History of Karaoke Timeline

Rock critic Rob Sheffield claims that the 1986 music video for the song Wild Wild Life by Talking Heads was the first depiction of karaoke in American popular culture. An episode entitled The Man from Marseilles was also first broadcast on March 14, 1985.

An episode entitled The Man from Marseilles was first broadcast on March 14, 1985.

Three years before making a brief appearance in Sofia Coppola's 2003 movie Lost in Translation, karaoke was the primary focus of Bruce Paltrow's 2000 film Duets, written by John Bynum and starring Paltrow's daughter Gwyneth and Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News.

Image source: Duets (film)

Karamovie originated in 2003.

Karaoke made a brief appearance in Sofia Coppola's 2003 movie Lost in Translation.

Image source: Lost in Translation (film)

In July 2023, YouTube channel Sing King Karaoke reached 11 million subscribers, making it the largest karaoke channel on the platform.

The earliest karaoke-based music video game, called Karaoke Studio, was released for the Family Computer in 1987, but its limited computing ability made for a short catalog of songs and therefore reduced replay value.

Image source: Karaoke Studio

In 1992, scientist Yuichi Yasutomo created a networked karaoke system for Brother Industries. This new technology swept Japan; by 1998, 94% of karaoke was being sung on networked karaoke machines.

In 1992, Taito introduced the X2000, which fetched music via a dial-up telephone network.

Karaoke direct is an Internet division established in 1997 that has been serving the public online since 1998.

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.

Image source: Geely BL

Karaoke Revolution, created for the PlayStation 2 by Harmonix and released by Konami in North America in 2003, is a console game in which a single player sings along with on-screen guidance and receives a score based on pitch, timing, and rhythm.

Image source: Karaoke Revolution

In 2003, several companies started offering a karaoke service on mobile phones, using a Java MIDlet that runs with a text file containing the words and a MIDI file with the music.

Since 2003, much software has been released for hosting karaoke shows and playing karaoke songs on a personal computer.

In 2005, freeware Karaoke software from Thailand on Windows, All In One Karaoke Player Version 2.0, was released. It can play all MIDI Karaoke files (.MID, .KAR, .RMS etc.), Video Karaoke files (VCD, MP4, DVD, MPG, DAT, WMV) and Audio Karaoke files (MP3, OGG+HotBeat).

In 2006, Recisio was founded as a downloadable karaoke software company.

In 2006, eXtreme Karaoke was first released as paid software costing 500 THB via bank transfer, with license activation keys sent by email. It can play the same formats as All In One Karaoke Player. In 2008 it changed from a license file to a HardLock USB dongle, priced at 2,000 THB.

In 2006, the Interactive Audio Lab at Northwestern University released a game called Karaoke Callout for the Nokia Series 60 phone.

In 2010, a new concept of home karaoke system through the use of live streaming from a cloud server emerged. The earliest cloud-based streaming device, Starbox, was released by Starbox KOD on January 14, 2010.

Recisio transitioned into KaraFun, an online subscription-based system, in 2011.

While the original Karaoke Revolution was eventually released for the Microsoft Xbox console in late 2004 with the ability to download additional song packs through Xbox Live, an Xbox Live App with the same name, created by iNiS and powered by The Karaoke Channel/Stingray Karaoke, was released on December 12, 2012.

Image source: Xbox network

In 2015, Singa (karaoke) was launched, providing karaoke for Android and iOS mobile devices, in addition to a web browser product for a subscription fee.

In August 2017, ROXI home music system launched in the UK, and later that year in the US, providing on-demand music streaming and a karaoke singalong feature called Sing with the Stars.

Image source: ROXi

Commercially, karaoke was first introduced into Australia in 1989 by Robin Hemmings, who had seen karaoke operating in Fiji.

In Adelaide, karaoke reached its zenith in 1991 with virtually every hotel offering at least one karaoke night per week, with many having undertaken alterations to their premises including purpose-built stages and sound systems. Karaoke rental suppliers proliferated during this period, and Hemmings sold his business in late 1991 as a going concern.

In Italy, karaoke had become popular by early 1994, popularized by television personality Rosario Fiorello, who had a karaoke program that appeared weekly on national television.

Karaoke World Championship is one of the most popular karaoke contests and has been around since 2003.

In 2010, karaoke taxis were available in London, England, in the Kabeoke fleet of private hire vehicles.

Their 2011 international karaoke competition attracted ABC producers to help host America's karaoke competition in Las Vegas, Nevada, called Karaoke Battle USA. Largely supported by the Broadway community in Times Square, Pulse Karaoke Lounge sponsored 2011's New York state karaoke finals to select individuals representing New York in the eastern finals.

Image source: List of programs broadcast by the American Broadcasting Company

As of 2009, the world record for the most people singing karaoke was at Bristol Motor Speedway in the United States. A karaoke event there lasted for 1,011 hours and 1 minute, between July 20, 2011, and August 31, 2011.

Image source: Bristol Motor Speedway

In 2021, the University of Adelaide Karaoke Club was formed, re-popularizing karaoke among the student population of Adelaide.

Image source: University of Adelaide

In September 2025, the Karaoke World Championships will be held in Bangkok, Thailand.