Welcome to the KAPA web site, a resource for people seeking information about Karaoke piracy and news of current developments.

THE PIRACY THREAT

The purpose of this site is to help all of those who are interested in the preservation of the Karaoke industry to understand the threat posed by piracy. All of you are probably already aware of all of the news about piracy and its impact on the overall music industry. Every music label is suffering from lost revenue because of illegally copied CDs. All of these music labels manufacture hundreds of thousands of each CD title that they produce. In the Karaoke industry, each music manufacturer generally produces only a few hundred to a few thousand of each title.

The loss of just a few sold copies because of piracy has a very dramatic impact on each of these manufacturing companies. Karaoke discs already cost more to produce than a "regular" CD because the production costs have to be spread over just a few hundred copies instead of thousands or millions. The loss of a few sales means that the cost of producing the disc has to be recouped in the sale of fewer discs - which simply means the price of the discs has to increase.

In addition, the local KJ is also threatened by this piracy. He or she is an independent small businessperson. They operate just like every other business. They buy their equipment and their music, and charge a fee that permits them to pay for these expenses and make a reasonable profit. But a dishonest KJ, using pirated music, has lower expenses and can undercut the pricing of the honest KJ. So the honest KJ may have to increase his or her prices to cover the increased manufacturer's cost of discs because of piracy, which eventually means a higher cost to the audience. Or the honest KJs may be forced out of business because they cannot compete with the pricing of the pirate KJ.

Eventually, this piracy will continue to drive up the costs of producing new discs and to drive honest KJs out of business. In some cases, even manufacturers will go out of business. The production of new songs will slow down, and the entire industry will be impacted. It is easy to ignore this threat and to believe that it will never occur. But the production of Karaoke music is a business. If the companies that make the music cannot make a profit, the supply of music ends.