Many bars today have neglected the benefits to having karaoke and over look how providing one or two nights of karaoke can actually, over time, increase sales and their customer base. I can't really blame them though. After all there are a lot of really bad karaoke businesses or companies out there that have lousy song choices, poor or out dated equipment or the KJ (Karaoke Jockey) is boring or has a bad attitude. Who wants that in their bars, right?
I agree completely. Bars deserve to have a karaoke night that is fun, entertaining, sounds good and has a entertaining KJ. Having the right Karaoke company or person in your establishment is as important as picking the right product to sale or furniture your customers will use. So how do you go about finding the right karaoke company? Glad you asked. Over the rest of this post I will cover some of the basic questions you should be asking potential karaoke companies to bring into your establishment.
As a bar owner or manager looking to start a karaoke night the first question you should be asking a possible karaoke company is how much do they charge. Now this can be a double edge sword for you when making the right choice. First you will be tempted to hire them if they are cheap - $75 to $125 a night. But trust me you won't be getting the very best quality service for a karaoke night and your customers won't enjoy it.
Problem with karaoke services that charge $75 to $125 a night is they likely doing it as a hobby, they likely use second rate sound equipment and don't have a good song selection to choose from. Also many of those cheaper karaoke services are illegally streaming Youtube karaoke videos. Now wait a minute you say. Why is using Youtube illegal? The reason is simple - copyright. Hiring a karaoke service that use YouTube videos from your bar or establishment can be a costly mistake. Leading to fines against the bar of thousands of dollars if caught. Not the mention the fact that the video quality and song selection from YouTube good enough or large enough to satisfy your customers needs and wants. Remember you, the bar owner or manager wants your customers to have a good time.
So what price range should bars be willing to pay for karaoke? We charge $200 for a four hour show. National averages for karaoke runs between $50 to $75 per hour or for a four hour show between $200 to $225. This varies depending on location, region and other factors. Larger cities like Chicago, New York and L.A those cost could be even higher ($300 - $500 per night for 4 hours)
The second question you should ask is what kind of equipment do they use. This is important for a lot of reasons. First off if they are using a basic karaoke machine anyone can buy for about $150 they are not going to be worth your time and your customers will get bored quickly. Also if their equipment isn't good quality the music won't sound good and again your customers will get bored or turned off. You will end up paying for a DJ night rather then a karaoke night because no one want to sing when the music sounds worse than they do.
We have 1000 watt speakers with stands, a Pevey power mixer, both wired and wireless microphones with mic stands and a monitor with stand. All of these things provide great quality sound and can handle rooms of almost any size. This size and power of system isn't required but should be close to what a quality Karaoke services provides.
Next question that needs to be asked is what kind of song selection do they have. If they say they use Youtube, or any other online service for their song selection you need to avoid them completely. They should be able to give you a number of songs between 60 to 90 thousand minimum. Anything more than is even better and insures your customers will have plenty to choose from.
We provide over 100 thousand karaoke songs and over 20 thousand music tracks for dancing, listening and special request or parties. We purchase regularly additional karaoke songs when they become available. The more songs to choose from the greater chance your customers will stick around. If they are sticking around for karaoke they will spend more money on your products. That means higher sales for you and which a good sign that the karaoke service is good quality. But wait there's more!
Finally one question we have been asked a lot is what kind of following do we have. There is a problem with this question. This question is likely the least important to worry about. The most important thing is not the following the karaoke service will bring in but can they develop a following for you, the business, by being there. It is your business and you are the one depending on repeat customers. A good quality karaoke service will work to create a following for you, to make repeat customers out of everyone who walks in the door. The karaoke service will move on, have other shows and make money else where no matter what you do.
We always tell business owners when asked about our following that we want to thrive on creating a following where ever we are. By doing this people associate that business with our karaoke company. Once that following has been established they will keep coming back each and ever night we are there. Again by creating a following for your business because we are there it insure you repeat customers. Our job as a karaoke service is to keep them entertained. If we can get them coming back time and time again that is even better for both the business and the karaoke service.
In closing let me say that when you hire a karaoke service to provide musical entertainment for one or more nights it is in basic terms a partnership. They are their to help you increase business. Yes, they want and need to make money too. But their number one goal should be to help you increase business by providing the very best entertainment possible. By doing this they establish a following for the business, increase sales and insure repeat business for the establishment they are working in. But they can't do it alone. The business needs to help promote them, get the word out to their customers, and spread the news about having karaoke through word of mouth. All of this works hand in hand.
I hope this blog post help you make better and more informed choices about who you hire to do your karaoke entertainment. If you are reading this and wish to contact us for karaoke service we welcome you to do so. Visit us on Facebook at Soundz Right Entertainment, like our page and send us a message or call us on the phone. We service all of Illinois and will travel through the mid-west region. We also offer Wedding reception musical entertainment and special events, house parties, parties of almost any kind and more. Contact us for more information and pricing.
