They’d like to teach the world to sing

Is Karaoke the road to US success?

What?: UK indie band Art Brut are utilising the much-maligned art of karaoke in order to promote their new album, It’s A Bit Complicated, in the US.

The band have provided instrumental tracks for wannabe singers to warble along to at a number of venues across America. The events take place within the Beauty Bar franchise at sites in LA, San Francisco, New York and Austin. The Karaoke tour events are free to attend and prizes will be awarded for the best performances and vocal likeness to lead singer Eddie Argos.

So what?: Art Brut seem to be doing something whacky here, but in reality they could actually be well ahead of the game. Two new US mainstream karaoke shows are due out in July, FOX’s Don’t Forget the Lyrics, and NBC’s karaoke game show The
Singing Bee.

Singme.com – the world’s first karaoke download store – is currently in beta form with a full pop catalogue to follow.

Karaoke tours may still just be a quirky gimmick in the US, but on the other side of the world they could be much more marketable. It is estimated that China now houses nearly 100,000 karaoke bars. Combined they generate almost one
billion yuan of turnover a year.

Sing when you’re winning indeed.

www.artbrut.org.uk