Why have this Forum?

[Rickyokie]

Hi steve,
I don't seem to have any problem with my regulars in dealing with my rotation, however the newcomers or visitors from out of town don't get it, and sometimes get frustrated if not pissed off. Unfortunately for them, I don't back down. I look at it this way...I have a bar already full of people, if they don't like the way I run my show, I certainly don't need the grief of argueing with them, so I compile a list of ALL 50+ of the karaoke shows in the area and I give it to them and tell them which ones I think they would prefer.

I am not afraid of compitition. I have been in Tulsa for 8 years now and never lost 1 show to someone stabbing me in the back. Not that they haven't tried, they try to undercut me like any of them do...and it's easy to undercut me too, I get $250 on 3 nights a week and $200 on the other 7 nights, but they still get laughed out of the Bar. The people I work for know that my Company is a sure thing and I am extremely dependable.

As far as people bringing their own cdg's, yes it happens but not that much. I have 7,000 songs(NOT counting Dup's)in my BIG system and 4,000 in my Second system. I have most of the songs people want and they are not the cheap CDG's either. I also buy Top Hits Rock, Country, and Pop every month to keep up with the Top 10.

So when people actually do bring their own, it is usually because the like their version of the song, and that is fine with me...Because if they want me to use their CDG then it is less wear and tear on Mine, especially since It seems like I'm the only one NOT backing up My CDG's.

I have a page in my song books that I take out every month.
I make my own Books. they are on an Ibico Comb Binding system, it makes it easy to take out pages and put in updates.
It is a page where People can write down the songs that they want me to buy. I do my best to get them to make them happy...it keeps people coming back when they know you care about what they want!!

I buy New Music every month...2 Country, 2 Pop, 2 Rock and
2 70's-80's and I'll throw in an Oldies, Elvis or the Beatles now and again. Usually work out to be about 100 New songs a month.

It's a write off, what the Hell Make them Happy!

Rickyokie

[Norman]

Greetings to all:

4 Shows – Usually 30-40 Singers weekends and 20-30 Singers weekdays.

Rotations are very important, true. I manage my Rotations this way, which seems to work, so far.

I establish the 1st Rotation with no more than 15 singers. 2nd Rotation…new singers are inserted…one current, then, one new…if I get slammed, I insert two new singers after one current singer. Ultimate slam…I establish a complete row of 6-7 new singers, then continue with current list of singers...alternating rows of current and new until all new singers have been inserted. At any rate, all singers that were inserted (late arrivals) during the 2nd Rotation are, then, removed to the END of the original established 1st Rotation singers.

True, the first 15 singers will have to wait longer for their 2nd song during the 2nd Rotation, but, if they hold out, they will be rewarded with a 3rd song quicker, during the 3rd Rotation. All new singers arriving during the 3rd Rotation will be inserted with singers that were new during the 2nd Rotation, of course, depending on time and the actual point that I am in during that 3rd Rotation. If I am near the end…say within 5-7 singers of finishing the 3rd Rotation…all new singers will go at the end of all established singers.

1st Rotation - “EarlyBirds” - Singers arriving early will have preference.
2nd Rotation - “Late Arrivals” - Singers who arrive after the first Rotation get a song fairly quickly by having been inserted, but will lose this courtesy during the 3rd Rotation out of fairness to the “Early Birds.” Also, these singers will then understand what it feels like to have singers inserted among them to accommodate the “Bar Hoppers.”
3rd Rotation or Final Rotation - “Bar Hoppers” - Singers arriving 1 1\2 hours, or so, before closing will, absolutely, have to wait on the 1st Rotation singers and, in fact, may not get to sing.

Singers who do not support the bar (drinking water) will not have preference at any time.
Singers, who arrive late due to work related issues, will get preference.

KJ’s, you know your regulars.

[Wayne White]

The recent post here caused me to read this thread. Somehow I missed it in the past. In our town, other KJs start shows but, we usually end up getting called to do the shows once the initial crowd dies down. Our attendance gets better with time instead of dying off because customers are fed up with the KJ letting his friends sing all night. I don't solicite clubs that have a KJ already working there, but many people kill their own shows by inconsistency in the rotation, wanting to be 'the show' & favoritism. I read people in this thread saying they don't play favorites, but, then saying it depends on who it is that comes in late & what their reason is (just got off work etc.). If they don't get in, oh well. When you don't come into a club until an hour prior to closing, the reason doesn't matter. Unless a lot of singers go home early, you are probably not going to sing.

The front page of my books, has my advertisement on it, as well as where we are every night (10 regular weekly gigs currently).

The back of this page contains stuff like how to act at Karaoke shows. Turning in requests (we prefer Sing 1 - Bring 1). I don't think anything works better. You should just have to put the request on the bottom of the next rotation. We also explain how our rotation works. Everyone knows! We get asked to move people up & no excuse is good enough. I have read people who have implied it's only Karaoke, don't take it so serious. I don't know where all of you work, but, when the booze is flowing. it is serious. I tell people to rest assured that I am not moving anybody ahead of them either.

Sorry to be so long winded here. How we work a rotation is the same no matter which KJ is working, my phone # is on the books & the request slips. When I start getting calls from more than an occasional disgruntled singer, I discuss rotation with the KJ and they usually remember the night & we probably had 40+ singers & everyone was upset because they didn't get to sing as much as they thought they should - there is no fix for this - we have tried and everything we tried caused more problems that the original problem.

At the start of the night, we will add singers until it looks like it is going to get busy, no magic #, but we never start a new round if we never get down to less than 8 singers left in the rotation. In some clubs, we have had 1 round for the entire night. When we do start the second round, new singers that turn in requests are inserted in the round a minimum of 8 singers down, then we alternate new/old through the existing singers & everyone else ends up at the end of the first round singers. When we get to a third round, we do the same thing. This would put no more than 1 person between you and the person you sang after in the previous round.

We play a couple of dance tunes between rounds later in the evening (if we get requests for it). We do not play music between songs. Prior to Hoster (which is fantastic), we always used the DKK 5 disk carasel players. We also usually announce the 'on deck' singer so they can be making their way up (if they are paying attention). We usually have the microphone in the next singers hand before the outro of the previous song is finished. If not, we start their song anyway. If they didn't hear their name, hearing their song should get their attention. We re-start it when they get the microphone, if necessary.

Wayne White

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by George

As a non-dj I'd still like to thank admin for this forum(to which I'll likely not have much reason to post to.) It never hurts to gain a perspective on the problems facing others. Will be a mostly silent participant.

Thanks again admin. It is interesting

George

I was just going back to read some of the older posts.

mostly silent????????