Karafun Questions

[WYOMikeG]

Hello everyone!

I did my best to make sure no one covered this already in a previous thread, but here goes.

I am looking into starting a mobile karaoke business, so naturally came here for information. I helped a friend with a quick set up for a party he was having, and ended up using Karafun for the night. It seemed like an ok program, although there was a long loading time if the songs were community based rather than from Karafun itself? I guess? Either way, this deterred me from wanting to use this in my futures business, although I did see that you can sync the entire library offline, which may help. What I DO like is that it's legal, and I will be at private venues and also in some bars, so I will need everything to be legitimate as far as legality goes. What I don't like is being at the mercy of an internet connection, especially if I am out in the boonies and have terrible connectivity.

My other option is to have a hard drive loaded with purcahsed MP3+Gs and ran through a KJ software. I have read a lot of opinions of different KJ softwares for playing MP3+G files, but the bigger question I would have is if anyone has a really good source for legal MP3+G purchasable libraries? I looked into chartbusters and even though they are no longer in business, apparently they still sell SD cards with their licensed music. I would be looking for a large library rather than purchasing a song at a time. I also have considered having a mix of the two; having a fallback hard drive to use if karafun is having issues. I'm sure most of these questions will be figured out after a couple gigs, but for me it just helps to know where my initial investment in the company would be the most beneficial. This of course excluding the P.A. and lighting systems which I already own.

Thanks in advance

[DanG2006]

If you really want a good kj program that will quickly load both Subscription songs and hard drive songs. Look at Hoster. Yes loading the database can get harry because you need your songs in folders of 99 songs or less. And you have to make sure that the sings is in each folder are different from each other or in artist - title format and indicate the brand by selecting it before import.

[DanG2006]

If you really want a good kj program that will quickly load both Subscription songs and hard drive songs. Look at Hoster. Yes loading the database can get harry because you need your songs in folders of 99 songs or less. And you have to make sure that the sings is in each folder are different from each other or in artist - title format and indicate the brand by selecting it before import.

Also with KaraFun, unless you have a super strong internet connection that's 100% reliable you have to pay for the Professional subscription, 129 a month.
Hoster has a choice between Subscription and purchase from Party Tyme. They have a 48 hour subscription for those who either are in trial period and don't want to invest in the monthly Subscription. You really need to be sure you are going to be there a long time especially if it's your first gig. I wouldn't go for the monthly myself until after a couple of months into the show. Another advantage is that the song selection from the Subscription is downloaded to your hard drive for future use as long as the Subscription is active, meaning pa9id for at the time of the request. KaraFun won't do it until you actually play it meaning you still run the risk of buffering if your internet connection is poor.

[TuneTwisters]

If you are looking for a Karaoke program, look at "OpenKJ". It is a free karaoke program that is being built and updated every few weeks. It has lots of great features. You can either load you files into a zip folder and load the folder into the programme so no internet is required, or if you have good internet it also has the ability to buy songs on the fly. You can download music to a background folder and set it to play when there is no one singing. also you can load the home screen with either your own logo/name or have it flip through a set of slides when the background music is playing.
As well as there is a ticker tape the runs along the bottom of the screen giving a list of upcoming singers. It also has the ability to give you a file with your song list as a PDF to print your song books

When you down load "OpenKJ" you will also get a packet of KJ tools that will fix or zip you files.

And last, "OpenKJ" was built to work with the request app (The same guy rote both programs)
You can either set the app to work through the internet or Bluetooth.
This means no more request slips.

Now for your music
Look at "Zoom Karaoke", "Sunfly Karaoke" or "MR Entertainer"
They are all updated every month with new songs.

[DanG2006]

If you are looking for a Karaoke program, look at "OpenKJ". It is a free karaoke program that is being built and updated every few weeks. It has lots of great features. You can either load you files into a zip folder and load the folder into the programme so no internet is required, or if you have good internet it also has the ability to buy songs on the fly. You can download music to a background folder and set it to play when there is no one singing. also you can load the home screen with either your own logo/name or have it flip through a set of slides when the background music is playing.
As well as there is a ticker tape the runs along the bottom of the screen giving a list of upcoming singers. It also has the ability to give you a file with your song list as a PDF to print your song books

When you down load "OpenKJ" you will also get a packet of KJ tools that will fix or zip you files.

And last, "OpenKJ" was built to work with the request app (The same guy rote both programs)
You can either set the app to work through the internet or Bluetooth.
This means no more request slips.

Now for your music
Look at "Zoom Karaoke", "Sunfly Karaoke" or "MR Entertainer"
They are all updated every month with new songs.

If you look at the OP you will see that he's from the United States. So Forget Zoom, Sunfly and Zoom not legally available in the United States unless in disc form and they no longer make new discs.
OpenKJ is good if you're more interested in purchasing downloads and not Subscription. No manufacturer will work with open source software when dealing with Subscription services. But they do have their songshop that's built into OpenKJ. It's still good software though.
Music. look at Karaoke Version, download site for KaraFun, Party Tyme, SBI and Digitrax. You might want to check Sound Choice out as well even though it is a limited number of songs. Now offered for download.

[DanG2006]

For the us, Party Tyme, Digitrax and Sound Choice are the only true Professional songsites that are actually licensed for the Professional host. You are automatically covered through Party Tyme.net and you can actually pay for the rights through Sound Choice annually for a measly $25 a year.