Music, Karaoke and Songs to Sing

Sing your heart out!

Culture

Asia

In Asia, a karaoke box is the most popular type of karaoke venue. A karaoke box is a small or medium-sized room containing karaoke equipment rented by the hour or half-hour, providing a more intimate atmosphere. Karaoke venues of this type are often dedicated businesses, some with multiple floors and a variety of amenities including food service, but hotels and business facilities sometimes provide karaoke boxes as well.

In some traditional Chinese restaurants, there are so-called “mahjong-karaoke rooms” where the elderly play mahjong while teenagers sing karaoke. The result is fewer complaints about boredom but more noise. Noise regulations can be an issue, especially when karaoke is brought into residential areas.

In the Philippines, karaoke machines are available for rent for use in occasions such as parties.

Violent reactions to karaoke singing have made headlines in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, with reports of killings by listeners disturbed by the singing. In the Philippines, at least a half dozen killings of people singing My Way caused newspapers there to label the phenomenon “My Way killings“, and some bars refuse to allow the song, and some singers refrain from vocalizing it among strangers.

North America and Europe

A karaoke bar, restaurant, club or lounge is a bar or restaurant that provides karaoke equipment so that people can sing publicly, sometimes on a small stage. Most of these establishments allow patrons to sing for free, with the expectation that sufficient revenue will be made selling food and drink to the singers. Less commonly, the patron wishing to sing must pay a small fee for each song they sing. Both are financially beneficial for the establishment by not having to pay a professional singer or a cabaret tax which is usually applied to any entertainment of more than 1 person.

Many establishments offer karaoke on a weekly schedule, while some have shows every night. Such establishments commonly invest more in both equipment and song discs, and are often extremely popular, with an hour or more wait between a singer’s opportunities to take the stage (called the rotation).

Private karaoke rooms, similar to Asia’s “karaoke boxes”, are commonplace in communities such as Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Most Americans and Britons mispronounce the Japanese-English portmanteau word “karaoke” (proper pronunciation should be something like “ka-ra-oh-kay”) and say it as “carry-okie” instead. This way of saying the word in English is now so prevalent as to be irreversible.

Karaoke in Korean culture

In July 2007, the nation of North Korea issued an edict banning, among other similar establishments, karaoke bars from operating in the country. The Ministry of Security officially stated that the ban was enacted to “crush enemy scheming and to squarely confront those who threaten the maintenance of the socialist system.”

Although extremely popular in South Korea, there have been expressions of dissatisfaction with respect to the circulation of Japanese music and songs via Karaoke.

South Koreans generally use another term – “Norebang”, which translates into “Song Room”. Norebangs typically have a number of private rooms.

Karaoke in Taiwan

In Taiwan, karaoke bars similar to those in Japan and Korea are called KTV, short for karaoke television. The biggest KTV chain in Taiwan is Cashbox KTV.

Karaoke production methods

Karaoke is very popular in Asia, and many artists distribute a karaoke track at the same time the song is released.

In Europe and North America, karaoke tracks are almost never done by the original artist, they are re-recorded by musicians. The world’s largest creator of Karaoke tracks, Blank Productions USA, (since 1986), produces between 40 and 60 titles per month, adding to their 25,000 title library, which is licensed to manufacturers and content providers. Karaoke companies like Stingray Digital and Chartbuster select popular songs and release soundalike tracks with lyrics synchronized, most commonly in CD+G format.

Karaoke in film

Karaoke has been depicted in numerous movies and television shows, including:

  • Television shows:
    • American television show How I Met Your Mother
    • American television show Desperate Housewives
    • Several episodes of American television series Angel feature the demonic karaoke bar Caritas, whose proprietor Lorne (Andy Hallett) can read the destiny of the person singing.
    • All of American actor David Boreanaz’s major television roles have involved his character being assaulted (in particular, being shot at) in a karaoke bar.
    • Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps featured Donna singing “Chick Chick Chicken”, which was made for the BBC by Zoom Entertainments, a karaoke producer based in Hull, UK.
    • One episode of the American show Heroes.
    • Don’t Forget the Lyrics, a game show in which contestants have to sing 10 songs correctly to win $1,000,000.
    • Mai HiME, the titular character Mai Tokiha is a huge fan and the series features an episode with some of the various characters singing as well.
    • Azumanga Daioh, during the episode where the characters celebrate Christmas, there is a part where they go to a karaoke club.
  • Music Videos: