If you love nothing more than belting a song out in the shower, or with your mates, then Apple Music has the feature for you.
The music streamer just announced a karaoke mode called Apple Music Sing that lets you warble along to your fave tracks solo or duet with others. Apple is launching the feature for subscribers later this month on iPhone, iPad, and the latest Apple TV 4K streaming box. But it won’t be available to customers of the cheaper Apple Voice plan that only works with Siri.
Apple Music Sing essentially lets you turn down the volume on supported tracks straight from the lyrics page. Here, you’ll see a new icon that looks like a sparkling microphone with a volume slider above it.
Notably, you won’t be able to put your own spin on all the tracks on Apple Music. To start, Apple says the new karaoke mode will support tens of millions of tracks. The streamer’s entire music library currently boasts more than 100 million songs, which is a big ask at launch.
To help budding crooners and cover bands keep up with songs, the new mode will feature animated lyrics that dance to the rhythm. Vocal parts sung simultaneously will also be jazzed up with animations to help them stand out, while multiple vocalists will show on opposite sides of the screen to help with duets or group harmonies.
Though the new mode will appeal to existing subscribers, the fact is, Apple is late to the karaoke party. Rival Spotify launched its singalong feature back in the summer. Plus, all the hardcore wannabe singers can already grab karaoke machines, which range from cheap wireless mics to elaborate set-ups that can adjust the pitch of your voice.
Apple’s tardiness is a bit puzzling seeing as it owns Carpool Karaoke: The Series, a spinoff based on James Corden’s viral Late Late Show segment, in which celebs drive around singing the biggest pop tracks. But, better late than never, we guess. Plus, the winter launch means it can capitalise on the festive party season when bleary-eyed office workers and families butcher popular songs at Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
“Apple Music’s lyrics experience is consistently one of the most popular features on our service,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats.
“We already know our users all over the world love to follow along to their favourite songs, so we wanted to evolve this offering even further to enable even more engagement around music through singing. It’s really a lot of fun, our customers are going to love it.”
