How to Lose A Job

[Bigdog]

I got a call the other day from one of my semi-semi regular singers.....she started bartending at the previously mentioned smoking bar. They have a karaoke guy now that has a very dry personality.

Almost like he's strictly business and don't bother me..I sat there and watched.....no crowd interaction at all.

Bob you're up.....Bill you're up....he just sat behind the computer. The girl that called also said he was lazy and didn't really want to mix anyone.

Well she wants me in there because I'm so much fun. and she wants to make money.

Long story short, I went down to talk to the bar owner. He didn't like the fact that the KJ sang...I told him there are many reasons for a KJ to sing and the most important of those was to keep the nonsingers entertained and interested. He still doesn't think KJs should sing......Guess what he's been in the bar business 11 years....I've been doing karaoke 21 years....you run the bar...I'll run the karaoke and we'll both make money.

Another thing he didn't like was....the KJ had no song books. If you wanted to sing you had to go up to him to do a search. That's a turn off to a lot of people including me as a singer.

The bar owner mentioned he wanted to be a country bar....well I don't do country...I will continue to sing rock/oldies songs and everyone else can sing country and there will be a broader blend of music with a little more variety for the nonsingers.

The good thing is the bar owner doesn't like or want swearing and that type of music even though it's all over 21.


Moral of the story....don't do LAZY man karaoke. And don't expect the bar owner to buy your double Jacks all night long.. He wants a sober KJ.

[The Lone Ranger]

Well there you have it sounds like a severe case of crappy karaoke. That happens when you have a host that either doesn't care about the show quality or is suffering burnout. If he is only doing it for the drinks and small change then there is really no incentive for him to do better. The big question then is the owner willing to pay the bucks to have a real KJ doing the show? Then it is all back on the KJ he has to sweat getting the crowd in to justify the increased cost of entertainment. Sometimes it takes awhile to turn something like this around depending on how far into the ground the other host has driven the venue. One thing you have going for you is a hungry bartender sometimes that is better than the best equipment. A good bartender can make or break a host, and to have one that wants you is a definite plus. This other KJ has broken two of my four rules.

1. Don't be lazy.

2. Don't be greedy.

3. Don't drink on the job.

4. Don't use the show as your personal dating service, and try to hit on everything in sight.

Just one other thought it is ok to mix but sometimes the host can over do it. I had one host that kept adjusting his mixer while the singer was performing, needless to say the singers didn't like it. Usually I know my patrons fairly well and know where to adjust the mixer before the music starts.

[DanG2006]

Not to mention that no songbooks, unless they are using a kiosk, is a sign of a pirate operation. Bigdog if you took the show away from him, good job.

[wiseguy]

I too believe that the KJ shouldn't sing unless it's absolutely necessary. My job is to get the crowd to entertain themselves and I always put the singers first. Taking singing time away from them is not in their best interest.

Most KJs I know hold a "set it and forget it" position when it comes to adjusting the sound. I make specific settings for certain singers but beyond that I only adjust the music to microphone volume ratio until I learn more about a particular singer. I never fool with the settings while someone is singing.

I drink at all my shows and have for over twenty years. My primary objective is to become one of the crowd... to fit in and not be the stiff stranger hiding behind some equipment. I never get drunk... ever. I have a few drinks throughout the evening and I don't turn down someone who offers to buy me a drink.

Not having song books is much more due to laziness or penny-pinching than piracy. You're displaying the song logos on a monitor which if far more telling than a book full of song titles. Besides, in the karaoke business the definition of "pirate" is "any KJ who isn't kissing the asses of the music manufacturers". Arrr!

[Bigdog]

Well this story just took a really strange twist....

The KJ happens to be related to me ex wife....now the story he tells and the one I was told are totally different...

And I'm starting to get the feeling the owner is a total ass that thinks he has all the answers about owning a bar and how karaoke should be run.

He told me the above mentioned story about the old KJ...

The story from the old KJ through my ex is....he was fired.....but the owner said he asked him to do an every other friday (he was also Djing saturdays) and when he didn't want the every other friday he quit everything. According to my ex...the guy hardly drinks...

The owner instead of hiring me to do every friday after he quit/got fired....hired some other KJ to do the every other Friday...I SMELL BIG TROUBLE COMING FROM THIS OWNER.

His reason....he gets tired of hearing and having the same people and same songs every week so he wants to change it up...I told him people like consistancy and does he change his burger recipe every other week?

So he's trying us both out at the same time....

11 years of bar owning vs 21 years of KJing.....who will win?

I asked him if the 30 year old KJ has an edited song book because the bar owner will not tolerate any swearing....say the F bomb and you're asked to leave...

He has some strange ideas...The new bartender claims he's very generous with his money offering up extra money if he has really good nights....

To put it mildly...I'm not having warm and fuzzy feeling about the future of this job.

My philosophy about the nonsingers has always been you need to keep them interested and the majority of singers really don't care about them as long as they can sing.....so that makes it my job to read the crowd and inject music to keep the majority of them around and interested and wanting to stay and come back again..

Since I play no filler music or dance music that leaves me holding the microphone....to entertain the nonsingers....because of the boring songs picked by the singers that are entertaining themselves...this has worked very well for me over 21 years...if the song selection picked by the singers is entertaining the nonsingers and there are enough singers I will back out of the rotation....but not at the expense of losing nonsingers from bordom...

I learned this from seeing enough people (nonsingers) over the years leave when certain people sing..they aren't staying if the singers you have are marginal talent wise...

The night I walked in to talk to the bar owner was a karaoke night.....a young couple walked in while I was parking....they came back out the door complaining to each other about the country music...perfect example of nonsingers reacting to song selections...

[The Lone Ranger]

That is one thing that has always bothered me about hosting Bigdog, after you have built up a reputation as a capable KJ everyone wants to tell you how to do your job. Not that input isn't helpful sometimes and adjustments need to be made. Still the venue owner is hiring you for your experience and ability to provide the service requested. Of course the bottom line is if you help their bottom line. Even if a host is successful and turns around a venue's fortune their is little loyalty on the part of the venue owner. When the owner finds a hack that is willing to do the job for less, he will try to save a buck, and in the process ruin the program you spent so much time establishing. The old situation of "what have you done for me lately". You will really have your hands full if you don't have the complete trust of the venue owner, before you start trying to build up the show. The bartender is still a plus for you. Good Luck.