2017 is The Year of Karaoke - Mark our words.
Right off the heels of an unprecedented 2016 — from viral videos to national karaoke competitions and more — it seems like everyone is talking about karaoke. Kids, teenagers and adults alike have realized: Karaoke is great entertainment for music lovers of all ages. With various viral videos circulating the internet, it’s hard to ignore the undoubtable rise in interest for karaoke.
Seven-year-old Audrey Nethery, who suffers from a rare bone marrow disease, has become an instant internet sensation with her singing, dancing and, (most importantly) confidence in singing her heart out to her favorite songs on her Singing Machine Carnaval.
James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke has been trending on the internet since early 2016. His videos feature top musical artists, such as Justin Bieber, Madonna, Bruno Mars, Stevie Wonder, and dozens of others, performing hilarious renditions of their favorite musical artists.
According to Youtube, James Corden and Adele scored the biggest viral hit of 2016 with their “Carpool Karaoke” reaching nearly 144 million views at the time of this writing. The success of the star-studded Carpool Karaoke has caught iTunes eye; in 2017, the show will transition from Youtube favorite to a standalone, 16-episode series on Apple Music. Other TV shows, such as NBC’s “America's Got Talent” and Spike’s “Lip Sync Battle”, have caught the attention of karaoke fans everywhere with an evolving roster of celebrities hamming it up to their favorite tunes.
Singing Machine adapted to the karaoke demand in 2016 by adding a new line of Digital Download karaoke systems, launching an app with access to more than 13,000 songs, and offering Bluetooth and Wifi streaming capabilities, among other new technology features. This publicly traded company has seen its stock rise from twelve cents to over fifty-three cents just this quarter.
With a new Sing-Along Kids Line slated to ship in Spring 2017, Singing Machine is anticipating sustained growth this year. “We believe in the emotional connectedness of karaoke and the bond you share with a group after singing with them,” explains Singing Machine CEO, Gary Atkinson. “We are also the only company that I know of that focuses every single day on home karaoke. The success of our products is what we will live or die by.”
