Singalong history: how the Sparko Box and karaoke machine conquered the world

On March 16, 2024, Rolling Stone reported that the founder of the karaoke machine, Japanese engineer Shigeichi Negishi, had died at the age of 100. Let's reflect on his contribution to the popular activity of karaoke singing.

Shigeichi Negishi is best known as the inventor of the Karaoke Machine. He was born on November 29, 1923, and died on January 26, 2024, at the age of 100.

Image: Pixabay

According to the Wall Street Journal, Shigeichi Negishi is credited as the original inventor of the Karaoke machine, despite the fact that Daisuke Inoue is also credited as the inventor. That's because it was Shigeichi Negishi who created the machine's first prototype.

Image: Pixabay

Before 'karaoke', 'The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present' writes that sing-alongs were founded in America by NBC, where people were encouraged to sing along to TV shows with a lead vocalist.

Karaoke differs from sing-alongs in that it does not feature a vocalist but rather just the audience singing along.

Image: Pixabay

According to the book 'Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World,' the word 'karaoke' came from a term used in the Japanese music industry to describe using music tracks instead of a live band when a singer is performing.

Image: Pixabay

In 1967, Shigeichi Negishi made the first prototype for the karaoke machine, the ‘Sparko Box’, which CNN reports to have been invented when the engineer “hooked a spare tape deck up to a microphone and mixing circuit so he could hear himself singing over music”.

CNN reports that Shigeichi Negishi’s invention, the ‘Sparko Box’, enabled a user to sing along to lyrics provided in a book, where they can hear their own voice coming through the machine, instead of pre-recorded voices.

Despite marketing it as a new version of the ways people could sing along to music, the same CNN report notes that Shigeichi Negishi’s invention ended up being used as a background music player instead.

Image: Pixabay

A later prototype of a similar karaoke machine, created by Daisuke Inoue in 1971, gained traction due to Daisuke Inoue's work as a nightclub musician and his move to get hostesses to sing on the machines, allowing karaoke machines to grow in popularity, according to Time.

Despite being first invented in Japan, karaoke machines were not patented then. Only in 1975 did the BBC report that a Filipino entrepreneur, Robert del Rosario, would develop another karaoke machine, patent his idea, and become known as the inventor of karaoke systems used around the world today.

Image: Pixabay

Regardless, historians continue to recognize Shigeichi Negishi as the first chronological creator of the karaoke machine while crediting Robert Del Rosario for popularising it worldwide, according to CNN.

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