Spotify Rolls Out Karaoke Feature

Finally, something good: Spotify is launching a karaoke mode. The announcement comes exactly two Gregorian calendar years too late, after the karaoke-deprived erected rogue living room setups using this Amazon microphone and YouTube dot com during the lockdown wave.

Anyone whose ever tried to do karaoke at home without the use of a karaoke machine will tell you there isn’t a good karaoke app. The best karaoke app is actually YouTube, where saintly people have done the work of removing vocals and creating lyric videos so you can poorly belt basically any song that has ever existed. Tech companies are famously good at filling unnecessary voids in the market, and it’s shocking that Spotify didn’t fill the karaoke app void years ago, especially because the app already displays lyrics or music videos alongside songs.

Still, it’s better late than never, and I, for one, can’t believe that a tech company came up with an idea that made me audibly gasp out of joy, not fear. Find out everything to know about Spotify’s Karaoke Mode, below.

When is it going to roll out?

Get those pipes warmed up — it’s available now for some users. All you have to do is make sure your Spotify app is up to date. And if it’s not yet available on yours, it will be in the next few days. Mine is, tragically, not yet available, a huge loss for my roommates who don’t get to hear a 10 AM rendition of “Dreams” by The Cranberries.

How does it work?

Select a song and scroll down to the “Sing” button on the top right corner of the Lyrics screen — and then release your inner Britney Spears. From videos of users who got the feature early, it looks a lot like the Lyrics page, except with a little sound bar. After your performance, you receive a score.

Wait, Spotify will score your singing? Why?

Because Spotify is a little gossip, the app (for no reason other than to create an opportunity for users to post screenshots, which I will also do) will give you a scorecard following your vocal performance. According to screenshots of Karaoke Mode, the score is a percentage based on your “accuracy” of the song. So much for style points! Nobody — and I mean nobody — asked for this part of the feature.

Is Spotify gifting us with any other new features?

Yes. Spotify is also launching its “Supergrouper” features, which allows users to create their own supergroup of up to five artists, which Spotify will use to generate a playlist incorporating all your favorite artists. Yet another opportunity to surrender yourself to the algorithm.