With the rise of technology and at-home streaming, it’s no surprise that movie theater occupancy is rapidly declining. While individuals still love that feeling of going out to a movie to buy popcorn and enjoy the latest releases, streaming provides a new level of convenience that is more affordable and accessible.
If you have/run a movie theater and struggle to get new customers in the door, you aren't alone. As a business owner, you'll need to consider what you can do to diversify your revenue and bring in new customers.
One of the best ways to bring in more revenue and see a steady uptick of new customers in your movie theater is to go beyond movies and offer others sources of entertainment for customers.
We’re here to walk you through how bringing private karaoke rooms to your movie theater can bring in new business and lead to potential growth opportunities.
This blog goes over:
- What is a karaoke room
- The benefits of karaoke room
- Considerations before starting with karaoke rooms
- Karaoke vs. other entertainment options
- Get your karaoke rooms started with Singa
What is a private karaoke room?
A private karaoke room is a room that individuals can rent out to sing private karaoke sessions with their friends, family, or coworkers. These rooms provide an intimate experience for individuals to sing their favorite tunes without getting on a stage or looking for a bar or restaurant that hosts weekly karaoke nights.
Depending on your city or location, the average private karaoke room is around $40 - 80 an hour, with the average booking time being about 2 hours. If you have a fully booked night, this extra source of income can help you reach and exceed your revenue goals year over year.
The benefits of karaoke rooms
There are many benefits to adding private karaoke rooms to your movie theater. Whether you want to grow your business, appeal to a younger audience, or simply looking to add a few additional streams of income to your establishment. Once you decide private karaoke rooms are the right choice for you, here’s what you can look forward to:
Can increase occupancy throughout the week
Karaoke rooms can bring new business to your establishment. This will also help you increase occupancy and get more individuals to watch movies before or after they sing their favorite songs. While customers may not be coming to watch a movie, you can entice them with same-day discounts on movies or special offers for renting a private karaoke room.
Fun source of entertainment that matches the brand
Let's start with the most obvious benefit: singing karaoke with friends, family, or coworkers is fun! It’s a great way to relax after a long day and is the go-to source of entertainment for various individuals.
Karaoke rooms also match quite well with the ethos and brand of cinema as music and sound tracks are a core part of movies. People can easily recreate the theater experience in karaoke by singing musical numbers from their favorite films. Likewise, karaoke has made its way into countless films.
Create social sharing
Outside of photo displays like we saw with The Barbie Movie, it can be quite difficult to get people to organically share social media posts from your venue. As the use of phones should be discouraged during the films themselves.
Karaoke rooms are a very natural environment for social sharing as people want to share their fun experiences. By creating stunning interiors or providing costumes in your karaoke room people will actively be sharing their experience and tagging your venue.
You can take pre-booking online
When you let individuals pre-book their private karaoke session, you can improve the customer experience and automate the workplace. Taking pre-booking online can also help you prepare for the work week ahead. You’ll know exactly how many people plan to go to your movie theater that night. You can also send them deals to watch movies, grab snacks, or play games after their karaoke session ends.
Extra revenue boost for your business
Adding private karaoke rooms to your movie theater can help you diversify your income and increase revenue. You can charge customers per hour or person to rent the space with their friends and family. If you’re serving food and drinks in the rooms, you can expect even more cash flow from installing the rooms. Once you pay off your initial investment and the monthly cost of your karaoke software, everything is revenue from there on out!
What to consider when adding private karaoke rooms
If you decide to add a private karaoke room to your movie theater, there are a few things you’ll need to consider to ensure it’s a suitable fit for your establishment. This includes:
Upfront costs
There are a lot of upfront costs that go into getting your private karaoke rooms up and running. You’ll need to consider investing in TVs, iPads, software, and the tech that goes into ensuring your private karaoke rooms run successfully.
However, once your private karaoke rooms are up and running, you’ll quickly earn back the money you put into the investment.
Karaoke software
You must invest in karaoke software to give your customers the best possible experience. Software like Singa Box Mode will ensure your customers can browse from an extensive library of songs, queue up their favorites, and stay entertained throughout the experience. The software also takes some of the stress off of your employees, ensuring your private karaoke rooms are fully operational without a team member.
Space considerations
A large consideration is the rooms themselves, if you already have un-used rooms it is a matter of interior design and soundproofing; otherwise, there may be additional construction costs to get the rooms built.
Private karaoke rooms can vary in size. Whether you have the space to build rooms that can accommodate 2, 4, 6, or even 10. You’ll want to ensure your movie theater has room for every private karaoke room you plan to install.
Karaoke vs. other entertainment options
There are tons to consider when deciding between the different entertainment options you may have for your movie theater.
There are pros and cons to every option you have available. If you’re still debating between private karaoke rooms and other popular alternatives, here’s how they compare:
Escape rooms
Escape rooms put individuals' critical thinking skills to the test. They provide a fun-filled atmosphere with puzzles, riddles, clues, and mini-games customers must play to find a way out of the room.
Pros
- Great team-building activity for companies
- Challenging your customer’s critical thinking skills
Cons
- Once your customers solve the escape room, they won’t want to do it again
- Some puzzles and games may be too challenging or frustrating for customers
Axe Throwing
Axe throwing is a fun, innovative way to put your axe-throwing skill to the test. All your customers must do is grab an axe and throw it at the target. It's that easy! You can charge per hour or per person however you see fit.
Pros
- It’s fun, and it's something different!
- It's a great way to get your movie theater noticed by a new audience who enjoys axe-throwing
Cons
- You’ll need to hire additional employees to run the axe-throwing
- Not the safest game to add to your establishment
- It can get loud, which can be disruptive to moviegoers
Bowling
Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned game of bowling? Bowling is a great family-friendly game to consider adding to your movie theater. However, there’s a lot of cost and maintenance that goes into ensuring each lane is running.
Pros
- Family-friendly activity
- Great second stream or revenue
Cons
- High upfront costs and maintenance costs
- Need to have an adequate amount of space in your establishment for at least a few bowling lanes
- You'll need to hire someone for maintenance
Check out more entertainment options and how they stack up against other forms of entertainment.
Set up your next private karaoke room with Singa
Ready to attract a new audience and build on your offering? Singa is here to help. Our private karaoke room software provides customers with the best possible karaoke experience. Our software will make it easy for them to pick, queue, and sing their favorite songs and keep the party going all night.
