We propose several ways to enjoy a good karaoke session at home, from the most basic and free option, enough to have a good time having fun in one-off sessions, to the most sophisticated option, recommended for those who enjoy karaoke at home regularly or those who want to offer the best experience to their guests.
Tips to enjoy a good karaoke at home
We all know that if we type in the YouTube search engine for example “Still loving you with lyrics” we get dozens of results of videos with the music of the song and its lyrics as a subtitle.
You might think, “Great, we’ve got karaoke!” — but not so fast.
Most of these videos have been created by individuals and do not offer a good karaoke experience. Maybe some of them do, but finding them can be like playing lottery, and if we have to try four or five videos —receiving YouTube advertising on each one of them— to find one that is good, the flow and fun of your karaoke night will take a hit. Supposedly we want to have fun singing and not spend most of our time doing a tedious trial-error.
And what distinguishes a good karaoke video from a bad one? In our experience, three things:
1 – The time lag between the appearance of the lyrics on the screen and the music: it is imperative that the lyrics appear when they are supposed to appear, a second or two before the moment when the phrase is to be sung. But in some videos the lyrics appear too late, just at the moment when you have to sing or even after, and that is frustrating for those who don’t know the lyrics of the song.
2 – That the lyrics are easy to read: you have to read on screen and you also have to read fast, something that some authors do not take into account when projecting the lyrics of the song in subtitles with a typeface that is too small, or with a color that does not contrast well with the background or with a typeface that does not make it easy to read. Or all three at once.
3 – The music should be as close to the original as possible: songs are copyrighted so it is very rare to find a karaoke video with the original music with the audio track of the vocal performance removed. Most karaoke videos offer a different version of the original. And some are very good, recorded by professional musicians, but others are not so good.
4 – Large catalog: the karaoke session will be much more fluid and fun if we find a good author or provider of karaoke videos that offers many songs. Surely better than starting a new search and a trial-and-error process for each song.
Options to do karaoke at home
We have already said that the quickest and easiest way to do karaoke at home is to use YouTube. We have also said that if we type in the search engine “Still loving you with lyrics” we can find anything in the search results. However, if we type “karaoke Still loving you” the results will improve. And do you know why? Because professional videos created by YouTube Channels specialized in karaoke will start to appear.
And that’s where we’re headed. Yes, there are YouTube Channels specialized in karaoke, perfect for doing karaoke at home in a simple, fast, free and no registration way. And we are going to recommend you the best ones.
WORD TO THE WISE: YouTube videos include advertising. While the videos may satisfy the requirements we have described above, we shouldn’t forget that we are going to eat advertisements before the playback of each video, and that can also make the karaoke session not good. That’s why we will offer more professional options later.
Option 1 – SING KING KARAOKE (YouTube channel)
SING KING KARAOKE offers a large catalog, with more than 3,700 videos of all musical genres. The music is not the original but in most of the songs you won’t notice the difference. Sound is good. Lyrics are projected in large, clear letters on a black background. Each video is a song and there are playlists with songs with some common characteristic: artist, decade, album, musical genre, etc.
Link to YouTube channel: Sing King Karaoke
Below are two screenshots so you can see how the covers of their videos look like and also how they project the lyrics of the songs, although this last one may vary a little bit from one video to another:
Option 2 – KARAFUN KARAOKE (YouTube channel)
KaraFun is a company specializing in karaoke. They offer a part of their catalog -about 8,000 songs- on their free Youtube channel and the rest of their very complete catalog with more than 53,000 songs, along with a lot of interesting extras, and of course ad-free, as a subscription.
Let’s first look at the free version of Karafun, then we’ll check out the premium options
8,000 songs are a lot of songs, and the videos are very professional. Music is almost indistinguishable from the original and the presentation of the lyrics is very good. As in Sing King, each video is a song and they offer playlists grouping songs by different characteristics.
Link to YouTube channel: Karafun karaoke
This is how KARAFUN’s videos look like:
Option 3 – STINGRAY KARAOKE (YouTube channel)
STINGRAY KARAOKE is also a company specializing in karaoke, although the catalog of songs they offer for free on YouTube is smaller than KARAFUN’s, about 2,800 songs of all musical genres. Music and sound are also very good. The video and lyrics aesthetics are good, although not always the same because some videos are produced by Stingray and others by Karaoke Channel -which is a bit confusing-. In addition to videos of individual songs and playlists, they offer long videos, some of them over an hour long, in which songs with a common characteristic are played consecutively: of an artist, of a decade, of a musical style…
Link to YouTube channel: Stingray karaoke
Below are a couple of screenshots so you can see the aesthetics of their covers and lyrics:
About the Stingray and Karaoke Channel relationship: Stingray Karaoke is a division of Stingray Digital Group, a Canadian media company that offers a wide variety of music and video services across television, radio, internet and mobile devices. Stingray Digital Group acquired Karaoke Channel in 2011 and has added some of its videos to its catalog. Stingray Karaoke and Karaoke Channel operate as separate brands: Stingray Karaoke offers online karaoke videos through its YouTube channel and mobile app and Karaoke Channel offers pay-TV karaoke services worldwide, although some of its videos are offered on the Stingray Karaoke YouTube channel.
Option 4 – KARAOKE MEDIA (YouTube channel)
If you’re looking for Spanish songs, this YouTube channel is your best bet.
With 1,300 songs spanning various styles and eras, from Latin boleros of the ’70s to iconic tunes from the ’80s Madrid music scene, and all the way to the latest hits from artists like Rosalía and other contemporary musicians.
The music is nearly identical to the original, high-quality, and the lyrics are easy to follow, presented on time. It’s really well done.
Here’s the link to the YouTube channel: Karaoke Media.
Karaoke from free websites
Option 5 – www.cantaokey.com
CantaOkey is a website that offers selected YouTube videos categorized by artists and musical genres.
The videos are from individuals or small YouTube channels, and logically we could play them from YouTube itself, it is not necessary to do it from this website. So what does CantaOkey bring to the table? Well, supposedly they have selected the best video for each song, saving us the trial-error, and offer them categorized by artists and music genres.
You will not find on this page any video of Sing King, Karafun or Stingray because it would infringe their copyrights. In fact, it is not clear that all the videos they offer are copyright compliant, but we understand – and the creators of this site should do the same – that this is a matter for YouTube, the rights owners and the individuals who have created those videos.
This website is free and does not require registration, but we must take into account that we will receive advertising on two sides: from each YouTube video and the one inserted by the website itself.
While for some users this website may be practical and convenient, for many others it doesn’t provide a good experience to do karaoke at home because each video is different from the other both in aesthetics and quality. It is no longer a lottery, because they are supposed to be selected, but it is very rare, and some videos have a low quality. And then there is the issue of advertising.
Link to the website: CantaOkey
Professional multi platform Karaokes
Option 6 – KARAFUN (Professional karaoke)
Fortunately for karaoke lovers there are professional solutions at very affordable prices that ensure maximum quality, respect for copyright, absence of advertising and also include extras highly valued by the millions of users around the world.
For us, KARAFUN is the paid karaoke that offers the best value for money.
Offers a multi-platform solution, allowing access to songs via web using any web browser or through APPs available for Windows, IOS and Android.
Catalog is premium, more than 53,000 songs, and includes a lot of extras: you can download songs for offline playback, customize the playback pitch (lower or higher pitched) and tempo (faster or slower), create a queue of songs, etc.
Three licenses are available:
Free: with a few free songs so you can try before you pay.
Premium: with unlimited access to the entire catalog and all functionalities for only $7.99 per month, cancelable at any time.
Pro: for bars, pubs or public events, includes commercial license, advanced remote features and customization, $49/month.
We recommend the Karafun Premium subscription whether you love karaoke and are going to use it regularly or for a one-off party, as you can subscribe and unsubscribe whenever you want. For such a low price you can offer a professional karaoke experience to your guests, no advertising and a never-ending catalog.
Website link: Karafun
Option 7 – STINGRAY (Professional karaoke)
It is also a multiplatform system, although its rates are very different from those of Karafun. For the web version you pay for individual songs $1.99, for packs of 10 songs $15.99 for packs of 25 songs $34.99. For Android or IOS APP version you pay a subscription of $9.99 per week or $14.99 per month. Catalog is about 20,000 songs.
Website link: Stingray karaoke
Karaoke at home with game consoles
Yes, there are also video games with karaoke background. However, in our opinion, it is not the best option for a karaoke session at home.
Here we explain which games are the best sellers and their characteristics so you can decide if this option is of interest to you or not.
Option 8 – LET’S SING (video game)
LET’S SING is not really a karaoke to enjoy singing, but a competitive video game where the best singer wins. It is also true the game incorporates a Jukebox mode that acts as a karaoke, with no competition. However, you must take into account that in these games the number of songs is very limited, between 25 and 30 songs depending on the game edition and version.
Honestly, if you’re just looking to sing your heart out at home, then for the price of one of these games you pay the subscription to Karafun for many months and have access to 53,000 songs. Far better.
Option 9 – SINGSTAR (video game)
The same as we have said about Let’s Sing. It is a video game rather than a karaoke, although it includes a Freestyle mode. Editions include 30 songs. It is published by Sony so it is only available for Play Station.
Microphones & Audio Systems
Homemade set up
To do karaoke at home, with family or friends, we do not think it is necessary to use microphones or professional sound equipment.
A Smart TV or laptop can be sufficient, perhaps connecting the audio output to your stereo or to a quality portable speaker.
In the case of using an app on your phone, it is possible that the screen and the sound capacity will fall short. You will need to connect the mobile to a TV or laptop.
Semi-professional set up
Another thing is that the karaoke is one of the centers of animation of the party. Then you really have to think about the set up of the karaoke.
From LOODENS we recommend you to opt for a portable karaoke equipment. It is a semi-professional solution that includes a quality speaker, one or two microphones and connectivity with your mobile, laptop or TV. A hassle-free, all-in-one setup.
From here you can access the best sellers and best rated on Amazon:
Summary and conclusion
To do occasional karaoke at home, we think it is more than enough with the three YouTube channels that we have proposed. And we do not think it is necessary to invest in expensive microphones and speakers, or cheap ones that do not provide a good experience.
If the karaoke sessions are going to be regular or you are planning a private party, we think that the best option is the Karafun Premium subscription and in case you are planning a private party, you would need a good audio system and maybe one or two microphones. And for public events, you have the Pro subscription option.
Whatever you go for, just make sure you have fun and enjoy the music together!
Thank you for reading. Have a great day and an even better night 😉
