Dear Musicians,

While one-man bands where very popular at some point, they seem to be much less in demand on cruise lines nowadays. It seems as though solo entertainers have replaced many of the one-man bands for various reasons.

One big area of confusion, however, seems to be the definitions of both entertainers. The most important difference, in our view, is that one-man bands tend to use sequences heavily to support their singing, while solo entertainers focus on their vocal and instrumental performance and may add light sequences if at all.

Cruise lines simply tend to stay away from entertainers that use sequences heavily. We understand that good one-man bands take the time to collect sounds that effectively make you sound like a full band. However, many of their counterparts use cheap midi-sounding instruments because it costs less money and effort which is now hurting their chances to land a gig on a cruise ship.

Solo entertainers, guitarists or pianists that entertain either with our without vocals, simply show more talent and are often considered a more valuable product. If you consider that a lot of cruise lines now offer karaoke bars where passengers can entertain themselves, it’s important not to present an entertainer that merely pushes the start button on his off-the-shelf sequencer and sings along which may in the end come across as a version of karaoke.