Karaoke For Kids

Children absolutely love karaoke. During my many years in the karaoke entertainment business I have had the opportunity to perform at various functions where children were present. Invariably, before I can even get started, I will be swarmed by kids asking me about the songs I have and how soon they can sing. Karaoke has no age boundaries. Even children that are too young to read will readily grab a microphone and sing songs that they have memorized.

A portable karaoke machine makes a great gift for any child who likes to sing. Perfect for entertaining themselve's at home or for taking to parties. There are many models available, from small "boom box" types, to large and powerful units. Some have a built in TV screen (for displaying the lyrics) while others can be easily connected to a standard television.

The type of karaoke songs these machines play is called CD+G which stands for Compact Disc plus Graphics. These are not video discs nor are they DVD media that can be played in a typical DVD player. They are compact discs that contain song tracks (minus the lead singer) and display static images and synchronized lyrics. It is a common misconception that a karaoke machine will turn standard audio discs into karaoke.

Karaoke CD+G songs come in two formats. CD+G discs are available at some department stores and music stores. The largest selection of these discs will be found online at sites like Ace Karaoke. The other format is known as MP3+G which is a compressed version of a CD+G song. These song files are typically stored on a computer's hard drive and played with a software player.

Some modern karaoke machines will play these song files from a CD, SD card, and/or USB device (thumb drive) although these are typically higher priced machines. MP3+G songs can be downloaded using the MP3+G Download Guide or they can be created by "ripping" songs from CD+G discs with software like Power CD+G Burner.

Here you will find a large selection of portable karaoke machines at my favorite karaoke store.

Article by Richard Wise.