Karaoke System For A Bar | The Software Essentials

A karaoke bar fosters a unique and profitable culture.

There is of course singing, which lends itself favorably to more drinking which progresses to camaraderie. All good things if you’re trying to create an atmosphere that attracts customers that keep coming back, willing to trade money for another night to remember.  Karaoke gives everyone a chance to be a rock star, if only for one song, on that given night.

If you’re looking for a Karaoke System For A Bar to kick of the first of many “karaoke nights” you’re in the right place.  This is all the software you’ll need — just add the computer, mixer and mics!

How do you manage the singer rotation and play karaoke music with lyrics?

Karaoki is the worlds best selling karaoke show hosting software for Windows, with users in 56 countries and countless venue installations.  It’s been out on the market for over 7 years, so it’s road-tested and bar owner approved.  It has all the features the person manning the Karaoke system will need to ensure a trouble-free night of hosting karaoke.

The PCDJ Karaoki software will help you accomplish the following:

• Managed and search your library of your own karaoke music, or when the Karaoke Cloud Pro karaoke subscription if applicable
• Play standard karaoke files (audio + on-screen lyrics) and output the lyrics to a “singers display” (secondary display)
• Manage singer rotation easily.  30+ singers in a night? No problem, Karaoki will manage the rotation for you.
• News ticker to put information across the bottom of the screen (scroll for things like “drink specials”)
• And you have all the required playback controls such as KEY adjust and tempo (independently)
• Free upgrades to the karaoke software for life and tremendous customer support

You can learn more about PCDJ Karaoki and download a free 14-day trial HERE

Where do you get Karaoke Music that’s legal?

One of the biggest issues in the karaoke industry right now is Piracy.

Countless KJs and venues have been hit with lawsuits the last few years, sometimes resulting in heavy fines or bar closures in extreme cases.   Venues hire KJs without the knowledge of how they acquired their karaoke music library, and there are very strict guidelines for legal usage in place.

Karaoke music is created by manufacturers that license the music from the publishers and song rights owners.  It’s expensive for them to create, and licensing fee’s are constant.  An average karaoke download in the USA runs about $1.99 to $2.99 depending on the brand, quality and format.

To be legal you must purchase what you use, and if you’re buying downloads you need to keep all receipts, too.   You can indeed purchase karaoke CDG discs and legally do a one-for-one conversion (one karaoke computer can use the one disc – you can’t put the same songs on a second machine without purchasing a second copy of the CDG disc).

Those methods are feasible for many, but buying enough karaoke music to fill most singer requests can get really expensive, really fast.

Nearly two years ago Digitrax Entertainment created the Karaoke Cloud Pro platform; a commercially legal in-app subscription that provides access in PCDJ Karaoki to 3500 songs, right now. A minimum of 50 new karaoke hits are added each week at no additional charge.  These can be brand new karaoke hits, or older classics that were recently re-licensed for karaoke use.

The cost for a Karaoke Cloud Pro commercial subscription is $49-a-month (with 14 day free trial first).  By comparison, if you were to purchase each of the 3500 included songs it would take you 4 years to pay off the catalog at $49 a month – so a great value for those that need to get up and running with karaoke right away.

Here’s what you get with a Karaoke Cloud Pro subscription

• A commercially legal karaoke library of 3,500+ songs
• The highest quality karaoke music possible
• A Karaoke Cloud Pro certificate of authenticity to keep in your venue
• The ability to download and use the entire catalog of karaoke music offline (no internet access required to use the service once the files are downloaded)
• Automatic karaoke list updates for new songs each week
• Minimum of 50 new karaoke tracks each week (news hits, older classics)
• Pay $49-a-Month (14-day free trial first)

You can learn more about Karaoke Cloud Pro and legal benefits HERE

What about singer and song requests?

Using the traditional method, singers can approach the KJ (karaoke host) directly and request their song from a “songbook” – which you can create directly from PCDJ Karaoki without any third party software.  Click here to learn how to create song books with Karaoki

The host or KJ will then manually search for the song and drag to the rotation list. They then assign the song to the singers name, and it goes into that singers queue.

We’ve recently introduced in-app (Karaoki) support for SongbookDB; a remote request system that allows singers to browse and search your song book from their own phone.  This means no need to print a songbook, and even less work for the KJ or person manning the karaoke bar system.   The requests come into Karaoki from the internet, and all the host needs to do is click one button to send the song and person to rotation — it even supports key change requests and notes for the KJ.

SongbookDB is a fun an interactive way singers can make song requests, and runs $19 Monthly or $180 Annually (which comes to $15 per month – a savings of 23%).

Here’s what you get with your SongbookDB subscription

• Unique Platform ID and user name so users can find your songbook
• Upload all songs from Karaoki (Karaoke Cloud Pro or and/or your own karaoke song library)
• Users can browse, search and request songs from any internet enabled phone/device – even select key changes and send the host notes.
• The Request terminal built into Karaoki provides these additional features at no additional cost:
  BUZZ – alert singers when their song is ready
  SHOUT OUT – send a message to everyone currently viewing your song book
  BLOCK – block singers completely so they can’t make any requests
• Add your logo, website, phone and Facebook page details
• Edit and tag your songs
• Have multiple song books and venues (up to 8). This caters for businesses with multiple DJs working on the same night
• A kiosk mode so you can also set up a laptop kiosk at your shows (for those that don’t have a phone to use)
• Receive requests on your phone (if you’re offline and can’t receive them in Karaoki) using our Karaoke Hoster app (web-app, Android, or iOS –), or via the Requests screen in SongbookDB Pal

Learn more about the SongbookDB remote request system HERE

The ultimate karaoke system for a bar

Add all these components up (Karaoki, Karaoke Cloud Pro, SongbookDB) and you’ve got a powerful karaoke system for any bar or restaurant that wants to host karaoke, now.

Cost Breakdown for Venue:

PCDJ Karaoki: One-Time purchase of $79 (if you purchase a subscription with it, $99 without)
Karaoke Cloud Pro: Monthly Subscription $49.99-A-Month, or $500 for one year in advance.
SongbookDB: $19 Monthly or $180 Annually (which comes to $15 per month – a savings of 23%)

Just add your own Windows laptop or PC and you’re ready to start hosting in your venue.  You can find the system requirements for Karaoki at the bottom of THIS PAGE.

If you want to get setup with a Karaoke Cloud Pro and PCDJ Karaoki today, please call 877-999-7235 for the discount bundle price.