Hello from Chartbuster!

Hello everyone!

I am Debi Stovall, President of Chartbuster Karaoke. I wanted to introduce myself as I see there is a lot of inaccurate information in regards to our Company on this forum (and most others). That, in part, is our bad as we have not followed these forums like we should have. I apologize for that and promise to do better.

First of all, I would like to give a huge THANKS to all you KJ's who are conducting your business in a legal manner. We at Chartbuster intend to reward you for that! To be a legitimate business, an initial and ongoing investment must be made in order to be in business and stay in business. In this industry it is a common practice to conduct a business illegally with little or no investment. Due to this unfortunate practice, KJ's, stores, manufacturers, music publishers and songwriters are tremendously hurt by this. Eventually the whole industry will implode if we (the manufacturers, legal operators and legitimate stores) don't take a stand.

Therefore, I am asking all legal operators to contact me with any information, leads and comments in regards to this scourge of piracy in our business. You will remain anonymous if you choose. I believe that there are more good people out there than bad, but the bad ones get all the attention. We, the honest ones, can and will change this by policing our industry. If you are illegal, you will be caught and prosecuted, so don’t be upset with us or strike out against us with your negative slams and inaccurate versions of the law. The laws are very clear and if you break them, you chose to do so, therefore you will be held responsible for your actions. If you are operating illegally and are not worried, you should be. There is no more room in this industry for illegal operators.

We at Chartbuster take pride in servicing our customers with great quality tracks, great customer service and a win win operation. We want everyone in this business to be successful and to prosper, but in a legal and fair manner.

Thank you for your time and I welcome any and all comments. I can be reached at [email protected] or 865-577-5597 Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm EST.

Kindest Regards,
Debi Stovall

 

Welcome and good luck. It is always a plus to get the info straight from the horse's mouth. I appreciate the effort and hope that KHs and manufacturers can have a good working relationship in the future. Maybe this will give us something new to talk about.

 

Welcome. It seems that you could not have arrived at a better time.

 

This is a set up for disaster. What is the main problem we have had on these boards regarding the SC debacle? People assuming with no proof that Group B are pirates...etc..

Now this is only one board out of hundreds I assume...if she is posting this on some of the much larger boards and while I can't say for certain that she is. This seems like a dangerous avenue to pursue.

Now factor in hatred towards people who don't agree with tactics of the manufactures, competition, personal vendettas, unless they really have the man power to actively investigate, send people out to shows to sing..and strike up conversations with KJ's etc. I see this leading to another way to hurt the business I love.

I can only hope that CB has learned from the mistakes of SC, and don't repeat them.

BTW, Welcome To OKJT

 

Welcome and thank you for joining our forum. It is great to have another manu here to chat with. Dont let the nay sayers get you down. :biggrinpill:

 

Welcome to the board I hope that you will be able to answer some questions that will come up regarding CB's policy's.

 

Yes welcome to the sandbox.

 

Hi Debbie,

I have a question!

How do I get a response to an email question on how to get my download purchase?

 

If someone is legal or "legit" (Assuming that CB is going to allow 1:1 for computer use), then it makes no difference if they are reported by someone with an axe to grind, on the other hand most KJs know who in their area are legit operators and who the pirates are. So it makes sense for the manus to ask for help from the legit operators, even if it is a pirate turning in a pirate that is OK too!

I just don't see how it could hurt the business to clean it up, for those who are a legit business it will only get better as pirates fold up shop!

The only thing I see anyone being able to complain about their business being hurt would be those who have to cut their libraries from 100,000 songs to 5,000 songs or have to purchase the music they are using or cut and run from the business or those who remove the content in protest of the actions of each Manu. Spending a couple of hours in an audit certainly isn't going to hurt anyone's business who is legit considering the benefits later on!

I don't like having to sit through IRS audits every couple of years but it seems like that is part of doing business as well!

 

Like I have said before, I have a problem with any company who wants to audit people because they themselves keep/kept poor records, or any company who wants proof of my purchase unless it is in a court of law. I do believe The Fourth Amendment protects people against this.
What they are doing is legal ONLY if we allow it. I made this analogy before, if I sell you a car, and then years later, Ford sees you driving it, does that give them the right to stop and search your records to make sure you paid for it, and it wasn't stolen? Wouldn't that job be up to the Police? Why wouldn't this fall under the same argument?
I am just saying that I feel the approach is wrong, I think if they want to turn their findings over to the authorities then it would be an acceptable course of action. What you guys want is a Modern Day Karaoke Witch Trail.

While I can understand your mentality on wanting the pirates gone, and I do as well.
Your method is the problem, you can't go around slinging accusations at people and expect them to have to defend themselves. That would be like a playground bully.
I will give you another example, let's say Wall Of Sound and you were in the same market, and you think he is a pirate, you alert CB or SC or whoever, and while he is under scrutiny from these companies, he is directly affected because the bar where he works finds out, and doesn't wanna wait out the drama...and after he loses gigs it turns out he was legit. You just cost him money based on assumptions or vendettas or whatever.
The same could be said with the Craigslist ad about you...it said you were rude and fat, and skipped rotation and your set up sounded like beating on trashcans. Someone who didn't know better and just read the boards, they would be like, well i know where I ain't going Friday night. Never giving you the benefit of the doubt. While you may not be affected greatly...SOMEONE read that post and told so and so and so on...You will never let go of the stigma because people are NOT inclined to give seconds chances when it is not someone they know personally.

Just something to think about...

UNLESS the mentality is Kill'em first then ask questions later.

 

Welcome to the Board Chartbuster! It does help the spread of misinformation and assumptions having the Manufacturers here.

 

All he has done with his ads in Craigslist, Ebay etc. is angered some of the venues he works in, many of the people who come to my shows, (including some who were going to his as well) and opened himself up to another lawsuit, this time from me.

And no matter how hard he tries he simply can't overcome the popularity of my shows, his last about a year max while mine run 7 to 12 years at any single location. Even the shows he has undercut from me end up calling me to come back within a few weeks. So although his ads annoy me they don't really cause me any loss of sleep!

 

Nope, that's pretty much a direct quote...I see somethings NEVER change with you. Since you seem to have forgotten what it said. Here is a link again.
http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/evs/1947887217.html

And for those who don't wanna bother clicking, this is what it said...

Went there last tuesday for karaoke and the rude fat man skipped me. His crackly speakers made me want to leave in the first five minutes but we had met friends there. My ears are still ringing from those lousy garbage speakers, ones in my house are better than that! Steve Miller sucks! It has to be the worst sounding karaoke I have ever heard, like beating a metal trash can...

How do i know more than what he said? Geez, Really...we doing this again?

 

Well now this is a brand new one to me as I haven't seen this one before! The one problem is that no one knows me as "Steve Miller" at any of my shows:biggrinpill: I only go by my middle name because no one else has it!

The only people who would know my real name are the ones who are on these boards or have dealt directly with me through a contract or are personal friends. Since Nigel hasn't been back to BAJA since the owner told him he was no longer welcome there over a year ago, that ad is either by one of my close friends, someone from these boards or made up by Nigel. I can guess which!:laughpill:

Funny how that add came out right after BAJA made the Hooks "Best place in Charlottesville for Karaoke"!

 

If you wouldn't have had me on ignore you would have seen where I asked us all to flag it...that was days ago.

 

True!

If you hadn't signed up using a name that Nigel has called me, I wouldn't have imeadiately put you on ignore either!:winkpill:

 

Like I know or knew Nigel....but you could have asked or tried to find out first.

 

Again true!

But if your first post on OKJT hadn't been a direct attack on me, I wouldn't have made that assumption! (well I probably would have because you were signed up without any history, profile, location etc.)

Now, I have to get ready to go to work, again see you all after 3AM!

 

First let me say I appreciate the warm welcome. Most of you are very kind. And, I must say I expected most of what each one of you are saying.

I would like you all to know that Chartbuster Karaoke has never and never will have hatred in our hearts or our business for anyone…ever! We are never vindictive…ever! That is not who we are and never have been. From the beginning our company was built on honesty, integrity, character and very high standards. We are a family oriented company and truly care about each and every one of you.

I will try to hit on your posts in a nutshell although I could write a book. We never assume anything. That is a BIG no no in our company and always has been. This is the only board I have posted on to date, but I will post on others in the future. You will not be required to show any receipts, records or proof of purchase. All we need to see are your discs for each system you operate. We know when a disc has been manufactured by Chartbuster or not. I understand that you want us to turn this over to the authorities, but they are the very ones that suggested we do it ourselves as they do not have the manpower or budgets to do so. Once the information is gathered it goes through the legal process as anything else would. We are not taking the law in our own hands as you believe. There is no Witch Trial. There are no slinging accusations and we are not bullies. We are a very fair company.

In the last 5 years we have lost millions of dollars to the illegal use of Karaoke Tracks. We have our family here at Chartbuster to support and they work hard every day to bring you great quality karaoke tracks, great customer service and fast shipping consistently. We have people that have worked here for 17 years. Most of our employees have been here long term. They have been cut back to 3 or 4 day work weeks throughout the year, taken pay cuts, worn many hats for the pay of 1 job, lost any bonuses they used to receive and recently lost most of the benefits we have offered throughout the years. They believe in this company, enjoy working here and believe and depend on us to take action in order for them to keep their jobs. Maybe you should look at our side. Taxes, taxes, taxes, insurance, overhead, payroll, royalties, equipment purchases, building payments, etc. etc.

All we want is to bring integrity back to this industry by legalizing and legitimizing it which will be best for everyone. Let’s look at this in a positive nature rather than a negative light. The majority of this industry is glad that the manufacturers are doing something rather than sit back and watch this industry implode. We will always do the right thing. We expect everyone in this industry to do so also.

Chartbuster is not out to hurt, destroy or accuse anyone of anything that is not true. If you are legal then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. If you aren't, you do. It's that simple. We are a reputable company that has been in business since 1979 and we did not stay in business by operating underhandedly or dishonestly and we are very proud of that.

I appreciate all of you and look forward to your comments. Just try to keep them positive by sending me solutions, not bashings. Unfortunately we will never make everyone happy but we never stop trying to accomplish that.

Regards,
Debi Stovall

 

Thanks for your time Debi.
My intention was not to bash...I hope it wasn't taken that way.