The word ‘karaoke’ comes from the joining of two Japanese words: kara meaning “empty” and oke meaning “orchestra”. It basically means that the song is empty of the lead vocalist.

The Japanese word “Karaoke” is now listed not only in Japanese dictionaries but also in the latest edition of The Oxford English Dictionary published in England, one of the most distinguished and formal English dictionaries, proving the word has become common throughout the world.

Karaoke is a form of entertainment in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and a PA system. The music is typically a well-known song in which the voice of the original singer is removed or reduced in volume. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol or changing color, to guide the singer. In some countries, karaoke with video lyrics display capabilities is called KTV.

In 1950, before Karaoke Music was invented, a firm new to the just-introduced world of the long-playing record, LP as it came to be known, released the first sing-along recordings in this new medium. The label, Music Minus One, while specializing in classical repertoire, had at the head of the company a fervent jazz fan, and in the company’s second year, in 1952, he recorded three different all-star rhythm sections performing great standards of the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Intended primarily for jazz improvising, they also offered vocalists a wonderful opportunity to sing with a band.

These recordings proved very popular, sold in the thousands and were purchased throughout the world.

While most people in Japan agree that karaoke started in Kobe, Japan, in the late 1970’s, the actual origins of Karaoke music are obscure. One story has it beginning in a snack bar in Kobe. Legend has it that over twenty years ago, the owner of this snack bar booked a singer that didn’t show. In order to fill his slot, this owner put in a tape recording of music and asked patrons if they wanted to sing along. From such insignificant beginnings, Karaoke as an entertainment form has spread throughout Japan and the world.

The invention of karaoke has also been attributed to Japanese drummer Daisuke Inoue. He was asked by frequent guests at the hotel Utagoe Kissa, where he performed as part of a Kobe covers band, to provide a tape recording of his performance so that they could sing along on a company-sponsored vacation. Inoue obliged and, realizing the potential for the market, designed the world’s first karaoke machine (a tape recorder that played a song for a 100-yen coin). Instead of selling his karaoke machines, he leased them out, so that stores did not have to buy new songs on their own. Originally it was considered a fad which was lacking the “live atmosphere” of a real performance. It was also regarded as somewhat expensive since 100 yen in the 1970s was the price of two typical lunches. However, it caught on as a popular entertainment. Karaoke machines were initially placed in restaurants or hotel rooms; soon, new businesses called karaoke rooms, became popular. In 2004, Daisuke Inoue was awarded the tongue-in-cheek Ig Nobel Peace Prize for inventing karaoke, “thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other”.

Inoue never bothered to patent his invention, losing his chance to become one of Japan’s richest men. Roberto del Rosario, a Filipino inventor who called his sing-along system Minus-One, now holds the patent for the device now commonly known as the karaoke machine. Following a court battle with a Chinese company which claimed to have invented the system, del Rosario’s patents were issued in 1983 and 1986, more than a decade after Inoue’s original unpatented invention of the device in 1971.

And what about that mid-twentieth century company, Music Minus One. In 1985, the originator of Karaoke, an American, proceeded to provide sound-alikes of every song of the last century in the karaoke format, forming the biggest Karaoke music library in the world. It was an undertaking that produced in the following 19 years, over 14,000 songs, from every decade of the century. Pocket Songs was the name given to the “Karaoke” offshoot of Music Minus One. The company even began offering Opera Arias with full symphony orchestras. The Pocket Songs karaoke music website is constantly updated to provide the latest hits for vocal fans to sing.

Pocket Songs was one of the first companies in the field to adopt the new CD+G format, which provides a sub-strata lyric text on each compact disc. This is decoded and comes up on the home stereo system when using a special CD+G machine. Now, hand held lyrics were replaced by lyrics on a screen that could be viewed by all the people in a room. The tavern entertainment entered the home.

Quickly, the karaoke (or minus-one) invention spread throughout the world, and this form of entertainment still remains popular today.

And what became of that original individual who created the first ‘karaoke’ recordings in 1952. He was acknowledged by the American music industry in 1995 as “the father of karaoke”. His name is Irv Kratka, and believe it or not, he is still at the helm of Pocket Songs, recording the hits and the new artists that appear each year in music.