Songs?

[Lonman]

Originally Posted by kedmison

I started KJing part time back in 2000. Semi-retired from it in 2008. I just checked my records and since 2000, I have bought 1,044 discs. Paid $18,510.31 for those discs and have 11,328 songs (no duplicates) in my Hoster data base. Makes my stomach turn when I hear of those 250,000 songs!

But I'm not looking back over my shoulder either!

Kelly

But again figure probably 80% of their music will NEVER be used (foreign language and lots and lots of fluff) - maybe 500 songs will get done semi regularly (60 songs done in an avg 4 hour night), and they have MASSIVE duplication factors. In some of the places that i've seen that actually had a book with that size advertised, they had nearly every song dup'd 2-3 times each and a good majority dup'd massively (at least 10), who needs 20 copies of Friends In Low Places or 30 copies of The Rose? The high number is very common on the more popular songs that all manus would produce for their own core.

[Skybird74]

But I'm not looking back over my shoulder either!

Kelly

That's what scared me! I told people for 2 years around here not to advertise if they had 100,000+ songs or they were just asking for trouble. Everyone said I was just being paranoid. Sure enough, SC finally made it to Fla. and into our area last year. They made the rounds going from place to place & put 6 KJs out of business who didn't own a single disk. I have a few songs that friends asked me to copy from their disks just so they didn't have to carry it with them every week. So even though I only have a few songs like that, I was still concerned.

[Lonman]

Originally Posted by Skybird74

I have a few songs that friends asked me to copy from their disks just so they didn't have to carry it with them every week.

As long as your copies w/o discs don't go over 2% of your library (in case of an audit). If you got named, they'd still make you delete those. If over that mark, be prepared to pay.
Best thing is to see if you buy those same songs/versions for yourself or see if you can actually buy the discs from the singer. I have many singers that have sold - even given me discs so they didn't have to carry them anymore.

[Skybird74]

Yes, I knew all that. Why do you do you think I warned everyone

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by Lonman

....or see if you can actually buy the discs from the singer. I have many singers that have sold - even given me discs so they didn't have to carry them anymore.

This is Florida. Singers come here from all over the country as well as from Europe, mostly Germany, year after year. They take their disks back home with them and sometimes don't have them the following year, and sing songs that no one else sings the rest of the year. Buying a disk to have 1or2 songs that only get sung while "snowbirds" are only here for the winter or just a couple weeks has not been cost-effective. Also,some of these songs I've had for 15 years already and they are no longer available for purchase.

[Musicman51]

Never counted how many songs i have, no need to....thats crazy i don't really care how many songs i or others have. But i'd estimate around oh..counting my video disc and all..i'd be lucky if i hit 6,000 or so. And that includes all my dupes. If a singer request a current song out on the radio right now, or one thats really popular like "Red Solo Cup", i'll pick it up. Other wise, here's the book, find a song, sing it, or move outta the way for the next singer please. I never see just how many singers i can get up at any given time. All my customers get a chance to sing, most at least twice...it works

[RandyMcCharles]

I have slowed down buying disks and begun buying individual songs from places like Karaoke-Version.com They are pretty good quality and only $3 a song. It is rare these days that I can find a $20 disk with more than 2 songs I want.

[tkelley3]

I currently have 18,875 songs (from Hoster create song book). Yes, there are many duplicates but my "book" does not have a single duplicate (unless it is by a different artist). My book is a 3" D ring binder and I have my songs listed as Artist and Song. I use Kinko to print my books and I take 8 of them to my shows. I OWN every single song in my show and I have a code that I live by: I will not offer a song to be played unless I own it. Sure this is expensive but then this is a business as well. I report every dime I get to the IRS so I don't have to "look over my shoulder" ever. I too have had people "give" me the original disks and then I consider them mine. There are cut-rate KJ's that have so many "hot" songs who are killing the KJ business. I have a great time doing shows and really enjoy singing. (I have a rule that if there are more than 5 singers in the rotation then I do not sing.) On slow days I have a blast.

[Musicman51]

tkelley3...... you sound like my kinda host. Good luck on all your shows. I just know with your wonderful attitude and honesty you will have great success in your endeavors. Be sure to check out all the other wonderful software that MTU offers. You can create custom disc, that no other kj will have. During this political season, i have made several parody cdg's for my friends on both sides of the isle. It's fun, entertaining, and get's the word out, that you are a great host. MTU products are the industry state of the art....period. Best of luck

[Flipeoke]

According to kjpro.com online database, there are 413,905 songs in their database, as of March 2012. This includes duplicates, but chances are if its available in a karaoke format, it is listed in their database. They seem to be pretty accurate whenever I need to check to see if a song is available on Karaoke. The free online database is a great tool when I'm shopping for new songs.

[admin]

Originally Posted by Lonman

But again figure probably 80% of their music will NEVER be used (foreign language and lots and lots of fluff) - maybe 500 songs will get done semi regularly (60 songs done in an avg 4 hour night), and they have MASSIVE duplication factors. In some of the places that i've seen that actually had a book with that size advertised, they had nearly every song dup'd 2-3 times each and a good majority dup'd massively (at least 10), who needs 20 copies of Friends In Low Places or 30 copies of The Rose? The high number is very common on the more popular songs that all manus would produce for their own core.

Lonman asked us to add an automatically created report holding every song played at each show (cumulative until you delete or rename the report).

Hoster 5.06 contains this report, which is found at:
C:\MTU\Hoster\PlaylistTracking.csv

It is in .csv format so you can open it directly in Excel or Access to format and print reports the way you want.

I expect you will find over a year no more than 500 DIFFERENT songs were played.