It’s not as easy to be a KJ as most people would think. Many karaoke singers contemplate the prospect of becoming a karaoke host and ask the KJs for advice. It seems like a nice job, making money by going out to bars or restaurants, playing music and singing a few songs. How hard can that be right?
That’s the easy part of the job and a person must acquire a few skills and a lot of music and equipment before they can reach that position. Purchasing and maintaining equipment is not only expensive but it requires knowledge of components to build a quality sound system. The cost of purchasing equipment for a professional karaoke show might be several thousand dollars. So, a prospective karaoke host must have the skill and financial ability to purchase a system that sounds good, and some knowledge of setting it all up or repairing it as needed.
Of course a karaoke show must have a large selection of songs for the singers, and this is a much larger expense for the KJ. One Palm Beach County KJ stated that his library of karaoke songs had cost him over $40,000, and he continues to purchase new songs as they become available.
Once a KJ has all the equipment and music necessary to host a karaoke show he’s ready to go right? Well not exactly. He also needs a safe and inexpensive way to transport this equipment to each show. A good karaoke system won’t fit in the trunk of a car.
Next the KJ must find work. There’s a lot of competition in the karaoke business, and each KJ must search for new venues where they can establish a good fan base. This requires the skill to acquire the job and the personality to build a following. Most KJs will not try to steal jobs from other hosts but there are some who will undersell another KJ to find more work.
One very important skill required of a KJ is the ability so set the sound of his or her equipment to fit the venue. Each location has a variety of acoustic differences and a good KJ must be able to adjust the overall sound accordingly. The KJ must also be able to adjust volume, EQ and effect levels properly during the show for each singer.
Adding up what we have so far, a KJ must have all the equipment, music, transportation, skills to purchase, set up, maintain, and adjust, and the ability to acquire jobs as well as build a fan base. Not much to ask of the KJ so far. The host must also be physically fit enough to lift and haul all this equipment.
The karaoke host must also have a lot of patience to be able to deal with performers, who are impatient, or some who behave poorly because they have had too much to drink and those who mistreat the equipment.
A KJ earns between $100 and $200 per job for a four hour show. Setting up and taking down equipment requires a total time of 1 to 2 hours and of course there is travel time to and from the venue. After taxes and expenses many KJs are earning about $12 an hour.
Rumors of karaoke CD manufacturers suing KJs for licensing issues have recently cropped up in South Florida which has many karaoke hosts singing the blues.
With all this in mind, would you still want to become a KJ?
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