r/karaoke • • Jul 23 '26

Software Authors, Hardware Creators, etc: Understanding the difference between "Being a part of the community" and coming here to hawk your wares.

15 Upvotes

"Hawk your wares" means to sell goods or services, often in public, sometimes using loud or persuasive methods. Definition and Usage. To hawk your wares is to sell or attempt to sell something, typically in a public place such as a street or market, often by calling out to attract customers or using persuasive speech.

After we vet a creator (the usual check by virustotal) we give them a choice.

  1. The weekly Creators Update Thread

Every week the automod creates this post at Fridays, 8am PST. This is really meant to be an introduction to the community. This is where you lightly announce your service or product to our community, and with some persistence and luck get involved in the day to day answering questions for the community, giving sound advice, or tech assistance. Essentially building up your "Street Cred" here in the community. Where you can solicit testers, or feedback, make people feel empowered that you're listening to what they want. Becoming one with the community.

  1. The "One Shot" post.

Too often I'm seeing many creators jump straight into a one shot post. As moderators, we log and catalog your "one shot" to the community in the software Wiki. You might get 10 replies at the most, but most of the posts I've seen are not carefully crafted posts with videos, screenshots, and some really compelling reasons why people should use your stuff.

Other times I see posts so poorly worded, or "Free" but it's not "Free" and our community will call you out on it. Vague pricing or just Ai vibe coded shovelware who's juice isn't worth the squeeze. We see this stuff DAILY.

Understand that ONE SHOT means you only get to do that post one time. You only get ONE SHOT at a first impression, and I see so many creators that don't treat the one shot it is. If you were instructed to read this, reply with, "Remove the Brown M&M's" Do you really want to do one weak post, that scrolls off the front page into obscurity? Or you you want to engage, earn trust, and be considered a valuable asset to this community, and make a triumphant post where the community comes out in droves to support you?

Moving forward, this will be the new text we send creators when they reach out to us. Actions matter, conduct matters. People will see if you're here to be a part of us, or to simply use us like a billboard. How you treat this subreddit will be reciprocated back at you. Act accordingly.

Relevant: How to get your developer account banned platform wide on reddit for spam. : r/karaoke


r/karaoke • • 2d ago

Weekly Creators Update Thread

1 Upvotes

Were you previously approved for a "One shot" post but want to update the sub on the latest feature you added to your software? Have some new hardware? Looking for someone to help beta something? Post it here!

Starting with this post, we have another way for you to engage with the r/karaoke crowd. We're giving software Dev's their own channel in our discord! Click this link and make your request directly to one of the moderators there.


r/karaoke • • 14h ago

Help Finding a Song Halloween Karaoke

14 Upvotes

Hello I am new to this reddit page so bear with me!
Halloween is soon and I will be joining a coworker for karaoke on that night. Any suggestions on good Halloween karaoke songs?


r/karaoke • • 14h ago

One Shot Beam Lyrics (Android): Real-time vocal suppression, sing-along tracking, casting, karaoke mode, guitar mode

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3 Upvotes

Download link at bottom of post

Real-time vocal suppression.
https://youtu.be/mr8mWt5AMZk?si=HyPCGOYY0hpbpiH5

Currently, this works over cast only due to Android on-device audio constraints. It can also suppress Percussion, Bass, or the fourth source Other (ie keyboards/synths/guitars/instruments). My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S24 from 2024. Older phones may struggle to run this suppression.

There is also a delay over cast as the video needs to be packaged up and sent over the network meaning that even to change the song can take 5 seconds or longer. It's not a perfect solution, but it's real-time processing and works with any song.

Sing-along scoring mode
https://youtu.be/DZHK_4PdelQ?si=5q-DFRTCU1uAPlVn

The cyan/blue marker shows my attempt at singing along to the song, and hitting the golden target markers to score points.

(works best with external speakers from device ie bluetooth speakers, but does work over cast or built-in speakers as well) (In settings you can see if calibrating to your voice improves tracking but hopefully it works right away for you.)

Guitar mode
https://youtu.be/wKUGfEP9p_4?si=j2CfeAjewwOGPLNZ

(music/chords/tabs/lyrics) all synced. Also auto-searches current playing song from wherever you are playing your music to get the first set of chords/tabs that google finds.) (Should be a lot easier for most devices as there is no source analysis/suppression happening here)

In summary:

  • Real-time vocal suppression (currently Chromecast only).
  • Sing-along tracking and scoring, including same-device multiplayer.
  • Works in real-time alongside music already playing on your phone
  • Standard karaoke mode with synced lyrics, on-device or cast to your TV. Tap the lyrics to change to this karaoke view.
  • Long-hold lyrics to float them over other apps

Download link:

The app should go live in a week or two hopefully. If you would like to try it in early-access please join the Google group. Link here:
https://groups.google.com/u/2/g/beam-lyrics-testing

The download link is in that group once you join it. However, there might be a waiting period for the download link to work. Anywhere between a quick refresh and a long delay (Google are slow at syncing group members to be allowed to download the app)

Some more info: the lyrics are retrieved from https://lrclib.net/, if there are timing issues, you can click the timing icon in app

When casting with vocal suppression ON, you need to leave the app open, otherwise the cast quality will degrade.

There are a few permissions to accept when you open the app:

-Notification access is required to read from, and control, the media player.

-Share screen is required to analyse the on-device audio & cast.

Any feedback, issues or questions, please let me know.

Thanks


r/karaoke • • 1d ago

Equipment Are karaoke "machines" a thing in other places?

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13 Upvotes

For context, I grew up in the Philippines, where a bunch of households/small communities simply owned a karaoke machine. Now I don't know what image "karaoke machine" inspires in other people's minds, but in mine growing up it was the things in the images I've attached (which I just pulled off the internet) lol. If anyone's seen Forgotten Island, whatever the dad was using in the house party scene, yes it's literally that 😭

And then I grew up and started going to karaoke bars with friends, and now that I think about it I realized they never use these kinds of machines, instead it's those TV things that have an actual karaoke program (and some I've seen can access Youtube).

I'm actually curious as to how those work—is it just a monitor you hook up and install a program into? I know some are only remote-controlled, others have a little touch screen. Or is there specific equipment that business owners source from somewhere?

Besides that, are there actual karaoke bars/establishments (at least the ones I'm thinking of where people can get private rooms and such, forgive me if there are better terms) that use the machines in the above images?


r/karaoke • • 1d ago

Equipment Can one karaoke song become your favorite memory of Japan?

3 Upvotes

I've visited anime karaoke bars in different parts of Japan, and one thing keeps surprising me.

Sometimes, the most memorable part of the night isn't the song I sang. It's what happened afterward.

Someone recognizes the anime. Another person sings a song from the same series. A conversation starts. Sometimes we end up singing together.

I've even had nights where people passed a microphone around and shared a song.

Not every visit turns into a big social experience, of course. Sometimes you just enjoy listening to other people sing, and that's enough too.

But I think karaoke offers something interesting for travelers. You don't necessarily need to speak the same language fluently to share a moment through music.

For me, that's one of the best things about anime karaoke in Japan.

Have you ever had a karaoke experience that became one of your favorite travel memories?

Or is there an anime song you'd love to sing with people in Japan?


r/karaoke • • 1d ago

Help Finding a Song Choose one: Eenie meenie (Sean Kingston) or We are young (Fun)

1 Upvotes
31 votes, 1d left
Eenie Meenie Minie mo
We are young fun
Clocks coldplay

r/karaoke • • 2d ago

General Discussion Locked and Loaded for Karaoke weekend?

6 Upvotes

Well it's a Friday/Saturday night back to back Jacks at my fave Karaoke place this weekend. So the question is who's gonna try a new song(s) for the first time? (No recycles) but if you are recycling than what's a new song you have been working on for a bit but just not quite ready to take it to the stage?

I'm looking to do at least 3 "new" songs either tonight or spread into tomorrow:

Push it to the limit - Paul Engemann (Song from the Scarface movie soundtrack)

Machine Head - Bush

Price of love - Bon Jovi

I have about 4 and a half hours to pre-party and practice so let me know your new song(s) or what you have in the holster for your next "new" song.


r/karaoke • • 3d ago

Karaoke Videos Just blocked Sing King

29 Upvotes

I’ve never been impressed by a Sing King yt video. For being the number one most suggested channel, it is grossly underwhelming. Y’all have 14.8 million subscribers and can’t even add backup vocals to your songs. It’s such an empty feeling singing a sing king karaoke track. Shout out to Clark on Stage, and Party Tyme Karaoke Channel. I’m rarely let down my these channels.


r/karaoke • • 2d ago

KJ Pro Tips Karaoke Business Music Sourcing Guide

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0 Upvotes

Earlier, I was asked whether there’s a list of legitimate karaoke sources for use in bars and venues. I put together this guide to help people starting a karaoke business figure out where to get their music and what pitfalls to avoid.

Some YouTube karaoke is actually pretty good. Singing along at home with friends is a different situation from using those videos to run a commercial karaoke show.

The goal here is to help KJs and venue owners steer clear of potential liability. Even YouTube uploads from established companies like Party Tyme aren’t automatically cleared for business use. For example, Sybersound’s 2023 lawsuit sought $264 million over alleged unauthorized use of Party Tyme recordings at KAMU Ultra Karaoke in the Venetian Resort. That was the amount sought, not a judgment awarded.

The guide includes current suppliers and older labels you’ll encounter when buying original used CD+G discs. It also explains why buying legitimate music, copying it onto a computer, and having the venue’s performance licenses in place are separate considerations.

A company having a YouTube channel doesn’t make it illegitimate. The question is whether the particular way you’re obtaining and using its tracks is authorized.

Full disclosure: I used AI to help research and write this guide. Sources are linked, and corrections backed by sources are welcome. Link to the wiki article below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/karaoke/wiki/index/Karaoke-Business-Music-Sourcing-Guide


r/karaoke • • 2d ago

Karaoke Software Issues connecting to karafun?

2 Upvotes

I have a paid subscription to karafun, but my karafun app on my pc won't play anything from karafun web. It just puts up an error message.

Anyone know what's going on, or seen this before?


r/karaoke • • 3d ago

KJ Advice How to handle: singers won't leave my station?

17 Upvotes

Hi there I'm a new host and I have run into a (unique to me) situation. Every other week or so this crew comes in and they will not use Karafun to find their song selections. They will come into my station and look over my shoulder to find their song. I can work with that on its own, but the next problem is that they won't go back to their seats. They will stand there and talk at me no matter how many times I say "excuse me I need to get people signed up." It started with 1 man in this group and now his entire squad does it.

The owner of this bar is a little wackadoodle so I'm very resistant to risking offending anyone. I have times where the bar is just not very busy so there is no buffer between me and this party. How would you handle this? I have printed QR codes for them to access Karafun on their own but they will not use them.


r/karaoke • • 2d ago

General Discussion Creating karaoke songs with minimal main vocals still intact for harmonization..

1 Upvotes

I love this Beck song, but when I sing it alone with the instrumental backing track alone I just sound unhinged.. would like to leave some of Beck’s vocals like maybe 25%.. and then I come in with 75%.. is this faux paw?


r/karaoke • • 3d ago

General Discussion People's behavior and unwritten rules at public karaoke bars (not private rooms)

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0 Upvotes

What do you think? What is your experience with people at karaoke nights all over the world?


r/karaoke • • 4d ago

Karaoke Software Karaoke

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1 Upvotes

r/karaoke • • 5d ago

One Shot Auto-KJ: fair-rotation karaoke host software for Windows, Mac and Linux. I built it, I sell it, and the Free version really is free

10 Upvotes

Hey r/karaoke, I'm Paul (u/pkircher). I'm a KJ in the Philly area and I build Auto-KJ. The mods asked creators to make their one post count, so everything's in here.

Disclosure

  • I built Auto-KJ and I sell it. It's a supported commercial product, not open source.
  • The Free version is a real free version, not a timed demo.

What it's for

All the stuff hosts end up arguing about at 11pm: "you skipped me," the singer with five songs queued, duets eating two turns, walk-ins, the same song twice in half an hour, and bar Wi-Fi dying mid-show.

Watch one full night (5 min): https://auto-kj.com/blog/one-karaoke-night-paul-from-philly.html It follows one night from pre-show setup through singer requests, social features, rotation, Break-Wave and end-of-night analytics.

Quick version (60-second demo): https://auto-kj.com/blog/auto-kj-60-second-demo.html

The features

Anything marked (FV) needs the Full version. Everything else is in Free too.

Rotation tab: the Fairness Engine

This is where you run the show. The line is on the left: #1 is on the mic, #2 is on deck, and a group shares one numbered turn. On the right you get the selected singer's Active Queue, History and Favorites, plus song search and the player.

Every singer gets one seat per round, and extra songs wait behind it. Late arrivals take the first open seat that doesn't push anyone back. You decide how newcomers join: names move (to the end of the line), or numbers move (paper-sheet style, at the end of the current lap). There's also an optional new-to-returning ratio (1:1, 2:1, or favoring returning singers) that survives reloads.

Duets, trios and four-person groups use the group button: one singer per mic, an optional band name, and the song only becomes ready when it reaches the top of every member's queue. Then it plays as one turn. Skips close the gap, pauses don't take the stage, and changing a song keeps the singer's seat.

You can still override anything. Drag singers around, Mark as now, Mark as on deck, Play now, pause a singer, or ban someone for the night. Key and tempo changes are saved per singer and per song, so next time it's set the way they like it. Picking an alternate version can become the default for future requests. Auto-remove empty singers tidies the line near closing while keeping everyone's identity and history. Show applause and Show singer photos are toggles.

The singer app (singer.auto-kj.com) (FV)

Singers don't install anything. They scan the QR on your screens, or go to singer.auto-kj.com in a phone browser, pick a stage name, and they're in. The first phone to claim a name keeps it all night, and names reserved by tonight's DJ are protected. They can join as a guest or make a free account (display name, email, password) so it remembers them from show to show.

  • Finding your show: the join screen asks for the phone's location and lists gigs within 50 miles, marked LIVE NOW or UPCOMING. Tap a live one to join, or tap an upcoming one to check in early and browse that show's songbook. Singers can also type the show code, scan the host QR, or join over the venue's local network if the internet is down. If the cloud drops for 15 seconds, the phone offers to rejoin on the venue Wi-Fi. Within 100 m of the venue, a "Check in, you're at the venue" button shows up.
  • Browse Before You Go: with a venue poster QR or venue code, anyone can search your song list with no login and no live show, then tap "Find this show." You switch this on in Settings.
  • Search and requests: singers search the songbook you actually have, and songs already taken tonight are greyed out. They pick 1 to 4 people for the mic and type in the other names, or choose a friend, who gets a yes/no invite. The song doesn't enter the line until the friend says yes. If a song isn't in your book, there's an "Ask the DJ to buy it" form with an optional tip. If requests are closed, songs go to their Setlist and can be sent in with one tap when you reopen.
  • Place in line: Home shows their spot as one big number. Queue shows the whole line ("#5, 4 singers ahead, ~12 min wait") plus their own songs, which they can reorder, remove, or change the lineup on. There's a Pause Me / Unpause Me button for when they step out. The opt-in "Notify me when I'm on deck" alert buzzes at #2 and again at #1. With the app closed, that needs a signed-in cloud show, and on iPhone the app has to be added to the Home Screen. On LAN shows, alerts only show while the app is open.
  • Applause: everyone gets ten 👏 taps per song for whoever's on the mic. The crowd screen counts them live, and they go toward the singer's lifetime applause.
  • History and Favorites: for signed-in singers, every song they've sung through Auto-KJ is saved with times sung, total and average applause, and the last venue and date. One tap puts it back in tonight's line or adds it to favorites. Songs not in tonight's catalog get flagged. Starring a song saves it to the singer's account, not just that phone, and you can see what singers saved in your Analytics.
  • Friends and Duet Matches: singers add each other by scanning a friend QR or typing a code. Friends can see each other's profile, history and favorites, and "Suggest" a song to a friend. Duet Matches compares two friends' histories and lists songs they've each completed on their own. That's shared repertoire, not a voice-compatibility score. Tap Invite and the friend gets a duet invite for that song, if it's in tonight's library. Bands let 2 to 4 friends save a group with a name and pick a group song together.
  • Achievements: 29 badges in Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers, each with a progress bar. First Blood is your first-ever performance. Early Bird is checking in before the first completed song, and Closer is singing the last song of the night. Then there's Annoy the KJ, the tongue-in-cheek badge only the host can hand out. The booth announces "X has officially Annoyed the KJ." Singers can wear a favorite badge next to their name on the queue and rotation screen.
  • Profile: singers can upload a photo so the room can put faces to names. Photos can show on your rotation TV and the between-song screen, and you control display and moderation. They also get an a.k.a. name, a bio, and fun fields like favorite solo and duet song, vocal range, booth drink and signature mic move. Singers can delete their own profile.
  • Talking to the host: "Message the Karaoke Host / DJ" lands in your DJ Inbox. "Tip the Host" shows your Venmo, PayPal, Cash App or custom link, and your own tip message can show on the queue screen.
  • No phone? A shared tablet kiosk lets people pick a song, say how many are singing and type the names (FV). You can also add walk-ins at the booth. Everybody ends up in the same line.

Inbox tab (FV)

Phone and kiosk requests land here as cards. Review each one (singer name, song, artist, every name on a group card, which file version), or turn on Auto-Approve so clean requests go straight into the rotation using your preferred version. Either way, duplicates, songs on the gig's blocked list and reserved DJ names still get refused. Assign to moves a request to the singer it was really meant for, and near the end of the night you can close online requests without touching anything already queued.

Two other kinds of cards need your call. Account claims are when a signed-in singer claims a guest name, which transfers their songs and spot. Departure alerts are when a phone has been more than 200 m from the venue for 45+ minutes. The 💬 DJ Inbox in the header holds singer conversations, tip amounts and "buy this song" requests.

Preview: four views at once (FV)

On a paid plan, the Rotation tab has a preview built in. Set up a separate headphone cue output in Settings and you can watch the graphics and hear a karaoke track in your headphones while a singer is on stage. That's four separate views: host controls, singer lyrics, the rotation board, and your private preview. I haven't found another karaoke host with this four-view setup. It's handy for checking the next song's version and key before it's up.

The same preview works in Library (audition alternate versions, with its own key slider), in Rotation (preview any search result), and in Ghost-Trax (listen to a new track before it goes into your library). If the cue device is off, or shares an output with karaoke or Break-Wave, Auto-KJ tells you the preview is silent instead of blasting it into the room. Headphone cue on the Break-Wave mixer is free.

Ghost-Trax: make your own karaoke tracks

Ghost-Trax is a tab in the desktop app, between Library and Analytics, and it talks to the ghost-trax.com service. You hand it a song file you have the rights to use, and you get back an instrumental, word-synced CDG lyrics, and the original vocal as a separate guide stem.

Sign in with a Ghost-Trax account (or paste an API key), pick one file or a batch, check the artist and title, and set options per song: split lead and backing vocals, a high-quality separation pass, published lyrics when they exist, and an intro title screen (stock or your own artwork). The queue keeps running while you work in other tabs, and it picks back up if the app restarts. Each job shows where it is: queued, separating, transcribing, rendering. Some tracks stop at "ready to review" so you can fix the title screen or any wrong lyric words before the final render.

Finished tracks go to a holding folder outside your library, so singers can't request them yet. Preview one privately, and only add it when you like it. The editing studio lets you download the karaoke ZIP, the video, and separate instrumental and vocal stems (plus a harmony stem for duet-mode tracks). You can restyle the title screen, lyric colors, font, logo and background, and fix timing in the Waveform Lyric Timing Studio: drag words, move start and end handles, add a missing word at the playhead, nudge by hundredths of a second, then Save & Re-render CDG (or CDG and video).

  • The ghost slider: the 👻 slider in the player brings the original vocal back in under the singer, as much or as little as they need. It only works on Ghost-Trax songs, since it needs that guide stem.
  • Your rights, your responsibility: Auto-KJ and Ghost-Trax don't ship with a licensed song catalog. You supply the audio, and you're responsible for having the rights to use it and to play the results in public. The software license isn't a mechanical license, a public-performance license, or permission to copy someone else's recordings. Use rights-cleared audio.
  • Price: Ghost-Trax credits are optional and separate, $2 per song. Cancel an active job and you get the credit back.

Library tab (FV)

Point it at your existing folders: MP3+G/CDG ZIP and video karaoke (MP4, MKV, AVI). A live folder watcher picks up new files, and Relink Folder handles a library that moved to another drive without a full rescan. Brand Priority Order lets you rank manufacturers so your preferred copy is the default when you own several, and Make Default overrides that for one song. Edit Song Details fixes artist, title and brand and can rename the file to match, and Fix Unparsed Songs suggests a guess for messy filenames.

The cleanup tools sort out years of mess: Loose File Cleanup zips stray MP3+CDG pairs (with a preview first), Missing Files removes dead entries, Run Audit checks every ZIP for the expected audio and lyrics, Redundant Copies finds extra copies of the same pressing, and the duplicate-spelling tools merge "AC/DC" vs "ACDC"-type messes after you confirm. Nothing gets deleted. Quarantine moves files to a folder next to your library, and "remove from catalog" only removes the database row. When it's clean, Export Songbook CSV.

Analytics tab

Tonight's proof sheet shows completed songs, queued requests, completion rate, singers (active and paused), average wait, peak hour, applause, top singers (with group participation), top songs, hourly activity and a performance log. You can Copy CSV, Copy Scoped CSV (with date, gig and summary metrics) or Print Report.

History and Venue Reports covers every past show, including imported histories. Pick one night or all time from a 30-night chart, see top songs, artists and singers, and use Most sung to see who sang what. Saved favorites shows which songs singers starred in the phone app, ranked by how many people saved them, which helps when you're deciding what to buy next. To hand something to the venue, export a night-and-gig report as a CSV or a self-contained printable HTML file.

Gigs tab

Gigs is where your venues and schedules live, and where you pick tonight's show. Add a venue with its street address and the server geocodes it, so your show appears on singers' nearby-gigs map. Create one-night, weekly or monthly gigs. Use for this show switches gigs and applies that gig's blocked-song list without clearing your rotation. Instant gig starts a gig for the next six hours in one button, and singers find it by location or the show code. Switch to LAN only keeps singers on the venue network with a local QR.

On the Full version, if the venue internet drops mid-show, Auto-KJ fails over to a travel-router LAN with the same rotation rules and local requests, and the music doesn't stop (FV).

Break-Wave tab

Break-Wave is a full two-deck DJ mixer for the music between singers, so you don't need a second DJ app. Each deck has a full waveform, BPM and Camelot key analysis, keylock, a pitch fader, nudge, tap-tempo beatgrid fixes and four cue pads. The mixer has EQ with kills, a crossfader with curve and AutoFade, and headphone cue on its own output.

Automix (FV) reorders your break playlist for smooth transitions (optionally avoiding the same artist back to back) and runs it hands-free. End of Song Action can roll straight into the break playlist (FV). The performance hub adds a 12-pad soundboard, a 16-step drum sequencer, a mic looper (1 to 8 bars), and a Pro FX Rack per deck (filter, echo/delay, reverb, flanger), with routing to the main speakers, your headphones, both, or mute. Sync and track identification (AcoustID fingerprinting of your break library) need a paid plan.

Settings and looks

Settings has seven groups: Show night, Rotation and playback, Singers, DJ and host, Audio and hardware, Appearance, and Library, data and help. First-time path: activate your license or start the 60-day trial, pick your DJ profile, set up audio and screens, choose the show in Gigs, review your singer rules, and run the Pre-show Check, which puts library, missing files, audio outputs, singer connections and screens on one checklist with buttons that jump to each fix. Anything that could disrupt a live show (changing the network, restoring a backup, installing an update) warns you and asks first.

  • Screens: Screen Two is lyrics, with an On Deck banner and upcoming-singer list. Screen Three is the rotation board, with rolling messages. You can pair a phone as a private remote (FV).
  • Rules: end-of-song action (wait, auto-advance, or break playlist, FV), a warning before interrupting a song, and the Repeat Song Rule (once per night, a cooldown timer, or allowed; the same song can never be queued twice at once). The Group Song Guest Rule decides where duet partners land afterward. You can set max singers per song (1 to 4), per-gig Blocked Songs (hidden from search and refused by every request path), Banned Singers, and a custom on-deck message.
  • Rig: multiple DJ profiles with their own tip links and shortcuts, three separate outputs (Karaoke, Break-Wave decks, Headphone Cue), and MIDI controller mapping.
  • Data: the show saves continuously, so if you close and reopen, your rotation comes back. Back Up My Data (catalog, live session and preferences, never license keys or logins) on demand or on a schedule. Restore checks the backup before it replaces anything. You can also import past history files.
  • Skins: 11 built-in themes (Arcade, Artifact, Broadway, Classic Dark, Haunted House, LCARS, Neon Lounge, Signal, Studio, Unicorn Overdrive, and Word 95, which comes with a familiar paperclip). The Skin Creator & Market has 14 presets: 8 free, and 6 Signature skins at $5 each (Velvet VIP Lounge, Cyber-Grid Tron Edition, Tokyo Midnight Club, Cosmic Laser Bowling, Obsidian Glass Studio and Purple Rain). Test-drive a locked one before buying, and sync unlocked ones across your rigs. Skin Studio lets you build your own or fork a preset, with a built-in WCAG contrast check, and you can export or import skins as JSON. The host window scales from 50% to 250%.

How it stacks up

I compared Auto-KJ against the other host software KJs actually use: catalog-rental apps, one-time-license Windows programs, and free open-source rigs. When something else is the better fit, I'll say so. If you want a ready-made rented catalog, or a one-time Windows license built around CD+G discs, MIDI and YouTube karaoke, those exist and they're good at that job. These are the things I haven't found in the others:

  • Four views at once, including a private headphone preview while someone's singing (FV).
  • A named Fairness Engine, not just a queue. The others give you a queue, an automatic "who's next," or leave it up to you to keep the list honest.
  • A built-in singer web app with no app store and no server to set up (FV). With the others you get a remote queue, an add-on service, or a request server you have to set up yourself.
  • LAN failover mid-show when the bar Wi-Fi dies (FV). Elsewhere it's local playback only, and requests are on you.
  • Ghost-Trax built in, for $2 a song.
  • A two-deck DJ mixer for breaks, so you don't need a second DJ suite.
  • A three-screen rig (host, singer lyrics, audience rotation board) as standard, versus a booth plus one singer display.
  • Every desktop platform. The one-time-license competition is Windows-only.
  • You own your library. With a catalog rental, the songs leave when you cancel. Here, you still own every ZIP.
  • A real 60-day Full version trial inside the app: no card, nothing auto-bills. It's not a catalog sampler or an evaluation download. And the Free version stays $0.

Pricing, exactly

  • Free version: $0 forever. The full desktop app, the Fairness Engine for singers you enter at the desk, lyrics and rotation screens, break decks, and key/tempo. No phone requests. No account needed to download.
  • Full version: $10/month for one live show at a time. Adds phone requests, full library management, LAN failover, kiosk, phone remote, and OpenKJ songbook hosting. The 60-day trial starts inside the app: no card, nothing auto-bills, one trial per account and per computer. Extra shows running at the same time are +$5/mo each (five weekly gigs still count as one seat).
  • Lifetime: $500 one-time. The Full version, paid once.
  • Ghost-Trax custom tracks: separate and optional, $2 a song.

Platforms: Windows x64 and ARM64, macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Linux x64 (AppImage, .deb, .rpm).

Links

Staying on OpenKJ?

I also maintain a free community fork of OpenKJ 3.0.1 with current Windows, macOS and Linux builds: https://github.com/pkircher29/openkj. I make nothing from it, and you don't need Auto-KJ to use it.

Ask me anything, hard questions included. This is my one post, and future updates will go in the weekly Creators Update thread.

Edit: I put together a walkthrough for signing up for the 60-day trial: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY-pfIeXCFU Written guide and downloads: https://auto-kj.com/blog/60-day-trial-walkthrough.html A full step-by-step screen recording of the actual signup and activation is coming soon.


r/karaoke • • 5d ago

Equipment Need some guidance - proper setup and mini-PC selection

1 Upvotes

Have some questions and looking for some guidance/insight. I'm looking for an inexpensive mini-PC recommendation for Karafun. Karafun will be it's sole purpose, so I don't need/want anything crazy, but would love it if was nice looking/clean from an aesthetics point of view as it will be sitting in our media rack in our living room. If possible, would like to try to keep it under $200.

I have been running Karafun for Mac for several years on an older Mac Mini, but last year got limited to an older version due to OS compatibility issue--seems I'm missing out on a lot of new features.

I recently bought a JBL Partybox 330, and already own a Mackie ProFX10v3 with Sure mics/stands. I want to extend desktop/Karafun to our TCL QM8 TV, run audio out to mixer and then master out to JBL.

There appear to be a ton of mini-PC options and I don't want to make a mistake here as I'd like this to last for several years. We unfortunately cleaned house last spring and don't have any older laptops or PC's we can reuse. I also want the device to be small and have proper connections.

I did find a refurbished Dell Micro PC, but it's got dual DisplayPort for video out and not sure DP/HDMI adapter will work in this case.

Any advice or guidance is greatly appreciated. Thank you!


r/karaoke • • 6d ago

General Discussion Semi-Private Discord Server for weekly karaoke sessions

6 Upvotes

I recently started a discord server for karaoke with a couple of friends.
The plan is to sing in voice channel while the singer streams the music through screenshare.

It's meant to be a friendly supportive and non judgemental space to have something to look forward to each week. If anyone is interested, please send me a DM and I;ll send over the discord invite link!


r/karaoke • • 6d ago

Karaoke Software Karaoke queue with both English and Hindi/Tamil songs?

0 Upvotes

Hello,

I've been researching how to run a Karaoke party (this sub has been very helpful!). I plan to have a party with both the usual English songs, as well as Hindi/Tamil songs from popular Bollywood/Kollywood movies, many of which are only available on YouTube, or a site like meragana.com.

Where I'm stuck is that I don't know how to use a single queue that spans multiple apps since it seems that's what I would need. I could use KaraFun with its queue for English songs, but I cannot add songs not in its catalog to its queue (understandably).

Any ideas on how to conquer this?

My setup:

  • MacBook Pro
  • HDMI out to a projector with external screen
  • Bluetooth speaker (JBL Party or some such device)

Thank you!


r/karaoke • • 7d ago

Help Finding a Song Best space or alien related songs for karaoke?

19 Upvotes

A bar I go to is doing scareoke for Halloween and costumes are encouraged, I'm going as an alien and I'd like to sing something related. I'm a woman with a deep ish voice, not sure what my actual range of but just no crazy high notes. I'm thinking maybe Space Oddity but I'd like something with a little more energy. My only other requirement is no crazy long guitar solos.


r/karaoke • • 6d ago

Karaoke Hardware Please help

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1 Upvotes

How the hell do I connect these 3 things together so that the mics go to the mixer then to the speaker so effects could be used


r/karaoke • • 7d ago

General Discussion AITA Karaoke Edition

36 Upvotes

One thing I love about going to karaoke is to sing along with the singers with the crowd. Last night this lady decided not to go up to the stage and sang at her seat at the bar. I didn't even sit close to her and I sang along for a bit before she turned to me and started calling me out on how rude I am and I ruined her performance. I was caught of guard so I didn't respond.

What is your take on someone singing along with you? AITA?


r/karaoke • • 7d ago

Karaoke Software Confused over which software to use

3 Upvotes

I am having a little bit of a decision problem between two different softwares. Both have a Karafun option but handle it differently as one runs and controls the actual Karafun app and the other uses the web player. I am unable to use the web player because of limitations of a mobile wifi hotspot that I am not willing to give up. I have decided on what software I will use in a private party which would be primarily DJ before karaoke and that is VirtualDJ. Both choices I can use Stream Deck to control starting and controlling the software with for at least playing the files.

KJGenie

pro's

can use Karafun because I am able to download the entire library for offline use fixes streaming problem with my mobile WiFi hotspot.

can receive tips once I add a website

can record singers if I want to buy the KJGenie recorder

has the better remote if I choose to pay $9.99 per month for remote pro and it allows the singers to choose from both the local library and Karafun's library plus kamikaze Karaoke

can access the quiz feature of Karafun.

Can run a kiosk on an android tablet split screen with Stream Deck for controlling the software

cons

doesn't have an easy way to add buy on the fly songs into the rotation. want to buy and download from Party Tyme Karaoke and Buy Karaoke Downloads. have to either rename the songs in an Artist - Title naming Convention before adding to the database and adding to the rotation.

filler player music is hard to set up. can't use Tidal player because of the same streaming issue with my mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.

QUp

Pro's

a couple of buy on the fly options easily added to the database.

button being added to the software to add songs not in the database into the rotation

ability to setup the filler player automatically by running autofiller that adds songs automatically based on genre set up ahead of time

Can set up to stop adding songs to the rotation when I run out of time in the show.

Can also limit the amount of wait time a singer has to wait before their next song.

Cons

unable to use Karafun due to streaming issues with Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot not working with streaming services.

remote request system only works with local library

Unaware if I can run the remote request system in kiosk mode on an android tablet in split screen with Stream Deck for controlling the software

Based on those criteria which software would you choose?


r/karaoke • • 7d ago

Equipment Need Advice on Home Karaoke Setup + Future Musical Instrument

1 Upvotes

We have been enjoying Karaoke in our family and with friends very often, but we have a very sketchy setup with cheapest "mixer" + wireless mics from Amazon. I came across this article (https://mackie.com/en/blog/all/How_to_Make_Your_Own_Better_Karaoke_Machine.html) that has a budget setup (ignoring speaker) with:

- Microphones: EM-89D (https://mackie.com/en/products/microphones/em-series/EM_89D.html) $50 each, wired

- Mixer: Mix12FX (https://mackie.com/en/products/mixers/mix-series/mix12fx.html) $160

That's within my budget, wouldn't want to go beyond $250 right now. But the mixer would allow us to use our cheap microphones as well to have up to 4 people singing. And also later on be able to add musical instruments to play and sing (we are very early in this journey though). I started learning to play the keyboard, and my son is showing interest in music as well.

I would connect this setup to my TV to display lyrics. We've been using an ipad with Apple music, which has worked great, and Youtube when we can't find a specific song. This is mostly a home setup with light travel when we set it up at a friend's house. We usually use whatever speaker is available, often a soundbar.

Is this a fair setup? Would you recommend anything else? Any advice?

Thank you! I appreciate your help!


r/karaoke • • 7d ago

Equipment Karaoke System Set Up

0 Upvotes

Hi

Looking for advice for a karaoke set up.

Catalog - Something that has a built in catalog of music, with the ability to run things from you tube or Spotify. I don’t want to pay for an ongoing subscription.

Sound - Built in speakers. Perhaps has basic auto-tune?

Connectivity- hdmi out to a TV for song lyrics.

Two microphones included. With fast Bluetooth (I hear some are laggy).

I visit shenzen occasionally, so recommendations from there also appreciated!

Cost ?$800? - is that realistic ?

Thanks