New KJ - Which brand CD-G is best?

I've been DJing for 26 years. I recently covered a private party for a friend, using his Karaoke system and got hit by the Karaoke bug. I want to have it available for my clients.

I got the hardware part covered.



But I need to purchase some CD-Gs.


What brand / collection is a good starter library?

Considering I don't need every last new release, (heck, I only subscribe to ONE PromoOnly CD - Mainstream Radio), what source provides a good variety of new songs for a subscription?

Please don't give me names.

WHY do you prefer one brand over another?

Thanks.

TB Im going to be using Supercore the most current set which includes 2008 songs. You can find them on Ebay at a very great rate. If you want the Cadillac you will need a couple of the Brick sets to get started There are a couple threads here or in the karaoke archives with info on these see DJMC.

That depends on what you want to spend.... Top Down (my opinion only):

Sound Choice Foundation I and II plus all five Bricks

DK Millinium Set

Chartbuster E1-7

Supercore 2006-2008 sets

Sweet Georgia Brown 1-66 plus the Toolbox 1-10

Thoughts?

The reason I picked Supercore was the quality and number of hits per disc buying all those packs in your first choice is a substantial pile to lay down to start. Supercore will do me fine to get on my feet and also wont be compromising the quality some might claim for the SGB discs.

I get a ton. I have 4 regular karaoke nights.

If one wanted a monthly I would suggest Pop Hits Monthly Pop. But you will more than likely need the country also. So, that 2 disc a month around $35 with shipping.



You base set should be Sound Choice Foundation 1 and 2 Bricks 1 - 5.

Then add the Supercore yearly sets 2006, 2007, 2008

Then you can fill gaps with individual disc.

If I had to pick I primarly use soundchoice. Even though I get monthly I buy Every SoundChoice Spotlight Disc that comes out.

The reason I picked Supercore was the quality and number of hits per disc buying all those packs in your first choice is a substantial pile to lay down to start. Supercore will do me fine to get on my feet and also wont be compromising the quality some might claim for the SGB discs.

Yes, for someone that is only doing karaoke as an add on that is a lot of cash to lay out for some of those that I mentioned.... however, the quality of them might be a deciding factor.... your best bet on the Sound Choice stuff is ebay... best prices I've ever seen on the foundation sets at under $300 per set.... Bricks at $99. And I've even seen Foundations I & II plus the bricks for under $1000.00

As to expense, think of it as a business...if you had to drop $3000 to hang your shingle, amortize that over the next 5 years, and divide your cost into how many potential karaoke performances you may be doing, and see what it is REALLY costing you PER SHOW, and you will find it does not cost that much to spend a lot and do it well.

Quick example: 3000 divided by 5 years, divided into 20 shows a year comes up with an overhead cost of $30 per show. At 5 years the discs would be "disposable" and earning 100% profit with no overhead...do more shows and the cost is less.

I've been DJing for 26 years. I recently covered a private party for a friend, using his Karaoke system and got hit by the Karaoke bug. I want to have it available for my clients.

I got the hardware part covered.



But I need to purchase some CD-Gs.


What brand / collection is a good starter library?

Considering I don't need every last new release, (heck, I only subscribe to ONE PromoOnly CD - Mainstream Radio), what source provides a good variety of new songs for a subscription?

Please don't give me names.

WHY do you prefer one brand over another?

Thanks.

I'm actually selling my karaoke discs...I have 270 in a case. PM me with an email address and I'd be happy to send over an excel spreadsheet attachment of all of the songs. Asking $350 obo.

I get a ton. I have 4 regular karaoke nights.

If one wanted a monthly I would suggest Pop Hits Monthly Pop. But you will more than likely need the country also. So, that 2 disc a month around $35 with shipping.

You base set should be Sound Choice Foundation 1 and 2 Bricks 1 - 5.

If I had to pick I primarly use soundchoice. Even though I get monthly I buy Every SoundChoice Spotlight Disc that comes out.

Cam: Your forgetting that the foundation II set is no longer available, and might be difficult to find second hand. :)

-As for a good starter set, I would say that it would depend on how often you plan to offer karaoke.

If its just as an add on kind of thing, then certainly the new supercore sets will do you just fine.

If you plan on doing it a little more often, then you are going to want to invest a little more money in quality sets.

In which case the foundation I and the bricks are certainly a good way to go.

However, if you want the maximum amount of original songs and farly decent quality then get the chartbusters essential sets 1-8. The main thing about chartbusters is each set contains no duplicates.

hope that helps

-James

Perhaps I should have also said that I want to offer this as an option for my private parties. I have no plans to do bar Karaoke, so I certainly don't need every last song, or be on the cutting edge with new stuff.

Thanks for the info so far.

Perhaps I should have also said that I want to offer this as an option for my private parties. I have no plans to do bar Karaoke, so I certainly don't need every last song, or be on the cutting edge with new stuff.

Thanks for the info so far.


First, greetings to you my Northern NJ brother, and welcome! They need more of us..... Anywhere near Paramus?


I'm both a bar and private event Karaoke Host, and my take is the following:

Since you are just trying on your karaoke wings, I believe it is more important to gain title at reasonable pricing for a larger quantity. This is why, as a starter, I'd skip Sound Choice until you have an idea of what is popular for you.

So, for a starter set: The entire SuperCore collection ( somewhere around 50 discs about now). PROS: Excellent popular selections, good quality, and can be had for around $450, or even much lower with good shopping)total ( this would include SPC1 thru SPC 38, plus SPC 101 thru - I think- 114). They stay quite current. CONS: They have a tendency to dupe titles throughout the set, but still well worth the price.

I would also include the 66 disc Sweet Georgia Brown set ( $100 or less). Though not always known for the highest quality, they offer a very good array of titles, some not available anywhere else.

This is a great base, and though I now have many thousands of songs from multiple manufacturers, most of my requests still come from the above.

You might, if you can still find it, include the Music Maestro 5 disc Doo Wop set.

Though I no longer use one, several companies offer monthly subscription services, just like DJ services.

As you get a better idea of what's popular for you, you might check out the Sound Choice Bricks ( or, IMHOP) Zoom, equal in quality. Got a lot of country singers? Head to Chartbuster.

Want to stay current for a better price and decent quality you might try Pop Hits & Top Hits monthly. Not a fav of mine, but they are OK.


Just my thoughts......:sqcool:

RE: PHM and THM....I am not a fan of monthly subscription, as for the money, I think you get a LOT of titles that are never sung, BUT, I cant say a bad thing about their quality. When they get older, they get cheaper, so getting back titles on sale is a good way to expand the library...but again, they do have a lot of flavor of the week titles mixed in.

Just wanted to vouch for the quality!! I know people at Stellar and Panorama and they are great folks, and put out a quality product.

Thanks for all the info. I think I'm gonna start with the Sweet Georgia Brown set - primarily because of the price (I've seen it pretty cheap on eBay). I'm not planning on making this a prime focus, or even pushing it. So I think that basic set will get me started fine.




First, greetings to you my Northern NJ brother, and welcome! They need more of us..... Anywhere near Paramus?You could say that. I grew up in Paramus, my day job is in Paterson, and I live in Pompton Lakes.

Look for a private message to continue this part of the conversation.

SGB is a very good starter set. I'd also recommend Sound Choice's Foundation set. 90% of the requests in the first show I ran as a solo host came from the SC library. (I also had Foundation 2... I did not realize that SC doesn't offer it anymore, but I'm sure it's still available on eBay at a decent price. It's worth the investment, IMHO.)

Pop Hits or Top Hits Monthly are affordable for the most current songs.

First, greetings to you my Northern NJ brother, and welcome! They need more of us..... Anywhere near Paramus?


I'm both a bar and private event Karaoke Host, and my take is the following:

Since you are just trying on your karaoke wings, I believe it is more important to gain title at reasonable pricing for a larger quantity. This is why, as a starter, I'd skip Sound Choice until you have an idea of what is popular for you.

So, for a starter set: The entire SuperCore collection ( somewhere around 50 discs about now). PROS: Excellent popular selections, good quality, and can be had for around $450, or even much lower with good shopping)total ( this would include SPC1 thru SPC 38, plus SPC 101 thru - I think- 114). They stay quite current. CONS: They have a tendency to dupe titles throughout the set, but still well worth the price.

I would also include the 66 disc Sweet Georgia Brown set ( $100 or less). Though not always known for the highest quality, they offer a very good array of titles, some not available anywhere else.

This is a great base, and though I now have many thousands of songs from multiple manufacturers, most of my requests still come from the above.

You might, if you can still find it, include the Music Maestro 5 disc Doo Wop set.

Though I no longer use one, several companies offer monthly subscription services, just like DJ services.

As you get a better idea of what's popular for you, you might check out the Sound Choice Bricks ( or, IMHOP) Zoom, equal in quality. Got a lot of country singers? Head to Chartbuster.

Want to stay current for a better price and decent quality you might try Pop Hits & Top Hits monthly. Not a fav of mine, but they are OK.


Just my thoughts......:sqcool:


Ya that's pretty much what i was thinking, just didn't want to overload the poor guy with info.. heheh

Zoom is currently my absolute favourite brand. Not only is the quality equal or better than soundchoice, they also sell their entire library online on a per track basis, so if there's only one or two songs you REALLY want, you can buy them. Of course, this only helps you if you are doing the digital thing. For the rest of us, we'll just have to buy the whole disc but then that';s nothing new.. hehe

anyway take care

-James

RE: PHM and THM....I am not a fan of monthly subscription, as for the money, I think you get a LOT of titles that are never sung, BUT, I cant say a bad thing about their quality. When they get older, they get cheaper, so getting back titles on sale is a good way to expand the library...but again, they do have a lot of flavor of the week titles mixed in.

Just wanted to vouch for the quality!! I know people at Stellar and Panorama and they are great folks, and put out a quality product.




I agree about the quality, Harry. They aren't my favs for the reason that you stated- plenty of non-requested songs per disc. However, they ARE well worh their price.