Mobile Karaoke On Its Way to US

Source: phonemag.com

Karaoke giant Sound Choice has plans to release its catalogue of 15,000 karaoke tracks to the mobile phone. It’s an unsurprising move considering that phones have all the requirements…the music and backing vocals play while the words scroll across the screen. The songs can be supplied now, although there are technical issues associated with operator bandwidth, different handsets and so on. The price per song is expected to be $2, although Sound Choice CEO Kurt Slep suggested the songs could be part of a promotional campaign by operators to push new handsets or 3G, or possibly in conjunction with a major contest where the customers would be submitting a recorded song as a precursor to tryout entry… they could even be video entries.

Sound Choice also recently launched ListenToMeSing, a community for karaoke enthusiasts to submit their performance. Options include sharing renditions with other members, sending an email link to friends outside the community, or allowing people to vote and give user feedback on performances. Obviously this can work just as well with mobile phones, and I’m sure carriers would love the traffic generated by sending and receiving the files.

Of course, this is not the kind of mobile content people will be enjoying on the bus (at least, I fervently hope not) but is something people could use in the privacy of their own homes, or at a party after several beers. The main advantage it has over other karaoke methods is that special equipment is not needed.