what they should do instead of trying to get them in court which would take years and may never get them. I being one that would cheer the manufacturers if they would. I've been buying a lot of my stuff from Wal-Mart and at $9.72 for ten songs is not that bad and the quality seems to be right up there. Long as I need new music, I'll buy quality if it means I have to buy SC or CB but if Wal-Mart has the same songs for $8 less well that means I'll do my grocery shopping as well. Hey everybody havin fun yet? Sure hope so, with my last statement do say a prayer for all of our friends expecting that ornery lady Hurricane Rita. Take care and have fun. Swany

[Karaoke Meister]

I have a number of discs I've purchased at Wal-Mart, Fred Meyers, and a variety of other department and music stores.

Among these discs I've found a lack of quality in most of the discs and have avoided them like the plague because of this.

What brands do I avoid?
K-Tel (no lead in or splash screens on the song - it just 'starts')
Sybersound - sound quality is lacking
- the exception is the Original Artists series for Motown
and plenty of others.

What discs do I still puchase there? Only 2.
Priddis
Karaoke Bay

I've found both of these brands to be above average in quality - rivaling the quality of SC and CB in some cases.

But just because I can get 1500 songs for $100 doesn't mean I'd use them in a show. I actually paid less than $100 for my SGB collection and I had at least 1 disc I couldn't use (SGB 23) and a number that lacked in quality to the point I needed to replace them a short time after purchase. I now limit my purchases to SC, CB, PHM, THM, KaraokeBay, Priddis and a few overseas companies. I'm more concerned with QUALITY than anything else at my shows. Especially when my competition is using SAV-A and SAV-P that sometimes don't scroll the graphics, and have all sorts of other problems. I can't wait to get to that town (I'm about to move) and show the people there what a REAL karaoke show is supposed to be like. You know, one where $7 doesn't get you bumped up 5 spaces and $10 doesn't get you singing next. One where they don't use a cheap consumer player and lousy mics with short cables. One where they actually have effects and know how to use them.

[jimbo]

The only problem with buying karaoke music downloads is that it's just the audio, no graphics. Now, if a person wanted to invest a little money to save some money, they would just buy MTU's KHPro and download the $ .88 karaoke songs from Walmart and do their own graphics.
Now for the legalities---
1) Don't know how the publishers would feel about this though, because you don't have a sync license to do such a thing.
2) Are you adding to or enhancing a previously copyrighted work?
3) Is it for personal use or commercial use?


Jim

[Karaoke Meister]

Generally they'll be REAL upset that you did this - especially if it's for commercial use.

No license for synching the graphics, no mechanical reproduction license to affice the song, no master use license to use the orginal recording. This is a law suit waiting to happen and you won't just loose - you'd get HAMMERED.

You 'might' get away with it if it's a parody, but using their music isn't going to fly. 'Could' you get away with it? Sure, but creating the timing and such for the music is more pain than just buying the tracks to begin with. Think about it. 88 cents per track for the music is about $14 per disc with 16 tracks and I can buy sound choice spotlight discs for just over $16 each online in the mortar set. My time is worth MUCH more than $2 - espcially since it would take an hour or more PER SONG to put the lyrics on and getting the timing down.

[jimbo]

Exactly!
Now what about all those who take the midi files and record their own version and sync it? Same problem legally. No licensing has been aquired. Even a parady would REQUIRE licensing. The original writer of the music is entitled to their fees.


Jim

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by jimbo

The only problem with buying karaoke music downloads is that it's just the audio, no graphics. Now, if a person wanted to invest a little money to save some money, they would just buy MTU's KHPro and download the $ .88 karaoke songs from Walmart and do their own graphics.
Now for the legalities---
1) Don't know how the publishers would feel about this though, because you don't have a sync license to do such a thing.
2) Are you adding to or enhancing a previously copyrighted work?
3) Is it for personal use or commercial use?


Jim

Where on the walmart site do they have instrumentals. All I can find is new-age stuff. I've hunted all over the internet for instrumental tracks for sale or to commission someone to do a few. All I've found is a few sites in the UK with few premade instrumentals I'm interested in and custom mades seem to START at about $80. (a little to rich for me right now).

I've made a few songs in KPRO with devocalized tracks and they are so-so OK, but I'd really like to do some professional quality stuff.

Sam