Venue Owners Guide

This guide is to help you and your clients book a professional mobile disco or karaoke. We explain why this directory will be of use to you, along with what checks you may need to carry out to safeguard your business and your licence.

Public Liability Insurance (PLI)

We recommend that you always book a DJ who has this as it safeguards you and your clients against any accidents involving the entertainer or their equipment. If you book an entertainer who has no cover, you may end up finding yourself being taken to court by the injured person. In our opinion this is the most important cover that an entertainer must have and an individual who is not covered has no interest in other peoples well being or safety. We personally would not book a DJ who was not covered. PLI is not expensive and there are many companies that offer this type of policy with cover ranging from £1 million pounds upwards.

The Mobile Disco Directory can help you at a glance choose an entertainer who is covered by using the system on our directory. All companies that have cover must send us proof of their policies to have their business entry updated. When their policy expires, they must send proof of their new cover to maintain their listing. This system helps you choose a safe entertainer.

Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)

PAT testing is not yet a legal requirement but is recommended that you choose an entertainer who has their equipment tested. PAT testing is carried out by a qualified electrical professional who ensures that equipment is operating correctly and in a safe manner. PAT testing is very much like an MOT for your car, except it is an annual test carried out on electrical equipment. Some venues like local councils will not allow entertainers to work in their venues without proof of PAT testing. Again PAT testing is not expensive and will help you choose a DJ who takes health and safety seriously.

Once again the Mobile Disco Directory can help you choose an entertainer who has their equipment PAT tested by using our directory.

Please Note: Most PAT equipment testers will simply issue a certificate to say when the equipment is due for test or was tested. Also do not assume that if there is no sticker that the gear isn't tested for safety, the details may be listed on a test certificate instead of labelled on the equipment. Also you may find the entertainer has hired the equipment from a hire supplier who may well have their own independent engineer to test the equipment each time it is used, in which case an annual PAT test isn't appropriate, if so he / she should be able to provide a copy of the service record for each item in their inventory & if you ask for a copy of this record for proof they should supply it.

Examples of PAT tested stickers that can be displayed on tested equipment.

Copied or Pirated Media

This is an issue where we can not provide information on who uses it and who doesn't, but we can make you aware of the implications of an entertainer using pirated media in your venue. Copied or pirated media is illegal and you could lose your entertainments license or worse still be closed down. The authorities do random checks on different venues now and again to check if copied media is being used. We cannot provide a way of telling you whether or not a company uses such media but can help you how to spot it.

Copied media is very easy to obtain with the use of the internet and file sharing applications. Copied media may be in use by your entertainer, use the below guide to help you spot it.

What To Look For.

The best way to pick out a pirated CD+G disc is to check the back of the disc. Due to the different manufacturers' processes to produce an original CD versus a CD-R (recordable CD), the back of the copied disc will have a different color than the original.
The copied discs have various color differences ranging from blue to green to gold.

CD-R	CD-R	CD-R
CD-R	Original

Another way to identify copied disc is to check the way they are labeled. Most copied discs can be seen with either a plain label printed from a home printer or no label at all and marked with a permanent marker. Regardless of the quality of the printed label, the important thing to remember is if it is LABELED, chances are it is NOT an original.

If it is LABELED, chances are it is NOT an original.

At first glance some discs may appear to be original due to today's advancements in printing and scanning technology that is available to the consumer market.

Copied Disc

Original Disc

Even with the quality that today's technology offers, you can still pick out a copied disc by looking at the center hole of the disc itself. The ORIGINAL CD's carry the manufacturer's identification number and a bar code hologram whereas a copied disc, in some cases, is labeled as CD-R or CD-RW.

All original discs carry the same standards with regard to the printing process on the face of the disc. The actual printing is a silk screen process that prints the face of the disc with ink.

R E M E M B E R:

• Original discs have a silver back.
  
• Original discs have a silk screened face (no label).
  
• Original discs carry a manufacturer's identification number.
  

Please Note: Some karaoke disks may indeed be on CD-R's but please check that these disks are from a professional, licensed supplier. Many will have "Pro-burn" or "Sing to the World custom CDG" as Pro burn & Sing to the world also offer KJ's a custom CDG facility. Pro-Burn Custom Karaoke, is a new concept in karaoke CDG discs where you can choose the tracks you want on your karaoke CDG disc, this helps keep down on the number of duplicates & is also a great feature to obtain specific tracks for theme nights meaning the KJ can pick out the tracks they want & have them on the one disk instead of buying perhaps 20 different disks to obtain each individual track they want. If in doubt ask who supplied them the disks or find out the name of the store where they buy their disks & try to verify with the store if they offer a Custom disk facility, many of which that do should also keep a database of what they have sold & who to, so asking the store a few careful questions to provide details to verify your concerns shouldn't be to difficult.


If your entertainer is operating illegally, maybe you should consider changing them.

Useful links for more information on copyright and how it affects your business.

MCPS - Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society
BPI - British Phonographic Industry (Anti Piracy)

If you have any more questions or comments on any of the above topics, visit our forum for information.