Talk:Karaoke

Pronunciation

I don't get how the pronunciation can be "Ka-REE-Oke". It doesn't make any sense. It's a japanese word, that isn't pronounced that way in japanese. How can an a become an "ee"/"i"? KhlavKhalash (talk) 11:38, 9 March 2020 (UTC)

I agree, it's Kara o ke... Like Car Uh Okay — Preceding unsigned comment added by 240D:1A:8AF:4D00:5891:DD66:97DF:3162 (talk) 09:28, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

Because English-speakers who knew absolutely nothing about the Japanese language read the word "karaoke", and simplified it according to the conventions of their dialect and accent. I can attest that most Americans I've met would pronounce this "carry-oki", and would be unaware (or wouldn't care much) about the Japanese pronunciation kahra-okeh. Wikipedia doesn't set the rules, it relates what is commonly said in English. We do the same thing with words in other languages (i.e., Venice / Venezia, Florence / Firenze, Moscow / Moskva, etc.). Accrdong to the style guide, "If a common English rendering of the foreign name exists (Venice, Nikita Khrushchev), its pronunciation, if necessary, should be indicated before the foreign one." See WP:MOSPRON#Appropriate Use for guidance. - Boneyard90 (talk) 21:31, 25 May 2020 (UTC)

It is not true that "100 yen in the 1970s was the price of two typical lunches"

I do not think that the claim "100 yen in the 1970s was the price of two typical lunches" is true.

In 1970, the conversion rate for the yen to dollars was 360 yen to 1 dollar. In 1970, the Consumer Price Index in Japan was 41% more than that of the United States. [1]

Doing a little math, a "lunch" in Japan in 1970 cost 50 yen. 50 yen is the US equivalent of (50/360 of $1) slightly more than 14 cents. Huh, lunch in Japan cost 14 cents in 1970?

Now, consider that the consumer price index shows prices in Japan were 41% more than the United States. Based on that, a "lunch" in the United States in 1970 would have cost 10 cents.

I don't think so; I was there, both in Japan and the United States in 1970 and the prices for lunch were never that cheap.

Based upon this inaccurate claim of the price for lunch in Japan, I will delete this phrase from the article.

Osomite (talk) 18:19, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

National Karaoke Week

After witnessing the popularity of karaoke rising, Scott and Michelle Shirai created National Karaoke Week, designating the fourth week each April to observe it. Scott taught a non-credit course in karaoke at the University of Hawaii from 1988 to 1999 during which time he and Michelle wrote and published "Karaoke: Sing Along Guide to Fun & Confidence." The first National Karaoke Week was an offshoot of that and observed April 20-26, 1997. It first appeared in Chase's Calendar of Events. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Scottyshirai (talk • contribs) 18:20, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

Modern AI devocalisation

“ Recent years have seen the development of new techniques based on the fast Fourier transform. Although still not perfect, the results are usually much better than the old technique, because the stereo left-right comparison can be done on individual frequencies.”

This is the most recent advancement even mentioned. However, since the development of Spleeter, UVR, Demucs, and MDX AI based devocalisation, the technology has jumped to warp 9 in advancement. This needs to be updated, and terms like “recent” need to be specified instead, as time does, in fact, keep moving. 2601:1C2:5000:1472:35BB:8748:1837:EBB4 (talk) 17:07, 17 July 2022 (UTC)

Repeated removal of Del Rosario

Del Rosario is the only one with a patent (granted in 1983 and 1986) for a karaoke machine and the only one with recognition from international organizations. Namely the World Intellectual Property Organization (an agency of the United Nations that specifically deals with intellectual property). He was also on the board of the International Federation of Inventors' Associations (also a UN organization for inventors) in 1991, where his invention was also highlighted in a published journal. He was an inventor (and the owner of an electronics and instruments manufacturing business). His Sing-Along System wasn't his first invention. He also won a court case on his intellectual property in the 1990s. All of these things happened long before Inoue started making his claim.

And you're removing Del Rosario because he "just has a patent"? What kind of fucking reason is that? That's exactly what a patent is for. It protects a new invention from being claimed by someone else.

The Japanese inventors also credited here are basically all recognized on hearsay, with no patent or official documents. Nor even published articles that would prove their inventions antedated Del Rosario's. Inoue in particular, made his claim only in 1996 in a TV interview, which got picked up by Time in 1999, leading to him becoming more famous to the Anglophone world (in turn leading to him winning an Ig Nobel Prize). There is no real verification on the dates he claimed to have made his machine, nor even a real reason on why he left his allegedly successful karaoke manufacturing company. He wasn't even an inventor, he was a musician who allegedly had to hire someone else to make the machines for him. The rest have even more dubious claims. Are we supposed to just give their claims more weight just because they're Japanese?

A WIPO award is a hell of a lot more official than an Ig Nobel.

BOTH Del Rosario and Inoue are credited by most sources as having independently invented the rudimentary precursors of modern karaokes. ALL of my additions are sourced. It's why I kept all of them (despite me being very skeptical of the Japanese claimants), because they all pass WP:V. Stop removing Del Rosario, while leaving the Japanese claimants intact with no fucking reason given other than obvious racism on your part.

The earlier wording also implied that Del Rosario just copied and patented Inoue's design, which is also baseless. None of the early machines made it out their home countries. The Japanese ones weren't even in national distribution, but were very localized handmade products from their own admissions.  OBSIDIAN†SOUL 15:10, 13 November 2025 (UTC)

P.S. I am the IP. -- OBSIDIAN†SOUL 16:48, 19 November 2025 (UTC)