What would you do if your karaoke night bartender hated karaoke and made mention of it to everyone that can hear him. He and his pals would rather sit and watch the sports channel.
His mouth and negativity are hurting the crowd size. Bad mouthing singers talent level.
Do you tell the bar owner to replace them with someone with a better attitude?
Do you just put up with it and hope thew crowd gets bigger?
Do you tell the bar owner to find another KJ?
Bartender hates karaoke.
I just do my job and deal with it. People who come to sing Karaoke aren't going to walk out because the bartender doesn't like Karaoke. He'll get his own bad rep by saying that to folks that are there for Karaoke and it will hurt his tips. I let the quality of my show speak for itself.
Case in point. I have a newer every week gig in a fairly new bar. I've played about 8 weeks there now and last week following the show (which wasn't terribly crowded) the cook who is the owner's brother, had some interesting things to say. He told me that he hates Karaoke and had actively lobbied against having Karaoke at their bar (obviouly he lost that fight). He went on to compliment my show and the quality of both how I run it and the equipment that I use. He told me in the last few weeks he's begun recommending Karaoke night at the bar to his friends and relatives.
My guess in your situation is that the Bartender's problem probably isn't even really with the Karaoke at all. He's probably working on a night he doesn't want to work or has some other issue and you're the lucky target of his angst. I'd probably mention it to the bar owner in a non-confrontational way (i.e. joke about it in passing or something) but wouldn't get too bent out of shape over it. Just do what you do and it'll take care of itself.
Case in point. I have a newer every week gig in a fairly new bar. I've played about 8 weeks there now and last week following the show (which wasn't terribly crowded) the cook who is the owner's brother, had some interesting things to say. He told me that he hates Karaoke and had actively lobbied against having Karaoke at their bar (obviouly he lost that fight). He went on to compliment my show and the quality of both how I run it and the equipment that I use. He told me in the last few weeks he's begun recommending Karaoke night at the bar to his friends and relatives.
My guess in your situation is that the Bartender's problem probably isn't even really with the Karaoke at all. He's probably working on a night he doesn't want to work or has some other issue and you're the lucky target of his angst. I'd probably mention it to the bar owner in a non-confrontational way (i.e. joke about it in passing or something) but wouldn't get too bent out of shape over it. Just do what you do and it'll take care of itself.
I tend to agree with letitrip; I would mention it to the owner in passing but continue your show. If nothing is done, and the bartender continues to bad mouth the singers to the point that it hurts the show, I would probably mention it again, not in such a jovial manner. If the situation remains the same after that, you would then need to decide if it is worth it for you to remain. Hopefully the owner will move the bartender to a different night.
Part of the problem is a problem that we all face and have to deal with. The crappy KJs that don't care about the quality of the show including their equipment are perpetuating the negative attitude toward karaoke.
Most of the reason for the karaoke hatred has to to with the screaming drunk crowd. I had a few last night from a nearby karaoke show. Totally trashed and wanted to sing Eminem songs and just act like jerks. I hope they hated my edited selection and don't come back. Point being, if they are a sample of the majority of the crowd that the other KJ draws, I would hate karaoke too.
A bartender with a big mouth voicing his dislike of karaoke will kill the crowd and all of your hard work. This situation is happening to a friend of mine. I herad it through the grapevine.
I personally would have to let the bar owner know that if there was not a change of bartenders that he can have a change of KJs. Because I know that the next KJ will face the same problems and will probably fail too.
Then the STUPID bar owner will be telling everyone that he tried karaoke and it didn't work. Not wanting or knowing that he had the ultimate resposibility for the failure because of his choice of bartender.
No bartender or waitress should be making negative statements about the business or the entertainment. And actually if the bartender is slow and people are complaining about not being able to get drinks in a timely manner or they tell me they always order doubles so they last longer, should something be said to the bar owner about his business killer?
Most of the reason for the karaoke hatred has to to with the screaming drunk crowd. I had a few last night from a nearby karaoke show. Totally trashed and wanted to sing Eminem songs and just act like jerks. I hope they hated my edited selection and don't come back. Point being, if they are a sample of the majority of the crowd that the other KJ draws, I would hate karaoke too.
A bartender with a big mouth voicing his dislike of karaoke will kill the crowd and all of your hard work. This situation is happening to a friend of mine. I herad it through the grapevine.
I personally would have to let the bar owner know that if there was not a change of bartenders that he can have a change of KJs. Because I know that the next KJ will face the same problems and will probably fail too.
Then the STUPID bar owner will be telling everyone that he tried karaoke and it didn't work. Not wanting or knowing that he had the ultimate resposibility for the failure because of his choice of bartender.
No bartender or waitress should be making negative statements about the business or the entertainment. And actually if the bartender is slow and people are complaining about not being able to get drinks in a timely manner or they tell me they always order doubles so they last longer, should something be said to the bar owner about his business killer?
You would think so....but in my years of experience with at least 100 different bar owners...THEY ARE IDIOTS.
I feel that my karaoke business and me are there to make the bar all the money they can make while I'm there.
A successful karaoke night takes many things to happen.
I don't need anyone undermining the hard work I am putting into that success. There are a ton of failure KJs out there. Of which I am not one. I don't appreciate being put into their catagory. There are many good and bad bartenders too. I have worked with both. From experience I am not going work with bad ones anymore. They are not going to hurt my reputation because they are jerks.
They all want to make tips. Shooting off your mouth about something they obviously have no knowledge of isn't going to help.
Do you honestly think that a bar owner is going to listen to the karaoke guy telling him how to run their business? I have more bar experience than most of these owners. I have seen every possible way they have hurt themselves with stupid mistakes. Help is hard to find today and they are just happy to have a warm body behind the bar. A bad bartender is worse than having none at all.
Have you seen many bar owners that actually bartend? I have seen very few.
If I am put in a situation with a jerk bartender hurting my hard efforts to build a crowd, the bar owner will be told that something will have to change.
Especially if the bar owner wants me to take a cut because of the low crowd numbers.
A jerk bartender is no better than a jerk patron or a jerk KJ. The jerks hurt business.
I feel that my karaoke business and me are there to make the bar all the money they can make while I'm there.
A successful karaoke night takes many things to happen.
I don't need anyone undermining the hard work I am putting into that success. There are a ton of failure KJs out there. Of which I am not one. I don't appreciate being put into their catagory. There are many good and bad bartenders too. I have worked with both. From experience I am not going work with bad ones anymore. They are not going to hurt my reputation because they are jerks.
They all want to make tips. Shooting off your mouth about something they obviously have no knowledge of isn't going to help.
Do you honestly think that a bar owner is going to listen to the karaoke guy telling him how to run their business? I have more bar experience than most of these owners. I have seen every possible way they have hurt themselves with stupid mistakes. Help is hard to find today and they are just happy to have a warm body behind the bar. A bad bartender is worse than having none at all.
Have you seen many bar owners that actually bartend? I have seen very few.
If I am put in a situation with a jerk bartender hurting my hard efforts to build a crowd, the bar owner will be told that something will have to change.
Especially if the bar owner wants me to take a cut because of the low crowd numbers.
A jerk bartender is no better than a jerk patron or a jerk KJ. The jerks hurt business.
letitrip wrote:I just do my job and deal with it. People who come to sing Karaoke aren't going to walk out because the bartender doesn't like Karaoke.
My guess in your situation is that the Bartender's problem probably isn't even really with the Karaoke at all. He's probably working on a night he doesn't want to work or has some other issue and you're the lucky target of his angst. I'd probably mention it to the bar owner in a non-confrontational way (i.e. joke about it in passing or something) but wouldn't get too bent out of shape over it. Just do what you do and it'll take care of itself.
If he is making fun of the singers and they hear him...they will leave and not come back.
If his miserable life sucks and he doesn't want to be there then he should quit. Trade nights with someone. The problem comes back to the tips. Can't make good tips on a Monday so I want to work Friday and Saturday even though I would rather be out partying with my buds looking for girls.
If he causes me to take a cut in pay? You will keep working just to keep the job and let your reputation take a big hit? I can work anywhere I don't need his crap. I just quit a 14 year old job, a 10 year old job and a 2 1/2 year old job in the last 2 months. I quit a job before over a bad bartender.
If I felt there was anything the Bartender could/would do that would affect my reputation and my show I might be concerned. But again, I let my work speak for itself. If someone who doesn't like Karaoke anyway bad mouths Karaoke, so what? Doesn't affect me and they don't typically run in the circles of the folks that enjoy Karaoke, so again, what do I care what he thinks.
Thing is I've been told countless times by folks who profess to hate Karaoke as a whole that they enjoy my shows. They like the fact that I have an audio engineer's knowledge so my rig sounds damn good, they like that people can sing the most current songs because I'm always adding them to my lists, they like that I actually have a personality and don't just sit in a corner in the shadows calling names out in a mono-drone. If you have a quality show and do your job right, even the bar tender that hates Karaoke will see that it's making him money so he'll deal with it.
Thing is I've been told countless times by folks who profess to hate Karaoke as a whole that they enjoy my shows. They like the fact that I have an audio engineer's knowledge so my rig sounds damn good, they like that people can sing the most current songs because I'm always adding them to my lists, they like that I actually have a personality and don't just sit in a corner in the shadows calling names out in a mono-drone. If you have a quality show and do your job right, even the bar tender that hates Karaoke will see that it's making him money so he'll deal with it.
The hater bartender is doing the most damage the days before you do your first night and then they can still do damage during the critical beginning weeks when you are trying to get people to come in.
During that critical time the bar owner is only looking at the cash register. That is how he will determine how good you are. He may not even be there on karaoke night. He may never hear the hater bartender spill his guts.
The cash register is his only guide.
And that all combines to hurt your reputation. And chase potentially good people away. And the bar owner will be making his keep you or let you go decision during this time.
During that critical time the bar owner is only looking at the cash register. That is how he will determine how good you are. He may not even be there on karaoke night. He may never hear the hater bartender spill his guts.
The cash register is his only guide.
And that all combines to hurt your reputation. And chase potentially good people away. And the bar owner will be making his keep you or let you go decision during this time.
Back to the bad KJs that are not helping "our" collective reputations.
A friend of mine told me about a local karaoke show he recently attended and won't go back to.
He said the crowd was totally out of control swearing on the microphones all night long and just acting like jerks.
The swearing part would mean that the songbook is unedited and the KJ let's anything go. The type of people that this attracts is the screaming drunks that everyone that HATES karaoke doesn't like. So as long as this type of KJ exists, so will our bad reputation.
A karaoke singer that was in last night told me about my competition on Sunday nights. The show is out of control and he said he has never been in a bar that has had more fights on a regular basis. Same unedited song book mentality. He was playing pool with a guy that had a visable gun in his pocket. He said he won't be going back there and he named sevral other shows that he quit going to.
NO WONDER THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE THAT HATE KARAOKE WHENEVER THERE ARE SO MANY KJS THAT COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT THEY PUT OUT.
Anything goes KJs are hurting all of us. Dragging down our pay structure.
A friend of mine told me about a local karaoke show he recently attended and won't go back to.
He said the crowd was totally out of control swearing on the microphones all night long and just acting like jerks.
The swearing part would mean that the songbook is unedited and the KJ let's anything go. The type of people that this attracts is the screaming drunks that everyone that HATES karaoke doesn't like. So as long as this type of KJ exists, so will our bad reputation.
A karaoke singer that was in last night told me about my competition on Sunday nights. The show is out of control and he said he has never been in a bar that has had more fights on a regular basis. Same unedited song book mentality. He was playing pool with a guy that had a visable gun in his pocket. He said he won't be going back there and he named sevral other shows that he quit going to.
NO WONDER THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE THAT HATE KARAOKE WHENEVER THERE ARE SO MANY KJS THAT COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT THEY PUT OUT.
Anything goes KJs are hurting all of us. Dragging down our pay structure.
I don't know bd, your world is a very different place from the one I live and work in. Uncensored songbooks = bar fights and concealed weapons????? Seriously??
As far as the singers, again your world is very different. At one of my regular shows, one of the most popular singers is a guy who sings "'Cuz I Got High" by Afro Man, a song I'm certain your esteemed moral authority would never allow to appear in your books. He doesn't sing well, he's usually drunk off his butt when he sings. The funny thing is, he gets a great reaction from everyone. The bartenders, my "serious singers" (to borrow your term) and even the people that I couldn't convince to sing in a million years love it when he does his thing.
On top of that, I get requests from folks all the time for me to sing BuckCherry's "Crazy B**ch". Again, people on all sides love it and I usually end up with people singing along and dancing. Just because I don't censor my songbook and impose my morals on other people doesn't mean I let anything go at my shows. I dare you to come to one of my shows and see what its like. I'm very open on this forum about my business. I have nothing to hide. You can find out where I am located, come see a show sometime.
As far as my reputation, no worries there either. The owners, managers and bartenders at my shows repeatedly recommend my services to their friends and business associates. I've had people come to my shows at bars and then hire me on the spot for their private parties. So at risk of tooting my own horn here a bit, I'm pretty happy with my reputation.
I also know a couple other KJ's, some of whom are visitors of this forum, that like me choose not to play morality police at their shows. They deliver a professional and quality product and themselves have solid reputations. I've yet to see any first hand evidence of the supposed perils of uncensored song books that you preach.
As far as the singers, again your world is very different. At one of my regular shows, one of the most popular singers is a guy who sings "'Cuz I Got High" by Afro Man, a song I'm certain your esteemed moral authority would never allow to appear in your books. He doesn't sing well, he's usually drunk off his butt when he sings. The funny thing is, he gets a great reaction from everyone. The bartenders, my "serious singers" (to borrow your term) and even the people that I couldn't convince to sing in a million years love it when he does his thing.
On top of that, I get requests from folks all the time for me to sing BuckCherry's "Crazy B**ch". Again, people on all sides love it and I usually end up with people singing along and dancing. Just because I don't censor my songbook and impose my morals on other people doesn't mean I let anything go at my shows. I dare you to come to one of my shows and see what its like. I'm very open on this forum about my business. I have nothing to hide. You can find out where I am located, come see a show sometime.
As far as my reputation, no worries there either. The owners, managers and bartenders at my shows repeatedly recommend my services to their friends and business associates. I've had people come to my shows at bars and then hire me on the spot for their private parties. So at risk of tooting my own horn here a bit, I'm pretty happy with my reputation.
I also know a couple other KJ's, some of whom are visitors of this forum, that like me choose not to play morality police at their shows. They deliver a professional and quality product and themselves have solid reputations. I've yet to see any first hand evidence of the supposed perils of uncensored song books that you preach.
Maybe I'm in an area that just happens to be surrounded by a few hundred jerk KJs. But that is the majority of my competition.
I know the local bars this singer was talking about. Several different KJs work these bars. I have heard many wild stories for many years from many different people.
I choose not to run a show where people will need to pack guns because of jerk patrons. Something is fueling these places. Now it could be bar owners that don't care. It could be bartenders that over serve. But the one common denominator with all of these, is a Jerk KJ that allows anything to go. And the crowd they attract because everyone is allowed to act like out of control 3rd graders.
I play to a mature crowd that knows how to act in public. The above described KJs are hurting our reputation and it's what the majority of people that hate karaoke think it is because this is all they have every seen at karaoke.
Yes I would like to change the public preception of "screaming drunk" karaoke as being considered the norm. It hurts how much money we make.
I know the local bars this singer was talking about. Several different KJs work these bars. I have heard many wild stories for many years from many different people.
I choose not to run a show where people will need to pack guns because of jerk patrons. Something is fueling these places. Now it could be bar owners that don't care. It could be bartenders that over serve. But the one common denominator with all of these, is a Jerk KJ that allows anything to go. And the crowd they attract because everyone is allowed to act like out of control 3rd graders.
I play to a mature crowd that knows how to act in public. The above described KJs are hurting our reputation and it's what the majority of people that hate karaoke think it is because this is all they have every seen at karaoke.
Yes I would like to change the public preception of "screaming drunk" karaoke as being considered the norm. It hurts how much money we make.
I don't believe it is the songs you have available, more the type of clientel the bar draws. If the bar draws a rowdy crowd there will be problems with fighting, if not, there won't be.
I have an unedited song book and we run a family show. I have yet to have to stop a song with "adult" lyrics because children were present. Customers know it's a family show and respect that.
The bar where we go to sing has the occasional fight (perhaps one a year) and they do not have an edited song book. Most of the folks sing oldies, country and some of the current rock, even though the other songs are available. Any trouble is squelched very quickly (the KJ used to be a pro-wrestler) and the offending parties are 86'd. The bar owner does not allow that type of behavior in his bar.
I think it has nothing to do with the songs available and everything to do with the atmosphere of the place and what is allowed.
I have an unedited song book and we run a family show. I have yet to have to stop a song with "adult" lyrics because children were present. Customers know it's a family show and respect that.
The bar where we go to sing has the occasional fight (perhaps one a year) and they do not have an edited song book. Most of the folks sing oldies, country and some of the current rock, even though the other songs are available. Any trouble is squelched very quickly (the KJ used to be a pro-wrestler) and the offending parties are 86'd. The bar owner does not allow that type of behavior in his bar.
I think it has nothing to do with the songs available and everything to do with the atmosphere of the place and what is allowed.
