Karaoke Channel

[Chance]

This is the site I have found to be superior in the online karaoke experience.
You get a sense of quality immediately and actually feel like your money was well spent.
The actual recorder is what really impressed me though.

[pamplemus]

your views as posted in depth on the other associated thread are much in alignment with my own. there is a high level of correlation in the number of actual songs between the sites, though singsnap does have a higher volume of viennese baroque promenades and nordic war anthems in addition to their now legendary collection of medieval crimean wedding polkas. why any site needs six versions of "go tell it on the mountain" evades me, but perhaps there is a niche market they are exploiting.

TKC may not be poised to storm the online karaoke market in the manner that singsnap has, because their business model does not provide the same product. though they do both sell similar products, in the final analysis it is almost comparing apples to oranges. singsnap is packaged with an online drama feature that TKC has not chosen to include in their product, and so their service of superior recording capability coupled with a streamlined and functional format and a servicable catalog of a broad spectrum of popular songs in a widely representative spectrum of musical genre will only appeal to people who simply want to do online karaoke. those looking to have their egos stroked or who are seeking to use a site as a thinly veiled dating or trolling service will not find such at TKC, and of course gravitate to SingSnap, or less commonly Myspace Karaoke. in my opinion choosing between these boils down to how much virtual life and imaginary friends you want added to your online karaoke experience and how much you simply want a place to sing and record.

[Chance]

I agree. The absence of a message board forum set up just like Singsnap will attract anyone simply looking to sing and listen to the recordings of their friends.
Wasn't that the whole idea behind online karaoke in the first place?
If you pay for a membership at a karaoke site, what is the reason to have the addition of the boards?
That seems to be the source and the base for all of the trouble and dissatisfaction from customers who are or have been a part of Singsnap.
I almost want to say that if the boards were not a part of the Singsnap site there may not be the complaints that there are today with staff (read singsnapsucks.com) and the growing animosity with their volunteer program.
If these things were not in place would I think that Singsnap would then take the number one spot for the most superior online karaoke experience?
I don't think so.
If the forum at Singsnap were to be discontinued and removed then as Pamplemus said, we would then be comparing finally apples to apples.
Without the boards, KC would reign supreme.

[pamplemus]

as far as actual product goes TKC is doubtless superior from any objective standpoint. i do not think though that the only problem is that singsnap has a demonstrably inferior format, recorder, mixer, or interface. their entire existence is built on the sham of trevor mcguire's postulate that they are a family, and his most recent culling of the capacity of the "blue" members shows that he is disingenuous to say the least. though many of the complaints arise as a result of the heavy hand of moderators and administrators on the activities of members, a great number of the criticisms are directed at the waffling and wavering of trevor mcguire's business practices themselves. he has been under scrutiny before for his dealings as an executive at Corel, and for his reported "irregularities" with the licensing of karaoke tracks from companies such as chartbusters. singsnap was originally founded on the beta model where the site was largely funded by advertisement revenue which was generated because there was a large enough membership base to make such advertisement space appealing to marketers. gold membership was added later as a "bonus" feature to give people other options while retaining the same access to blue members. now they have done a 180 by making repeated and drastic cuts into the access the blue members have (an action that trevor swore never to do), declaring that soon blue membership will be temporary only, relegating blue members to two songs per artist, and placing a strict limit on server space, all the while declaring that they are "enhancing" the site for the blue members. their on site blog is sugar coated with what appear to be planted sugar pills by members, staff and volunteers chastising complainers and declaring how much better it is to receive the crumbs of singsnap than to go to any of those other karaoke sites. these activities are generating animosity among people who never set foot in any of the forums and have simply been there for the simple joy of singing. why any advertisers will choose to remain with a company that is actively eliminating it's subscribers is hard to guess, but my guess is that as go the blues, so go the ads.

[Chance]

It's interesting. While asking for reviews of online karaoke sites, no other site review (by a customer) has complained about staff or owners except for the customers at Singsnap.
There seems to be a very real disturbance behind the scenes there and serious doubts of the site could continue to generate income on a continuous level as time and years go by.
They say if you're not "there" in 5 years, you should cut your losses and close your business.
It would be worthwhile in my opinion to follow up with these sites in a years time to see if indeed they are still going strong.

[pamplemus]

it has been variously speculated that trevor is just building this thing up in order to sell it to the highest bidder. it would be consistent with his view of family and the relative importance he attaches to it. i of course do not mean his true family. he may be a doting father and devoted husband and reports of his indiscretion is entirely anecdotal and spurious. his success or failure at home does not in any way interest me, and if he were the worse and most abusive father and adulterous drunken husband in the world, if he dealt with his business in an ethical fashion those other issues should remain between him, his family, and the court system. alternately, if he were, or is, the best father and husband ever conceived on god's green earth, that would not make him a sound or ethical business partner if he is inherently flawed.

[Chance]

Now THAT makes sense my friend. A bit of a twist on the story. From what I know so far, (which isn't much) my first impressions of Trevor aside from everything else is he is a sneaky business man. I don't even think he values the staff (aside from Ralph & any other share holder) and could care less about the day to day dealings with the site.

I can see that. Build up the site to a level of membership only and get clear of any law suits. Get to the point where you can jump out with the most profit then bam, sell it or shut it down.

You never know