Tipping The Karaoke DJ

djdennisa

People do try to tip me but I say thank you and buy them a drink with the tip or tell them buy me a drink. As a DJ for some years now (20 plus years) Bars that have karaoke and don't have a cover charge or a drink minumum know that some patrons don't drink on karaoke night than other non-karaoke nights. In other words, less money for the bar and bartenders. I take the tip and buy drinks for those patorns and put it back into the establishment. KJ pay + rent + electricity + employee wages + insurance + overhead expenses = not much profit for the establishment. If you have 30 people or less then the establichment is making no money. That is why some are asking for a cover or minumum montery fee of drinks. They will sell their business or out of business. I make enough per night, just give me a comliment or buy me a drink or high five me, tell friends to come.

hey, thanks for letting me see where you work. I will inform child support asap.

This business of tipping the Karaoke host is absolutely LUDICROUS!!! I went to a Karaoke spot in Las Vegas and I tipped $2 in the jar and 2 and a half hours later, I was NOT called to sing again, so I left the place in a REALLY PISSED-OFF mood. I returned the next night - EARLY - and put in my song and waited 2 HOURS and they NEVER called me up to sing, so I left there EXTREMELY PISSED-OFF!!! wasted my night!!! Then on a Tuesday night, there was another karaoke show at the - I think - Imperail Palace and after I sang my first song with a LARGE crowd, and I tipped just ONE dollar, they called me up to sing 2 MORE TIMES despite the large crowd and lots of singers BECAUSE they weren't the JEALOUS KJ types as was in the previous instance! I've encountered the jealous KJ at 90% of the karaoke places I've been to throughout my karaoke lifetime!!! Because I am such an outstanding Karaoke entertainer, I ALWAYS get an incredible response from the audience after I finish my song, the KJ - ONLY Male KJ's get really jealous and pissed-off because they THINK I'm going to steal away from them their " KARAOKE GROUPIE FEMALES " and they INTENTIONALLY NEVER call me up to sing again or they " PRETEND " to have " LOST " my slip in the rotation. That has happened SOOOOOOOO often that I've decided to go to karaoke shows infinitessimally infrequently because I've become extremely enranged by this BULLS**t practice. I fell like just taking a STEEL bat - if there WAS such a thing - and repeatedly bashing their heads in until they are MORE than DEAD!!!! But of course I wouldn't do that because I don't want to spend any time in jail or potentially become executed by use of the death penalty. It's too bad there are hardly any FEMALE karaoke hosts in N.Y.C. because they NEVER exhibit that type of behavior - unless there is another female version of me , then that's probably a different story! From, PSYCHO-JOE The world's greatest Karaoke Entertainer!!! Yo, what-up Cueball!!! Great post you put up earlier!!!

There are lots of jobs that require that one start a bit early and don't get paid for it.. get over it dude, a KJ is just a job.. if your allowed a tip so is everyone else.

I have never expected or suggested anyone tip me, though it does happen occasionally.

To -T.D.- KJ / Santa Rosa, CA... With regard to what you said about a KJ working with his own equipment as versus a KJ who is hired to operate a House system.... in most cases, the patrons don't know one from the other. Usually, this is not something that a KJ will announce either (that he uses his own set-up, or that he just operates the House System). As to what the KJ gets paid, again, this is not something that in common knowledge amongst the patrons, and I have yet to see a KJ announce that they only make $X to the crowds. Bottom line is, TIP the KJ if you feel like it, not because you feel pressured into it (as it sounds like from KJ toque).

Basically, this guy is half right. If the KJ owns his own equipment, then a tip is not necessary in much the same manner that you do not tip a bar owner, or the owner of the restaurant, but you would tip the staff that work there. KJ's who own their equipment typically make $150.00-$400.00 per night depending on location, competition, and demand. That being said, KJ's who use house systems are typically paid minimum wage + tips, or if they are lucky a few dollars over minimum + tips. This does not mean that they are any less good at what they do, but it does mean that they make a whole lot less for basically doing the same job. -T.D.- KJ / Santa Rosa, CA

I have no problem tipping a KJ when he's doing a good job, but to be expected to tip? I don't think so. When I tip, I do it quietly with a minimum of fanfare. To imply that you would give lesser service because somebody didn't tip you is unprofessional. Would I have to make a public show of tipping you to make sure that I am not made to look like an ass onstage? A KJ that purposely makes a person look like an idiot onstage only succeeds in making himself look like an idiot.

To KJ toqe... Remind me NOT to go to your show. You sound like you have more of an attitude issue than this guy Carlos. HOW DARE YOU you tell me that you're going to ignore your job functions as a KJ, and not give me proper rerverb (if needed), or PURPOSELY set your EQ so that I sound horrendous, or even skip me completely just because I didn't give you a $1 TIP to sing. I'm a KJ too (part-time anyway). I do NOT work for TIPs. I do NOT accept TIPs when offered (unless it's at a private party). I treat EVERYONE the same. I give them the best possible sound that I can (with my limited knowledge), and apologize for any mistakes that I might make (such as queuing the wrong song or accidently hitting the wrong tray on my machine and causing their song to stop mid-stream (yes, it's happened on rare occasions)). If I skipped you in my Rotation, it was PURELY by ACCIDENT, and I would put you up immediately. My name is Cueball, and I've been into Karaoke for about 12 years now. Maybe things are different in your area. I'm from NY, and over here, most of us KJs DO NOT work with a TIP Jar. Until I started participating in these Karaoke Forums (I'm talking about maybe 8 or 9 years ago), I never knew that this was a common practice in other States. There have been many discussions about this on the various boards, but I have NEVER SEEN anyone post something as INSULTING as you just did.

I'm KJ toqer, from 7 Bamboo. www.7bamboo.com Carlos, your opening statement "There are KJ's that work for the establishment, then there's ones that have thier own equipment" really ticked me off. This is a common, go nowhere argument KJ's use on karaoke forums around the world to tout "I'm better than you". It really makes no difference. I've worked at the same establishment for 6 years. **I get to choose what equipment we use** Yes, that's right. I choose. You can browse my website to see what equipment I use, I don't need to go into it here. The only *real* difference between you and me is i'm considered enough of an asset to my client where for a little less pay, i'm guaranteed work doing something I like indefinetly. As far as tips go, my shows a little differently run. We use wireless mics, and my technique looks like a baton race all night, with me setting up the next singer with thier mic before thier song even begins. I think everyone that sings should just give me a buck. I don't care if you sing once, or 20 times, give me a buck. This way my tips are relational to how many people participate in a given evening. So if there's 10 people in rotation, I should have $10 in my tipjar at the end of teh night. If there's a 50 man rotation, I should have $50 at the end of the night. People grousing about tips, OK, nobody is forcing a gun to your head but here's a tip for you, from this KJ. I'm not going to give you special treatment if you don't tip. Sorry, that's just life. You don't tip the skycap he's just gonna clumsily toss your luggage onto the cart. You don't tip your parking attendant, he might park your car in a hobo piss puddle. You don't tip your bartender, they might start pouring weak drinks. From all of the above type of service industries (as well as karaoke) usually we give the customer the benifit of the doubt the first time in. We can remember your face one of two ways... That nice considerate customer that I love taking care of because they put a buck in my tipjar. Or. That inconsiderate jerkwad customer that I don't want to waste my time on because they're constantly demanding and give me nothing for doing above what my job requires. So ya, keep on not tipping your KJ's. We could be out back smoking, or skipping you when it's your turn. We can give you no reverb or delay, some messed up EQ'ing to make sure you look like an ass on the stage.