Things you should consider before booking a Disco or Karaoke gig with us or from a competitor

Firstly call for quotes - this is simply good business sense. But don't fall into the trap that everyone is quoting on the same thing; it's not like ringing up to hire a car where you can get quotes on a specific make & model.

The cheapest price may not be what you need for your function.

Questions to ask yourself;

• How large is the function/party going to be?
• Will it be at home or in a hired room - like a club?
• Do I want to run the function myself or have someone run it for me?
• What is my budget?

Questions to ask a potential Hirer

• Where do you currently work ask for references.
• How much power will the system produce? - if it's under 200 watts, then you may as well use your home stereo.
• Will I get disco lighting? - If so what do I get?
• What have they based their price on?
• If the quote cheaper, what does it exclude?

Being a known brand doesn't equate to good service or value for money. Now compare the answers and ask yourself

• How can they all provide the same service?

Well guess what, they can't.

Some DJs and Karaoke operators actually hire the equipment or take their home stereo's to your function!!!!! - the kicker is they are charging you commercial rates for a substandard service!

Cheaper quotes mean the operator must cut corners to drop the price this is a fact of life.

If Raven Entertainment were to charge $200.00 for a show, while continuing to run the best equipment, after expenses we wouldn't even break even! We would go out of business. The result is that cheaper quotes are providing poor or low cost equipment and little or no lights. But still want to charge you hundreds of dollars!

Examples of our competitors cutting corners are:

For Karaoke

• 1 x microphone
• 1 or 2 x 100 watt speakers
• 1 x 100 or 200 watt amp
• No lights
• approximately 1000 Karaoke tracks and
• No, public liability insurance - Or
• You get to run the show yourself!

For Disco

• Running music off laptops*
• Pirated CD music*
• No Lights
• Cheap low power equipment - subject to breakdowns
• No PPCA Licence - A licence to play recorded music in Public
• No public liability insurance

Some so called DJs are young people out there trying to make a few dollars - thats fine but their music is often downloaded off the internet. Most of them carry no insurance - what if something goes wrong? The kicker is they charge you as if they are running a business which they are not. When you get a quote put them to the test be sure to ask questions like the following;

• Are they insured? and can you see their insurance certificate?
• Are they licenced by the PPCA?
• Is their music original or copied? Ask to view it - remember if they get caught you also get fined!
• Are they are registered business?

You will be surprised at their answers:)

At Raven Entertainment I carry a public liability policy and appropriate PPCA licences.

If the power is under 200 watts, you may as well have used your home stereo. These are the "Cowboys" of the industry and don't reflect the genuine operator using professional equipment. They are out to make a fast buck! and their prices reflect this. They generally carry NO insurance, use pirated music and offer inferior sound systems (as mentioned above).

Sure, you won't ever hire them again, but by then you have done your $$$ on a cheap show. And, yes, all your guests will remember the poor show long after you have said goodbye to the Cowboy DJ!

What should you be paying for a show?

• Under $200 will be a cheap - either run it yourself Karaoke setup if you can find one (very unlikely), or a pirate music DJ system with very little power. Basically if you are planning a party with over 30 people you may end up being very sorry you went with this option. This will cater to under 30 people.



• $200 - $300 will buy you a low to medium run it yourself Juke Box setup or a DJ with a very basic systemJ! This will cater to 30 - 50 people.



• $350 - $450 will get you a Karaoke setup with host, Or a good to very good DJ setup. This will cater to 50 to 600 people.



• $500 - $600 will get you extra power and sub woofer speakers with Karaoke plus additional lighting, Or a Very good DJ setup running additional speakers, strobes lights, smoke machines. This will cater for 50 - 1000 For Karaoke or 1000 people with Disco.



• $600 now your talking! This will get your a supurb sounding Karaoke setup with full Disco you may also get a video projector included, additional power amps and speakers, speakers,speakers! Lighting to blow you away and smoke maybe cordless micrpophones, Or with a DJ setup we are talking additional power amps and speakers serious lighting and smoke you may also start looking at Video hits as well. This should cater for over 1000 people. We are talking serious power here!

Some Mobile DJ hirers claim their basic show will cover 500 people! What they don't tell you is the sound level would be the same a a portable CD player. Again you are being ripped off. When you ring up these people, ask them how much power is being provided. If they say they will have to get back to you, then they are using a 17 year old DJ (contractor) with sub standard equipment. Sure they might charge $50.00 per hour but as discussed above these are the industry cowboys.

Wouldn't you expect the owner to know what equipment they have?

Raven Entertainments standard systems will cater for up to 500 people at night club volumes or 1000 people at a rasonable volume!

Yes, we can host and run larger functions - however you would need to call to discuss your requirments.

If you're planning a function for over 30 people then I suggest you get a professional DJ to run the show for you.

For $425.00 you get Karaoke plus it may include full disco with a host (DJ/KJ).

For $400.00 you can have Disco with a professional DJ.

Am I Being ripped off paying a few more $$$

For realistic purposes hiring any sort of equipment is usually 10% of the actual value. Karaoke equipment runs at over $20,000.00 whereas Disco equipment runs at about $5000.00 to $12000.00.
Therefore most mobile operators in the ACT are undercharging the actual value of the equipment plus providing a DJ.

If you're planning to run the show yourself for larger numbers please consider the following.

• Have you ever run a large function?
• Can you set up complicated equipment?
• Can you EQ systems?
• Where about are you going to aim the peak power?
• What are you going to do if something fails?
• Are you a good public speaker?
• How is your patience with people (especially intoxiated ones)?
• For Karaoke - can you sing?
• Are you prepared to sing for the first 1 to 2 hours before people work up the courage to sing (this is a normal part of the business)?
• For disco do you carry a minimum of 1000 tracks and are they current hits?
• Will you run video hits as well?
• Do you have professional headphones?
• Can you provide cordless microphones?

Sure, you may have seen a Disco or Karaoke being run at places around town and, yes, at times it does look easy, but the reality is very very different. If you have answered no to any of the questions above you may be trying to do too much, so best leave it to the professionals.

What does a DJ or KJ (Host) do anyway?:

• A DJ will read the crowd and play the appropriate music mix, he or she may speak or may be silent if everything is running to plan.
• A KJ/DJ will have to stay with the equipment the entire night,
• A KJ/DJ will have to speak into a microphone - are you a good public speaker?
• A KJ will have to sing (Karaoke) to encourage others - you must have at least a fair voice or no-one will want to follow you, no-one wants to sound bad.
• A KJ/DJ will to have cue songs, with 10 people asking you at the same time for a song and if you have this specific song (and why don't you have this particular song, sound familiar?).
• A run it yourself KJ/DJ will be liable for any damage they or their guests cause, this could be expensive, as single Karaoke disc ie DVD/CDG/LD/VCD/ can cost up to $170 dollars each! So don't scratch it!

If you're still considering running the show yourself to save a few $$$, don't forget about regular music - as mentioned above you will need at least 1000 tracks.

For Karaoke-only Hire what are you going to play this music on? Maybe your home stereo system? Let us consider this for a moment.

Most home systems pack up particularly at party's, why? Simply because they have been designed to play music at low to medium volume only. They were never designed to run at full volume very long, generally most parties start low then as the night continues the volume gets pumped up louder and louder until you blow your speakers! That $100.00 you saved by hiring the "cheap run-it-yourself system" just cost you $500.00 to $1000.00 depending on your speakers.

(Even I blow speakers. I also run a compressor to stop this from happening. The last speaker I had to replace was an 8 ohm 400 watt sub woofer which set me back over $350.00 ie the cost of the gig)

Lastly, running your own show will get hectic especially if you're catering to more than 30 people, and the down side is you will have to put your partying on hold for the evening.

This defeats the purpose of having a fun time at your own function!

As A Comparision

Our systems rarely get over half volume in output and that's running it in a major club!

Our equipment is professional quality, specifically designed for what it does.

We also provide a large range of regular music for all tastes (ie 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 2000 onwards) or will play your music if you prefer (at no additional charge!).

Questions to ask competitors

• How much and how long is the minimum booking for?
• If I go over the minimum booking by say 30mins do I pay for a full additional hour or just part thereof?
• What about a longer booking ie can I get a discount for a 6-hour booking?
• Will a DJ/KJ be provided?,
• How will the gig be run? For example some operators play 1 Music track then 1 Karaoke track (If you're into Karaoke you know what we mean) even when the singers are lined up! This means your function has been cut in half but you still paid the full price for Karaoke! Ask the operator how they intend to run the gig and see how they respond. Don't be sucked into sub-standard service.
  • In comparision we manage to play between 12 to 15 Karaoke tracks per hour! Considering most songs run between 3 & 5 minutes this is no easy feat.
• Will there be filler music available? If so, what type and will it cost you extra?
  What's filler music? That's a good question. Consider this - what are you going to do when no-one wants to sing right away? This is a normal part of the Karaoke business. Are you planning to spend 2 hours singing yourself? Even "Raven Entertainment" don't want to sing every song for 2 hours so you're going to need music to fill in the gaps when your waiting for others to sing, ie filler music:)
• What about lighting, what will be provided and is it free or an additional extra cost? (Our regular price includes Disco lighting with system 1 & 2)
• What sort of equipment will they provide?
• Is it a "CAVS" system?
  (This means tracks saved to a HDD and then played back in text format (words only on screen); this is inferior music to a regular CD, CDG, VCD, DVD or Laser Disk)
• What about mixing equipment, do they provide any?
• How many speakers will be provided? Generally a single speaker won't provide you with the best sound.
• Importantly - "microphones" how many come with the system?
• Lastly, don't forget to tell them how many you are expecting to cater for. A function of 100 is not the same as, say, 3000! (Nor is the cost)

Links to show what we mean

The Competition This site is in the UK but it does demonstrate very well what we are talking about. The best part is they even povide you with 300 songs wooo hooo plus you get to pay extra for lights etc.

Remember, if the quote sounds "too" good to be true, it usually is.

We have provided all the information up front for you to make an informed decision. Sure you may save $50.00 or even $100.00 dollars booking someone else instead of us but it won't be the best. Good luck with your function.

Our systems will provide you with the equivalent sound and volume you would expect from a Night Club!