Living in Spain, as I do, and being a musician, as I am, means I have very strong views on music and the effect that Karaoke has inflicted upon us. It’s great for a bit of fun and nothing wrong with having karaoke evenings in bars etc. But once they start to replace actual musicians then the joke wears a bit thin. I know that in the US musicians have the same rights as any other worker and a strong union ensures they will not be cheated out of work like this.

Europe has no such safeguards and the Musicians Union in the UK is a toothless pussycat. So now, as a compromise, we have musicians playing and singing along to backing tapes, which is still karaoke in my eyes. Strangely enough this only occurs in places run by Brits as the Spanish would never consider substituting a real musician for karaoke.

The demise of live bands in venues that could clearly benefit from having them is sad. However in Spain we have 10 piece bands making a good living through the fiesta circuit which is always financed through local taxation. Imagine the uproar that would cause in the UK and probably the US too. Unlike the work obsessed countries of Northern Europe and the States the Spanish value their free time more than anything – mind you they also have the weather to enjoy it most of the time too!