Monday, January 14, 2013

Does Size Really Matter?

Yes, that's what she said!  There is one bane to this industry, one weakness that always makes us falter at one time or another.  The dreaded "do you have this song in your song collection?  I didn't see it in your song book..."  The answer depends.  "Yes, I do have it I just haven't updated my books recently."  They're happy.  I'm happy.  You put up their song, and they're content.

If you answer no, usually the normally intoxicated patron will ask, "why not?"  Every KJ loathes and dreads this question.  "Were you born with that hair color?  What's wrong with your natural hair color?  Why don't you go somewhere else where they DO have the song you desire to sing; otherwise YOU can buy the song yourself on cd, and bring it next time you stop in so you CAN sing it whenever wherever you go to ensure you'll always be able to sing it?"  I can't say that, but sometimes I really wish I could when they're obviously spoilt, used to getting their way, and flaunting like they have wealth, but are NOT tipping me at all after making ridiculous demands for the past hour or so making it that hour seem more like an eternity.

Tip me the cost of the track, and I'll GLADLY download it for you.  What I WILL say to that annoying patron is, "no, I don't have it, but let me see if it's even available in karaoke format for download.  Sometimes it may take months for a top 40 hit to make it to cdg3 format if ever."  Bam!  Answers both questions before they even ask, "why?"  It's not cute when your toddler asks, and it's especially not cute when drunk people do it too.

I have talked to some guys in the industry about who is rumored to have the largest (ahem) list...  Well, I'm on a mission to set that record straight.  I've pestered everyone to submit their track count without duplicates and typos to me, so I can put up the top 5 largest songlists in the Bay Area.  It's in the forefront of my mind right now because I just recently completed cleaning up my database, and it was TEDIOUS.  Sharing stories with other fellow karaoke jockeys in the industry about cleaning up your books has made me see why it is so time consuming and tedious.  Currently I'm also asking around who has the best and most economical program out there for organizing your list for you, so you don't have to go through manually and update your list every time you add new songs.

So welcome to another year of karaoke!  In my next blog, I will address the age old question.  Does the size of your list really matter or is it the quality of the songs in your list and knowing your demographic all that counts?  I want to be the girl with the most cake!  Don't you?  How can having too many songs be a bad thing after all?  It makes sense bigger would be better, right?  We shall see.  I'm still compiling data, but coming soon, we will all know once and for all who has the largest... um... list. :D