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May 2008
Sing that Tune
Oft-dismissed as a fad, karaoke exhibits its staying power—and revenue potential—for the
By Sara C. Shoemaker
Music producer Norbert Stovall believes that through the phenomenon of karaoke, everyone is a star. And, he doesn't have to live in Music City to prove it. His reputation precedes him as a legitimate
success having produced platinum-selling albums for country music legends such as Waylon Jennings
and Dolly Parton, as well as the recordings for various television and movie projects.
But the Seymour native yearned to return home, and it was there that the conversion of original hit
songs into high-quality karaoke versions became his signature. Stovall's 30-year-old Tennessee
Production Co. houses state-of-the-art recording studios and digital mixing and producing technology
that manages the entire process—from recording live tracks to printing CD cases—all from
an unassuming, one-story building located just inside the Sevier County line.
"In the beginning, karaoke was frowned upon due to the belief that it would put musicians out of
business," Stovall says. "That is not the case now. Karaoke is a strong revenue stream." His
impressive catalog of 15,000 karaoke songs—which includes ones of the largest collections of
country karaoke around—is available through its online sales portal, ChartbusterKaraoke.com.
In 2006, the company generated about $5.4 million in sales, a respectable number considering that
karaoke (which began as a fad of the late 1970s) is sometimes viewed as second-rate entertainment.
Such disparaging perception has fueled Stovall's efforts to prove the naysayers wrong. And, he has.
In fact, Stovall and his wife, Debi, have a knack for predicting an artist's next hit, purchasing
the necessary licensing and producing the karaoke version before the song is released to radio.
"Karaoke generates more CD and download sales of original songs and is a great promotional tool for
those songs and artists, new and old," he says.
Karaoke today is going digital with legal online downloading, streaming video, tunes for video games
and karaoke via cell phones. Stovall is at the forefront with a new deal with MySpace.com providing
licensed karaoke tracks for its MySpace Karaoke online portal.
With new distribution venues comes the pain of establishing new licenses, such as the permanent
digital download fee, a pennies-per-download amount now being hotly debated in the music industry,
says Nashville-based copyright attorney Derek Crownover.
The new fee will affect karaoke makers as well, but the drama of copyright law will likely go
unappreciated by Stovall's karaoke customers. All they want to do is sing.
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