Results tagged “karaoke”

OOOOH NOOO. Can we say worst idea ever?! Some Shanghai karaoke bars are considering putting commercials between songs as a way to get some extra moolah to pay for music royalties. The idea, as with most bad ideas relating to music, came from the very company entrusted by music copyright owners to collect royalties. At least the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau has been skeptical, saying consumers can complain if they feel their interests are being violated by annoying ads during time they already paid for. Please, Partyworld and Haoledi: DON'T DO IT. Source: Shanghai Daily

"If there's a camel up a hill, then it's Gong Li with me, when I doooo, when I doooo... "

You might have heard about the royalty fees being imposed on karaoke establishments, where the proposed amount was 12 yuan per room per day. Karaoke businesses across China have reacted negatively against the proposed fees, arguing that it was too high and that something along the lines of one yuan per room per day would be more acceptable. The debate heated up on November 20, when one of the entertainment associations in Guangzhou stated publicly that they would refuse to pay what they consider an exorbitant fee and find what legal recourse they could. Later, Beijing and now Shanghai organizations have stated their support for Guangzhou's position. Zhu Nan, an official with one of the organizations, said that they support royalty fees as long as the amount asked for is reasonable, and believe that the number ought to be the 1 yuan per room per day. It seems that fees have not been raised in Shanghai thus far (but we haven't asked around or been to a karaoke place in awhile). Whose interests are really at stake here? They say it's for the copyright owners of the songs -- is that true? Whose pockets are really being lined? And what about the little guy (and girl)? The little guy that can't sing worth shit? Who's looking for his interest?

Amongst the technical jargon on the Technology Marketing Coorporation's article, this part brought us out in a cold sweat:

Shanghaiist loves singing, and was crowned as “Karaoke Queen” many, many times by our friends. But the new Entertainment Venues Management Regulations (in Chinese), which will take effect on March 1 -- tomorrow -- are going to seriously cut our time at local KTV joints. According to this Shanghai Daily report, entertainment venues shall be closed from 2 am to 8 am. The interesting thing is bars, clubs, internet cafes and spas are not subject to the new regulation, as they somehow don’t belong to entertainment venues category. (WTF?)

Good ol' Micah, who hasn't posted on Shanghaiist for quite some time, is busy working on a translation of the above titled essay. Here's how it begins: