I recently got a message from someone accusing me of being biased. I'm going to *officially* reply to that message here and give the person the link rather than get into a tit for tat. I'm not naming names. Who it is, is not relevant....the message is:
I think there is some misunderstanding here. How do you think my site came about and what is its purpose? I am not and have never been a KJ. I don't have "buddies" who get special treatment. I am a human being and an occasional karaoke singer and I only personally know a handful of the KJ's among my "friends" list....fewer if you count just the DFW area. I have no idea what it is you think I'm doing that's is biased or better yet, what you think I owe anybody, but you're way out of line.
You may have been doing karaoke since [a long time ago] and that's great. You have been getting paid for your efforts for around 20 years. I started this site in Florida back in 1996 and I've never made a dime from it. I don't even have ads on my site. In fact I have paid out of pocket for all these years for support, technology and hosting just to help people like you and the singers who want to find you. Why? Because I like karaoke and care about the karaoke community. You may want to read my site history page here:
https://www.karaokeacrossamerica.com/basics/history
I'm afraid to ask how you came to the conclusion I'm picking favorites, but let me give you a little insight to how this all works:
I run a SELF-SERVE karaoke show directory. It didn't start that way. I used to have to hand code every entry and every line of text came from my keyboard. Find some KJ's and singers from FL who were around in the late 1990's. Ask them where THE karaoke directory site was back then. Perhaps some of them will comment on this post. Thank god those hand-coding days are over! These days technology has advanced to the point where it's safe and practical to allow regular users to handle entering their own shows. Regardless of that fact, I personally STILL enter and maintain 95% of the shows on my site. I have had thousands of entries over the years. Today I have around 1700 active shows that I still maintain and it grows almost every day. I also have a job with long hours and a family includng a toddler in the house.
You're welcome.
Did I mention this was a free site? Does any other site give you the features that I do....for free?
In all my years of doing this site, I have NEVER refused to list a legitimate, regularly occuring karaoke show. In all those years I have declined to advertise ONE KJ's shows because of the business practices they were taking part in. That was a dozen years ago and what they did then, has unfortunately become semi-commonplace today. It's a moot point. Today, as long as the karaoke show is regularly occurring (weekly, bi-weekly, etc) and isn't a "one time event" I will advertise it. The only "requirements" I have are that ALL of the info that I need for the listing is provided appropriately. Yes, I need the phone number for the bar. Yes, I need an ACTUAL street address that is mappable on Google maps. Simple stuff folks.
In the near future (time-permitting) I will also be adding other features that I have never had before so please stay tuned!
Although I had been around for about 13 years by that time, when I went "self-serve" back around 2009 I had a user base that was pretty rabid about getting the free advertsing. By that time there were others in the game who do what I do. Unlike those folks who don't return the favor, I even give them free links on my site. It's about spreading the karaoke love! Life was good if you were a karaoke singer and wanted to find shows! However, what I started noticing was that all the people who loved the free advertsing also seemed to be allergic to actually doing some of the work themselves and entering their shows. The same folks who emailed me asking when I would have time to add THEIR new show to my directory when there was no other way, all of sudden got gimpy when when they could do it themselvs. I find time (eventually) to do it for them, but the people getting paid for the shows I am freely advertising for them can't make a few minutes to get the info and add it themselves??? Why? To this day I still don't know other than perhaps they are lazy or self-absorbed. Maybe they think I'm like the fire department.....they just take what I do for granted. Other than the disappointment, I don't care much about that....that's not my fight. I'm here for the karaoke! I STILL add shows as often and as quickly as I can find the time to do. I literally have HUNDREDS sitting in files on my PC that I haven't had time to parse and add. You want to volunteer to help? Anyone......Bueller.....
I'm happy to see that you had added your own shows to my site. Thank you! You are in the minority!
My site automatically posts to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter every new entry that get's added to my site. It's automated. I don't do that manually. It doesn't matter if I add the show or you do. Once the show gets published it gets posted to all three of these sites. That's free advertising for YOU! Does any other karaoke directory site do that? If there is one, I truly have never heard of it. Every one I'm aware of generally has a text list of shows where the accuracy is of dubious quality. Nobody is perfect in this regard as it changes too fast, but I actually do care and try to track obsolete info. Who else gives you map searches? Who else let's you search based on YOUR geographic location automatically? Who has both a full featured website as well as a stripped down, mobile version for finding shows? Who else takes the time to answer questions like this? I might not be the biggest, but I do think I am the best.....;)
Sometimes......when I happen to be sitting in front of my PC and have the bandwidth.......I'll re-post a link to a show from my site when someone posts about it. That IS done manually. It happens sometimes. It happens sporadically. It does NOT happen based on who posts the show. It does NOT happen based on whose timeline the post is on. It happens TOTALLY based on whether I see the post, have the time and whether the show is on my site. On RARE occasion.....again if I have time......if I see a show come through that I don't already have listed on my site I will add it on the spot if it's easy to find the info for. Keep in mind that I do this nationally. DFW is my home, but it's not my office. I have shows all over (even a few in Canada) and FL is bigger on my site than TX is. For every conversation that I have with a local KJ or singer, I have similar ones with folks all over the country. I belong to dozens of Facebook, LinkedIn and Meetup groups for karaoke. My goals to spread the karaoke gospel and I try hard to do that. I don't sit around like some sites do and wait for someone to find me, then hold my hand out for a tip.
Who else does all this for you.....for free?
I hope that someday, I can mostly watch the activity on my site instead of creating it. I have a forum and a PRIVATE, Facebook-like, karaoke only community on my site where events can be posted and discussions can be had. I have live chat if you're so inclined where you can talk to other online users on my site. I'll never be Facebook and that's not my goal. My site and other like it are niche sites. We are topic-driven. It isn't about your kitty or pictures of your cool motorcycle. It's about karaoke....period! If you want to find topical and specific info on karaoke please visit! Please contribute! Please share! There are hundreds of years of karaoke experience both as KJ's and singers amonst my members. Let's share it with each other!
I have already exceeded my own attention span for this post. I decided to post this in my blog for a few reasons rather than reply as a Facebook message. None more important though, than the fact that the sentiment you shared about what you think I do evokes an undercurrent of ideas that I think are worth sharing globally. Please feel free to comment, contrbute or critique, but whatever you do keep karaoke-ing!
