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DJ Jamie, Offering DJ and Video (VJ) Services for Bars, Clubs, Weddings and Private Parties, in and around Long Island, NY. |
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Guide to Being a Computerized DJ and Karaoke Host
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Updated November 25th, 2011
Over the years I have been asked a lot of questions about how to convert to a computerized DJ system, computerized karaoke, and generally how to become a Karaoke Host and or DJ. While I am not an expert, I have a lot of information. I selflessly want to share it with you.
OK, the truth is, some bastard on eBay is selling how to manuals for a buck, and I just want to chap his ass!
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What is the law concerning Pirating and Licensing? |
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What makes a good DJ or KJ?
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Wow. What makes a good movie? What makes a good song?
People have different tastes in what is "good." In general, we can say a good DJ or KJ has an entertaining show, and if he or she is at a bar, gets a good crowd, which makes a lot of money for the bar.
How do you do that? I personally like to have high energy shows, where there is never dead air, people are encouraged to participate, and it just feels like something is always going on, never boring. I like to be a little vulgar, obnoxious, loud, insulting, and flirty. That may not be the best thing to bring to the old folks home, or a children's party. It is aimed at 20 somethings.
One of the ways I make my show work is to have control of my sound and equipment at all times. A Good DJ with bad equipment can become a bad DJ very quickly.
Some KJ's use props, like funny hats, some do trivia contests, or use any other number of gimmicks and games. Generally speaking, if the people come back week after week, you are doing a good job.
Since it is related, I also want to answer the question;
"What makes a good karaoke show?"
- The Host
- The Song Selection
- The sound
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What kind of equipment should I buy?
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The best you can afford!
The sound is one of the 3 things that makes a great karaoke show. If you can't hook up your home stereo and DVD player, just give up now. You need to be good at this, or there's no point!
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Speakers. I used to own nothing but JBL. Now I am using B-52 three-ways. Samson, Mackie, Black Widow, Cerwin Vega, Bose, they all make some nice stuff too, there are lots of great speakers out there, but these are the ones I personally recommend.
- JRX112 or JRX115 Speakers good for small rooms.
- B-52 SL-315 for medium sized rooms, your average bar.
- M-Pro for larger venues, outside venues.
- Eon G2 powered speakers for small to medium rooms, with built in amp!
- I very much want to buy a pair of QSC K-12's. These will be my next set of speakers.
- I use the QSC 3402.
- I have used and trust the Crown CE2000
- The Crown XLS602 is a pretty solid amp
- Denon. I love the Denon DNX500. This is my main mixer.
- Rane MLM 42 is what I use for my microphone mixing.
- Rane MP 44 Club Mixer. If I could afford it, this is what I would have.
- Behringer Virtualizer Pro - I like it a lot.
- A lot of people swear by the miniverb.
- I like the Shure Mics. They are relatively inexpensive, an SM58 is perfect for a show, it is directional, meaning you have to sing in to the top of the mic. That helps reduce feedback.
- I used to run Gemini Wireless mics, but they discontinued the model I liked, and the replacement crackles when someone gets too loud.
- I now Use the VocoPro 4 set of wireless mics, which is cheap, but does the job.
- I also have a Shure PGX2 With an SM58 head on it. This was very expensive, so I only let sober people I know are responsible use this mic.
- When buying wireless mics, always go with UHF, never ever VHF!
- If I could afford it, I would get all my mics from Sennheiser.
- Monster makes a decent cable, HOSA did too. The real reason you buy these two brands is that if you are fortunate enough to have a Guitar Center or even a Sam Ash around you, you can take a defective cable in, and walk out with a warranty replacement free!
- I really like Columbia DJ supply Which is now at http://www.getcit.com. They are more and more becoming my source for cables. Ask for Bobby.
- The industry standard is the JVC (or RSQ knock off) 3 drawer CDG player.
- I use a Numark CD25G dual player. It works better for me. Allows you to mix using CDs as well as karaoke. This is not a top of the line unit, but it is functional. You have to learn about pitch to change the key, since there is not a standard step-down pitch control, but a slider.
- Vocopro makes a lot of karaoke players, my experience with the one wasting away in my closet is that it is too slow to load a disk.
- If you plan on DJ'ing a lot, the Denon Dual CD players are awesome, though they don't play karaoke (yet), there are several models that play mp3 disks as well as standard CDs. I almost always used one of these in the strip clubs.
- There are lots of MP3 smart media players out there, Some have their own internal hard drives, some connect using USB, it gets crazy. Since I already have the computer for karaoke, I run my DJ music on the computer as well. If you are thinking of getting a smart media player, make sure you can try it out first, as they are expensive, and can be complicated to use.
This isn't a simple list. I built my own computer, using an Intel CPU, and motherboard. You will have to do what is best for you. I do have some recommendations though.
- Use separate hard drives for your operating system, karaoke collection, and DJ music.
- Get a Sound Card that supports multiple stereo outputs, like M-Audio, or Echo Audio.
- I stay away from the surround sound cards that say they can be used for multi stereo outs, like Creative Labs. I have never made them work, but you feel free to try.
- Don't forget a video card with an S-Video out for lyrics monitor.
Update: S-Video is all but dead. If your computer only has HDMI output, you may need to convert that signal to Component to connect to other TV's. I own an HDMI Scaler made by Atlona purchased at http://www.svideo.com/
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How much does it cost to start?
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Well. I have at least $13,000 in equipment alone, that I actively use. I have probably got another $5,000 worth that will go on eBay someday....
But you asked what it costs to start. I first started with a budget of $2,500 for my first system. I spent $5,000 before I had my first gig.
That was just on hardware.
The expense of music is enormous. If you want to have a collection encompassing all of the music ever made for karaoke, and to DJ, I would bank on about 15 to 20 thousand dollars for Karaoke Music.
UPDATE: Chartbuster is offering 6,000 and 12,000 song collections on USB Hard Drives, already named and ready to play, and they are going CHEAP! You have to call to get pricing, but you can get the 12K song pack in the Neighborhood of $3,999 with a financing plan, and they may give you an even better price of you pay for it all up front. This is not EVERY song ever, but when I looked through the collection about half a year ago, it was very good, encompassing many of the classic favorites as well as relatively new music. You will still have to buy new stuff to get the collection up to date, but it is a very cost effective way to start.
I have to admit, I get a kickback if you decide on the deal above. If you decide to purchase the Song Pack from Chartbuster, please be sure to tell them you were referred by Jamie Deitchman. Let me know as well, if you decide to purchase. Thanks!
Sound Choice Now has a licensing deal where for approximately $4,500, you can license 6000 songs for 4 years, and renew for about $100 a year. I personally think the Chartbuster Deal is better, however, Sound Choice is slightly more of a favorite among karaoke singers. Last I checked, you have to agree to have your collection audited once a year to be eligible for this agreement.
If you look on Craigslist and eBay, there are always people selling hard drives full of music and karaoke. This is illegal. You've been warned.
Now, if you don't want to DJ, we can cut a huge chunk out of your costs right there, now can't we? You can also save money by buying collections on eBay, when people are getting rid of entire collections. You end up buying the same disks over and over, and putting the duplicates back on eBay.
You also will want to subscribe to Top Hits Monthly (or Pop Hits Monthly, same thing) for all the new stuff that comes out every month. Top Hits Monthly can also be found in your local karaoke store. Promo Only is a service that does the same thing for DJ's. You can find them all online.
Update: Chartbuster has gotten very good at releasing new hits every month, but be careful, there is a lot of duplication between series of disks, so do your research!
Still, count on at least $5,000 to $10,000 for a complete karaoke collection. You can try to pear that down by only going with one manufacturer, like Sound Choice, and getting every disk they ever made. If you order them all at once, you MIGHT be able to convince your supplier to give you a deal.
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What software do you recommend?
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I kept this separate from the hardware and costs for a reason. I have only used one karaoke player since I began, and I have never found a reason to switch. Prices are all over the place for music players too.
Sax and Dottys Karaoke Hoster. It is a homegrown program created by a karaoke host. It plays Mp3 + G files that have been zipped together. It costs about $68, and is well worth every penny! The program uses the winamp engine, and some free plugins, to play the karaoke.
There are other karaoke players, but I don't bother with them.
For DJ'ing, I have tried several programs. PCDJ is very big in the DJ world, but I have had stability issues with it. There are plenty of DJ's that love it, and never had a single hiccup. Virtual DJ is cool if you might want to mix video at some point.
I use Traktor DJ studio, version 2. At the time I write this, Version 3 is out, but I just don't like it as much. Maybe I'm just resistant to change.
I am also using Virtual DJ (Only when I am DJ'ing, not to fill in karaoke's dead-air), which is pretty good, it has two important features that Traktor doesn't, it plays video, and in auto-mode, it can eliminate silence commonly found on the beginning and end of MP3's. Virtual DJ will also play Karaoke files. This could be an all in one solution.
To rip your Music CDs and Karaoke CDs to MP3 or MP3+G, I use and recommend Audio Grabber. It's Free!
KJ Pro is software to create karaoke books, which is updated every month with new disks available from the different manufacturers. Not all inclusive, but really good. Good way to find what disks you want to buy as well, using the lookup feature.
CD+G Autoname - Must have KJ Pro installed to make this program work. It uses the KJ Pro database to help automatically name files on your computer, as long as they are named with the manufacturer code, disk, track format. So if you used Audiograbber to rip your Sound choice, disk 8805, all tracks, CD+G Autoname will rename it automatically filling in the artist and title.
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Let me start by saying, I don't recommend the karaoke business to anyone who is not passionate about karaoke. The expense is very hard to recoup, and it is extremely hard to make ends meet as a KJ.
But how much can you make? Well that depends on a number of things.
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The area you are in. Bigger the city, the more it costs to live there, the more you can ask for.
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How good you are. How big your "following" is.
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What night of the week is it?
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Private Party or Recurring Bar gig? Recurring Gigs pay less, but at least you think they will always be there. Private Parties pay premiums!
You need to ask around, find out how much local hosts get paid. In Ft. Lauderdale, most hosts are working for $150 to $200 per night in bars, and charge $100 to $125 per hour for private parties.
In smaller communities, you may start at $75 or $100 a night for the bars, and not find anyone able to pay more than $50 an hour for private parties.
I've heard stories of KJ's in big cities, like NY and Orlando who make 3 or 4 hundred a night at bars, or even more. If you hear of the name of the bar, please e-mail it to jamie@djjamie.com. Hehehe.
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Which karaoke manufacturer do you like?
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Wow. There are so many. In alphabetical order;
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Back Stage - A lot of old timers like these, they were one of the first to make disks with songs from a single performer.
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Chartbuster - Currently the Leader in Karaoke Music, they provide quality music, and get new stuff out quickly. **Chartbuster has made it very easy to start a show** See Below!
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Dangerous - Don't have a lot of experience with Dangerous, but "you oughta know" is better than even the sound choice version.
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DK - A lot of older karaoke regulars live and die by DK. I love their version of "You've lost that lovin feelin" better than any other.
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Legends - Another favorite of old timers. Some very good stuff.
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Sound Choice - SC used to be the leader in karaoke music, their versions of songs are often the "best" based on similarity to original and actual sound quality. Their disks are usually reliable, but expensive. They have not released new songs in over a year (As of November 2011)
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StarDisk - I used to consider them low quality, but they are getting good at producing new hits fast.
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SunFly - At the time I write this, they are often the first to have a current or recent song available
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Sweet Georgia Brown - ugh. The tool kit was OK, but some of their stuff is horrible. The Weird Al disk is exceptionally bad. I stay away from it, but sometimes your singers ask for it. I don't know why. I wouldn't spend any kind of money on SGB.
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Top/Pop Hits Monthly - Decent Quality, usually reliable, They get new stuff out fast. Every month, in fact.
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Zoom - I love zoom. pricey, but they put out some good stuff. They can be the only manufacturer to produce some of our favorites, but less popular songs, like Eagles - Wasted Time.
There are a bunch of "cheap" disks, that are out there, All Hits, Karaoke Bay, Etc.. Take em or leave em. There are more I didn't list, but these are the ones I have the most experience with.
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Carefully. Very Carefully.
Nothing ticks off karaoke regulars like thinking or feeling they are getting screwed out of their turn at singing. I use a modified version of the sign-up rotation method described by Steve Hess at www.karaoke-america.com under "fun stuff ". (Don't forget to list any new show you get at this website as well!)
The sign-up method works like this. You have a sheet of paper. Singers are allowed to put only one song on the page. As soon as they sing that song (or right before they sing it), they may put another one on.
This sounds simple, but there are some subtle yet very good advantages to this method.
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For starters, no one can accuse you of cheating them out of their turn.
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It prevents people from "hoarding" all their favorite songs by giving you more than one at a time.
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If someone doesn't want to sing anymore, they just stop putting their name/song down.
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There is no longer a rotation with a beginning and end. The list can change, and people will go in different orders if they don't sign up in the same order.
There are some disadvantages as well.
If you like to play favorites, you simply can't. You shouldn't be playing favorites, but there are a few times *I* let people skip ahead of the rotation,
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People who spend a lot of money at the bar.
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People who pay to get moved ahead
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Underage singers, who have to leave before the bar's cutoff time for minors. (usually not a problem, because it's usually near the beginning of the show)
There is one firefighter who comes to my shows, and every once in a while he buys 40 (yes, forty) shots, and treats the bar, or a big portion of it, to a free drink. He gets to sing right after that, or two in a row, or whatever he wants. (only on those nights he buys the shots though)
Basically, I use the signup method described above, but instead of making people put their own name on a sheet, and try to decipher their writing, I just do it myself on my computer. Open a text file, put the names on, and when a new singer asks for a song, put their name ABOVE the current singer. Then continue DOWN the list. Everyone has to wait one rotation.
If you just add names to the bottom, then people who walk in near the beginning of the rotation wait and wait, and people who walk in near the end will magically get to sing almost immediately. That's not fair. If you try to work new people in every other singer, the people who have been there all night SUPPORTING YOU FOR HOURS will have to wait longer than new people. That's not fair. If you have people come in at the end of the night, because they just got out of work, or left another show, and you let them sing, you just made their one drink before closing time worth more than the ten drinks the people who were there all night had less meaningful.
No matter what you do, someone will be pissed off, and you can never make everyone happy. Do your best, and be sure not to play favorites. And for god's sake, don't sing more than anyone else.
I have an additional rule about rotation. If a singer wants to help their friend, that's fine. But you can only sing twice per rotation. That means if you sing a duet with your brother, and help your best friend sing their song, I will skip YOUR song. Someone wants to see you on stage more than twice per rotation. But not as much as they want to see themselves.
If it is obvious one person is only singing to "double-up" someone else's chances to sing, I'll ask them if they think it is fair to everyone else.
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- The best way to get private gigs is to be out and about where people can see you play. They have Weddings coming up, or know someone planning a birthday party. If you are fun at the bar, they figure you'll be fun in their back yard.
- Standard advertising, yellow pages, newspapers, local music magazine. These may or may not work.
- The Internet! There are dozens of web sites dedicated to taking your money in return for adding you to their humongous list of other DJ's and KJ's. I think they are all run by one guy, who uses keywords to make one go high on the search engine lists, then four months later purposely tanks the keywords, stops paying for placement, and starts a new list, which is magically at the top of the search engines lists! You join up on the new one, with a new fee, of course.
- Do searches for things like "karaoke nassau county" or "karaoke Atlanta" to see local results. Try to advertise in the top city guides or lists.
- Footwork. Yep, get yer ass out on the street, print out some business cards, and give them to the owners and managers of every bar everywhere. Then pray.
- Tell everyone you know, or meet, what you do. Other DJ's, Bands, waitresses, bus-drivers, work it in to every conversation with a stranger, and you never know, the person at the next table may just know (or be) the owner of a bar. Because that person may be a bar owner, don't give away pricing secrets or any kind of leverage, in your conversations.
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How do I download music or karaoke?
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Downloading music is bad. You are going to hell!
I realize you may hold a different opinion than I do, about downloading music. But the truth of the matter is this, they caught that little girl downloading "twinkle, twinkle, little star" and sued her family.
What do you think they'll do to someone who is MAKING PROFIT from stolen property? They'll go out of their way to make an example of you, and try to get the max fines as well. If you own a home, or have a real job, is it worth losing those? Because the amount of time you'll spend in court will cost you your job, and the lawyers will take your house.
But if you wanted to do it, which you shouldn't, well, the methods for downloading music change all the time, Limewire, Kazaa, Napster, Bit Torrent, Whatever.
There are far, far fewer places to download karaoke. And I will tell you how to find them if you buy my book, for only $74.99!
Just kidding, I don't have a book.
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What is the Law concerning Pirating and Licensing? |
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OK, by popular demand, let's delve into what Pirating actually is, legally.
The very first thing you need to know is I am not a lawyer, this information is based on my understanding of the law, and is no substitute for getting a lawyer.
There are two parts of the law that relate to Music, Karaoke, and Video. The first is Copyright, and the second is Trademark.
Copyright Law in the United States heavily favors the Publishers, Composers, and Rights owners of music. (And movies, software, games, photos, etc)
Basically, Copyright says that for an extremely long time after it is published, a creative work can only be made available commercially by the Rights Holder. No one else is allowed to recreate it, use it, or sell it without permission (known as licensing). There is an exception to this, known as Fair Use, which covers things like educational use, parodies, and some other specific purposes. As a DJ or Venue that plays music or Karaoke, you never actually "own" the music you pay for. You own the disk it comes on, but the right to play it in public needs to be licensed separately.
Licensing Music for Public Performance
The Venue that hires entertainment is legally responsible for obtaining licensing to play music in their establishment. The only time they don't need to pay for licensing is if the only music played there is original. So original bands are cool, as long as they never play a cover song. Everyone else needs to get licensed, whether it's Karaoke, DJ, Bands, whatever. (Exception: I've heard Satellite Radio may not need to be licensed. If you decide to go this route, please verify with a lawyer.)
So, since most places want to hear music people actually know, let's assume you are playing popular music. There are Three major Associations that license music in the US. They are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. If a bar get's a Jukebox through a dealer, the dealer automatically applies for licensing for the Jukebox from the big 3, and this is how they know when a new Restaurant or Bar has opened. They will send an investigator to see if the bar has entertainment, and soon after the owner of the bar gets a letter saying "pay up or else". The license for the Jukebox DOES NOT COVER other music in the venue.
The amount of the licensing fee is based on the capacity of the bar, the kind of music (DJ, Band, Karaoke, Video), and the number of nights music is played. This Fee is the responsibility of the owner of the Venue, and NOT the entertainment. Unless the owner is a jerk and tries to make you split it with them.
Pirated Music
So what happens if you download music or karaoke and play it in a bar? In the case of music, probably nothing. There are so many people Downloading music, the Big 3 just can't keep up. Besides, they make their money on the licensing from the venues, and it generally is not worth their time to sue little piss ant DJ's. They also have no way of knowing if you purchased the music or not (See Note). If they do happen to sue you though, the statutory damages are in the Thousands of dollars FOR EACH SONG! So do yourself a favor, and just buy the music.
(Note: Shifting Music from a CD to your Hard Drive may not be considered legal, however, I strongly suspect that no Music Production company wants to set that precedent, since Using Computers to play music has become standard)
In the case of Karaoke, you will probably get caught sooner or later. I personally know someone who was caught by Sound Choice, and it cost him $35 Large to get out of trouble. Do you have $35 grand laying around? I thought not.
So the way it works is, Karaoke manufacturers don't actually own the Copyright to the music they produce, so they can't sue you for Copyright infringement. They license the right to make karaoke versions. However, since they almost always include an image of their Trademark on the lyrics screen, they have been suing KJ's for Trademark Infringement. Theoretically, one could be sued for Trademark infringement for playing a downloaded video as well, since many of them include the Trademark of the manufacturer of the disk somewhere on the screen.
Trademark Infringement
So a Trademark is something that uniquely identifies a company that does business. My DJ name, "DJ Jamie" as well as the cartoon version of my head are both Trademarked. You can Trademark something just by putting "TM" next to it. A Circle with an "R" inside is a registered Trademark. A registered Trademark is expensive to get, but it gives the owner much more power to protect it.
The idea behind Trademark is to make a company distinguishable from other companies in the same industry. So if you own an Apple Farm, the phone manufacturer with the Apple logo is not likely to win a lawsuit claiming Trademark infringement if you use an Apple as your logo. The reason is, no one is going to mistake "Harry's Apple Farm" for an Electronics Manufacturer. They can sue, but they will probably lose. Again, lots of money in court, spent on lawyers, poor Harry may lose his business if he fights, even though he did nothing wrong, even if he wins in court.
Now let's say your name is Jaime and you are a DJ, and you decide that starting tomorrow, to use the name "DJ Jaime". If you are in North Dakota, and I continue to Play in New York, Florida, and North Carolina, we will probably never have a problem.
If you decided to use the name "DJ Jaime" in the same market that I have already been playing in, now we have an issue. Since I haven't Registered my Trademark, I'm not likely to get any money from suing you, but I can probably force you to change your name. Why? Because your use of the name "DJ Jaime" is VERY likely to cause confusion amongst our shared customers and potential customers, and they may think you represent my business.
Now let's say you decide to spend the money to Register your Trademark. The Trademark office checks to make sure there is not already a "DJ Jaime" registered, and then issues the Trademark. If you discover I am using something similar to your Registered Trademark after that, you could sue me for Trademark Dilution. I will defend myself by showing I had used AND published the Mark before you did, and I likely won't have to pay anything, and I may be forced to change my name. However it will cost us both lots of money in court. A smarter move is to make sure to do some research for whatever name you choose before you spend money on logos, websites, etc. If there is a conflict after the fact, try to work it out before getting lawyers involved. Most people are reasonable given the chance to be.
So, as it relates to Karaoke. Sound Choice and Chartbuster have their logos on the video output of karaoke tracks they sell. By purchasing those tracks, you are entering a sort of implied contract, where you get permission to display those trademarks. If you don't buy the tracks, you don't get the permission. When they send an investigator to your bar, and see their marks on your screen, without permission, they may sue. The Statutory amount for Trademark Infringement is $200 Thousand. They don't have to sue you for Copyright of the music, because they have you dead to rights on the Trademark.
"But I don't produce karaoke tracks, I just play them!"
You are right, and furthermore, since your average customer can't tell the difference between a bought and paid for karaoke track versus a pirated one, there is no more dilution of the Trademark when you use it without permission than there is by someone using it with permission. That is a great and astute legal argument! You should be proud of yourself. Go get yourself a Mocha Grande Latte!
But remember when I said if you pay to Register your mark, you get a lot more power to protect it? In this case, you will most likely lose, especially when the Manufacturer's Lawyer brings up you already illegally obtained the music. You're starting out in a bad light, and it's just going to get worse. And who is going to pay the lawyers for you if you win with that argument?
How do they know whether I bought the Karaoke or not?
They don't. From the lawsuits I've heard about, they go to a judge and say, based on the "sheer number of songs" in the book, they have a "reasonable belief" that they must have been pirated. They file suit, and try to convince a judge to grant them a subpoena to audit your collection. They don't even bother notifying you that they are suing you, and so they get first crack at the judge, while you are not being represented. Sounds fair, doesn't it? If the judge says OK, they send some representatives and a sheriff, take your stuff, and you are screwed. If you do get notice about the legal action, and deny wrong doing, the manufacturer of the karaoke products will generally offer to drop the action if you consent to an audit of your music collection. (4th Amendment be damned!)
This is all with no proof what so ever you did anything wrong.
If you do consent to the audit, they are not only going to audit the karaoke they produced, they are also going to audit every single track, and every single disk. If you're missing a single disk, out of thousands, they may over look it if you promise to replace it immediately. They may force you to buy it on the spot.
If you are missing a disk from a different karaoke manufacturer than the one who filed suit, they will notify that manufacturer. I know Sound Choice has claimed to represent several other Manufacturers, and they do this because of the cost associated with an audit, and have permission from other Karaoke Producers. I don't know the truth of all that, but I do know it sounds like a very bad time to have to deal with it, legal or not. At least if everything is legit, eventually it will all go away.
Well, I hope this Guide has been helpful. Over the years, several people have e-mailed me to ask questions, so feel free to do the same. Good Luck!
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