Custom karaoke CDGs deal or steal?

By Melissa Reed

I would like to begin by letting you, the consumer, know that not all custom karaoke CDGs you purchase are legal.

There are several companies out there that you can purchase legal custom CDGs from, and there are those that you are really taking a risk even submitting your info to the site for the purchase of any materials.

The problem is this, after long and lengthy research, I have come up with this information for you. Please use this information to your advantage. During my investigating I found one site in particular that I would question in every regard. This is what I found.

www.karaokeorder.com

I was advised of this during a discussion I had with a fellow karaoke enthusiast who has purchased from this site and was sent a letter with the “NEW” Web site information. The first thing I noticed about this site is that they do not include any of their business information on the site, anywhere. There is no contact information, no location information, no phone numbers, and no way to contact them other than filling out a Web-submitted email. Okay, red light’s and sirens went off in my head. I asked myself, “Would I actually submit my personal information along with credit card info on a Web site that does not have any business information posted anywhere?” NO WAY! Do you know who is getting that info? Do you know where it is going? Do you know you will have proof if something happens to your credit? But you know there are people out there who do not even question it.

You might say, “Whats the big deal?” Well, let me tell you. People do it because karaoke music is expensive, and in order to get ten songs you like you need to purchase several CDGs averaging anywhere from $15-$35 a disc or more!

You can save a lot of money having custom discs made. But I will tell you why to be careful of where you go to do this. Most of those sites are not legal to begin with, and if you think for one minute that buying a song for $1 each is good enough, then ask yourself why for that amount of money would any professional karaoke business, or host be willing to subject themselves to playing pirated music, and potentially taking the risk of being fined or worse?

If there is no information on the site about authorization to sell these songs then don’t buy them.

Read the FAQ on the site in regards to legal use of the disk and notice that many of them will say, they are not made for public performance and they are intended for private use only. This means it cannot be played in a bar at karaoke. They do not have legal rights to be selling these songs to you. The whole point to this is to safeguard you and the establishments that you patronize for karaoke, the hosts, the business owners, and anyone who would face criminal charges.

So that you are aware, fines are from $750-$150,000 per offense, and jail time can be up to ten years per offense (per song). These are the copyright infringement laws and Federal laws. Now, when your host tells you they will not play burned discs, there is a reason. They are not being mean, they are not trying to keep you from singing your favorite songs. If you really want to sing these songs, ask your host to purchase the music for their books. Then it will always be there for you to sing.

There are legal discs out there, and below I have listed several companies you can go to for custom CDGs. These you will not have a problem having played at karaoke, and you will not have to worry about where it came from. These sites cost more than $1 a song, but are well worth the price. You will get great quality music, and you will have a legal copy of the music you want! They have paid for the rights to make discs for you, and distribute to the public as an actual licensed item.

The best thing is that you will own the copy of this music, and karaoke music that is meant for public performance. That’s a deal!

This actually goes far more into copyright laws than just ordering custom CDGs. It is illegal to upload music onto any device without getting the proper licensing to do so. Which means that unless the karaoke music, which is on the laptops or hard drives to run a karaoke show, has been licensed, it is illegal. This is part of the problem with all the new laptop/computerized karaoke shows. Most do not realize that it is a Federal offense, and will continue to do so until told otherwise.

Then, you have some karaoke companies out there that will have several sets of music burned onto disks in order to have backups, which by investigating the laws is also illegal, unless the original disc is accompanied by the burned copy, and in most cases is rare considering they are distributed among several different shows. So really there are far more reasons to be concerned with burned discs or burnable music, or even having uploaded music that is not licensed. And as the consumer, it is your right to know.

You can check into any of this information by going to the Web site noted below, it will also give you links to other sites containing the actual bi-laws and legal repercussions in running a illegitimate business.

These places are legal from which to order custom karaoke music:

www.mycdg.com
www.totalkaraoke.com
www.expresskaraoke.com
www.ab-cds.com

For more information on copyright infringement, or more information on this matter go to: www.karaokeantipiracyagency.com/faq.html.

If you have any other questions, feel free to call me at 360-421-7463 or email at starlighte@hotmail.com.

I am more than happy to set you in the right direction for karaoke music, or information to the laws that govern the industry!