Karaoke on Mobile Phones

In 2003, several companies started offering a karaoke service on mobile phones, using a Java MIDIet that runs with a text file containing the words and a MIDI file with the music. This is still a budding service and it is unclear whether it will become popular; however, some mobile karaoke providers, such as Karaokini, have begun to achieve commercial success.

Karaoke on Computers and Internet

Starting in 2003, much software has been released for hosting karaoke shows, and playing karaoke songs on a personal computer. Instead of having to carry around hundreds of CD-G’s or laserdiscs, a KJ can ‘rip’ their entire library onto a hard drive, and play the songs and lyrics from that.

Additionally, new software permits singers to sing and listen to one another over the Internet with collaborators/audiences from all around the world.

Various online karaoke websites provide the opportunity for karaoke enthusiasts to participate and share in a worldwide karaoke community. Users can create personal, online karaoke profiles, which store their individual recordings and even allow video syncing. Some examples of free sites are singsnap.com, the UK-based internetkaraoke.net, Yahoo’s bix.com, Electronic Arts’ singshot.com and Fox Interactive’s ksolo.com. As of 2007, companies such as Sound Choice and Stellar Records are taking legal action against computer-run karaoke systems on the grounds that they violate fair use laws and that “fair use” does not apply to commercial use. They also say that format-shifting for any use is also against fair use laws.

Karaoke in Automobiles

Chinese automobile maker, Geely Automobile, received much press in 2003 for being the first to equip a car, their Beauty Leopard, with a karaoke machine as standard equipment. Karaoke is often also found as a feature in aftermarket in-car DVD players.

Alternative Playback Devices

The CD+G format of a karaoke disc, which contains the lyrics on a specially encoded subcode track, has heretofore required special - and expensive – equipment to play. Commercial players have come down in price, though, and some unexpected devices (including the Sega Saturn videogame console and XBMC on the Xbox 1) can decode the graphics; in fact, karaoke machines, including video and sometimes recording capability, are often popular electronics items for sale in toy stores and electronics stores.

Additionally, there is software for Windows, Pocket PC, Linux, and Macintosh PCs that can decode and display karaoke song tracks, though usually these must be ripped from the CD first, and possibly compressed.

In addition to CD+G and software-based karaoke, microphone-based karaoke players enjoy popularity mainly in North America and some Asian countries such as the Philippines. Microphone-based karaoke players only need to be connected to a TV – and in some cases to a power outlet, in other cases they run on batteries. These devices often sport advanced features, such as pitch correction and special sound effects. Some companies offer karaoke content for paid downloads to extend the song library in microphone-based karaoke systems.

CD+G, DVD, VCD and microphone-based players are most popular for home use. Due to song selection and quality of recordings, CD+G is the most popular format for English and Spanish. It’s also important to note that CD+G has limited graphical capabilities, whereas VCD and DVD usually have a moving picture or video background. VCD and DVD are the most common format for Asian singers due to music availability and largely due to the moving picture/video background.