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Karaoke
From Virtual Japan
Karaoke (カラオケ) is the Japanese art of singing along to a song’s instrumental. Literally translating from “Empty orchestra”, Karaoke has become an internationally popular activity in which individuals can sing along as amateurs to any of their favorite recorded songs while the lyrics scroll along on a video screen.
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History
Karaoke has been around for some time, with people using machines produced by companies like AudioSynTrac and Numark Electronics that had sing along tapes and audio equipment. Japanese electronic companies saw the machines at CES shows in the early 1970s and started adapting the technology, calling it Karaoke. The first true Karaoke machine was built by Daisuke Inoue in 1973 and was quickly finding its way into bars and clubs and then into dedicated karaoke spots in Japan and abroad.
Inoue’s invention came to be when a group of frequent guests to Utagoe Kissa where he usually performed, providing live music during parties, asked him to provide a recorded track of his music so they could sing along. He saw the profit potential and created a machine that would play a song for 100 yen. He then leased the machines so that stores did not have to buy their own new songs. Despite the high cost and the thought that it was a fad, karaoke caught on the machines went from restaurants and hotel rooms to the Karaoke Box businesses.
Inoue did not patent his machine however and therefore did not benefit from the massive profits that would come from it in the future. A Filipino inventor with his own machine now holds the patent to the karaoke machine after a protracted legal battle in the 1970s and 1980s. Early technology utilized cassette tapes, but it has gone on to be replaced by laserdiscs, CDs, VCDs and now DVDs. In the 1990s, the technology to download and load songs via the internet was invented by Taito with its X2000 machine and is now becoming increasingly popular as a means by which to expand the offerings of karaoke machines inexpensively.
New Forms of Karaoke
While the original karaoke machines of the 1970s and 80s are still popular in bars, clubs, and hotel rooms, the concept itself has gone on to form dozens of new technologies and pastimes. Video games have been developed such as the 2003 Karaoke Revolution game released for the Playstation 2 as well as the slew of sequels, Xbox versions, the SingStar game released in 2007 and the recent releases of rock band style games such as Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Guitar Hero IV that all feature karaoke sing along aspects to a complete band experience. Karaoke has also appeared on mobile phones and in video format and major competitions have developed around the world, both online and offline between the pastimes best.
Current World Records
The world record for the largest number of people singing Karaoke at one time is held by Finland for organizing 80,000 people to sing Hard Rock Hallelujah in 2006 in Helsinki. Additionally, the world record for the longest non-stop karaoke rally is held by China for a 214 hour, 20 minute, 8 second rally held over the course of 9 days ending on January 1, 2008.