MAKING KARAOKE HISTORY

Bertrands Music owned by John Bertrand and managed by his son Jeff is located at Black Mountain Rd. at the end of the Ted Williams Parkway in San Diego. I stopped by to get a little karaoke knowledge. I got a lot. John, Jeff and I sat down and talked about the karaoke business and where it is headed.

Q When did your dad get into the music business ?
Right out of college he was music major. He then became a band director for eleven years in San Bernardino. Then in the late seventies he got into the retail music business, working as manager for a local music store near where he taught. In eighty-three he started his own music store in San Bernardino. He then started a store here in San Diego. He now has the two stores.

Q When did you add karaoke to you music business ?
We added karaoke in 1988, starting with the only manufacturer at that time, DK Karaoke still known as a reliable standard. They don't make anything new at this time.

Q Where was your dad John born ?
He was born in Kankakee, Illinois one hour outside of Chicago.

Q Did your dad start out as a musician ?
Yes, music was always his passion. His first instrument was the trumpet, he played in the high school band. After that he knew he would like to pursue music as a lifetime career.

Q What is your largest market, KJs or home users ?
Home users. Since the prices have come down so much recently many people have machines in their home. For instance a starter machine is as inexpensive as $100.

Q How does your walk-in business compare to you internet business ?
We certainly have a large walk-in business, but when you compare San Diego with the world the percentage of internet customers is far greater.

Q Then why do you keep the store ?
Karaoke is not the only thing that we sell here. We sell sheet music, band instruments and other related music equipment and accessories. With the internet you have to focus on one thing at a time and for us it's karaoke.

Q What is you best selling product in the store ?
Band instruments are still our bread and butter here in the store.

Q How can manufacturers improve there products ?
Right now karaoke in the US is no where near what it is in other countries like Japan. You don't have a lot of main stream karaoke products like Sony here in this country.

Q Are there more exciting products in Japan for instance that we have never seen ?
Yes, since virtually every home in Japan has a karaoke unit.

Q How can KJs improve their business ?
There are a lot of KJs who do a great job of marketing there shows and some who are still using the same few discs they started with years ago. Of course it is always a matter of wisely investing in your business by buying the right equipment for the job and not spending on the wrong things. Another thing is to diversify by adding other things you can do such as DJ music. In fact, a lot of DJs are adding karaoke to their DJ businesses.

Q What is your best customer story ? (I really ask what is your funniest customer story, he wouldn't say.)

One customer came in after going to a karaoke bar one night. He bought a player and a few discs. Next week he came back and bought a few more. The next thing I know he's in the business with the largest library of anyone I know. He virtually has ever disc ever made.

Q You are a family business. How many brothers and sisters do you have ?
I have three brothers, John, Joel and Jacob. Joel and Jacob are going to college right now, so they don't really work in the store.

Q Do you all sing ?
All of us especially at home around the holidays. We don't really go out and sing in public much.

Q Who is the best singer ?
My dad.

Q Who is the worst ?
Me.

Q Is everyone in the family a musician ?
Everyone but me. My older brother John played Clarinet and drums through high school; my younger brothers, Joel and Jacob both play clarinet. Jacob is actually perusing a degree in music.

Q I know you are a golfer, which pastime do you prefer, Karaoke or golf ?
Unless it's raining I prefer eighteen holes on the golf course. I really get enough karaoke here at the store.

Q How can the KJs improve the karaoke movement ?
The best way is to get there customers into buying their own discs and home units. This also takes the pressure off the KJ from having to have so many new discs themselves. The customer then can practice at home and then bring their song in. This way the customer probably will be the only one singing that song that night at the club. We are also working on a plan for KJ customer referrals. The KJs would then receive credit towards their own purchase here.

Q This is a touchy subject for you I know, The technology is becoming more available to copy CDGs and DVDs. Other than the fact that any copied CDG could be a lost sale to you, how does it affect the karaoke business as a whole ?
I haven't seen a great impact here because of people burning discs, but as the technology becomes more readily available it may become a problem. If that happens, the manufactures will stop making new discs if they are not making money on them. When customers come in asking for the new songs they just won't be there.

Q Do you rent karaoke equipment ?
We do rent karaoke setups. For around $60 you can have a great karaoke party at home.

Q Do you offer a KJ with any of your rentals ?
We do not offer KJs nor do we deliver. This keeps it very affordable. And the equipment is so simple to run. It's like running a CD player. If it's a large party we do refer some of our regular KJ customers for parties.

Q What is your best renting or selling musical instrument ?
The alto saxophone sells the best. The only reason it doesn't rent as much is because it is twice the expense of other instruments to rent. Some say it's popular because President Clinton played one or because Lisa Simpson plays one I don't know.

Q Which karaoke disc manufacture backs their product the best ?
Most manufactures have warrantees. Chartbusters actually has a lifetime warranty covering any damage.

Q What is the first karaoke song that comes to mind ?
The first song that comes to mind is Dancing Queen and I think it is the number one selling karaoke song on the market. When I have a party at my house I have a group of girls who make it a requirement that I have that song for karaoke.

Q Are a lot of clubs buying their own equipment ?
No I think most clubs are still going the KJ route. The KJ brings everything for the show. I've had a few bar owners come in to get advice on buying there own equipment. If they spend all that money on equipment you still have to have a dependable person with the personality to run the show.

Q Is karaoke revenue rising or falling ?
Karaoke revenue has been rising every year since we started business in 1988.

Q Did you expect karaoke to go as far as it has ?
I think it has gone well beyond our expectations. I think it is going to get even bigger than it is now.

Q What format should KJs be investing in since there are so many formats available now ?
CDGs are still the format to buy. Ninety nine percent of all karaoke discs sold in the US are CDG's. DVD is still a long way away from becoming mainstream.

Q What do you think of the MP3+G ?
They are relatively new. The only advantage is that you get a lot of songs on a disc, but the quality suffers.

Q What would be a good starter machine for the home ?
The VocoPro DVG-380 is a great deal right now it's on sale. For under $200 you can play almost all the formats.

Q Do you sell foreign language karaoke ?
We have Spanish, French, Irish Italian and more.

Q When I come into your store ? How do I find a karaoke song, do I look in books or wait for a salesperson?
We have easy to use computer stations around the store. If you at home yo can go to www.expresskaraoke.com and find the same resource on you home computer.

Q How many karaoke songs are there ?
Over 100,000 songs and many more duplications by several companies.

Q Do you have them all ?
If we don't, we can have them in a day.

John Bertrand was my first advertiser when I got into the karaoke newspaper business. John reminds me of my high school band director. In fact that's what he was, a band director. Band directors seem to know good things about you that you might not even know yourself. It's just a way they seem to feel about people. Later I met Jeff one of his four sons. Jeff is not just a guy running his dad's store. I was very impressed with the answers he gave in this interview. And impressed by his business management skills. John will retire one of these days. When he does the business will be in great hands.