Image credit: Kane Reinholdtsen

New patent filed by Spotify suggests that they are working on a Karaoke mode for their platform.

Spotify has been adding new features and diversifying its platform in recent years, most notably with the addition of podcasts. Now there is some solid proof that Spotify is working in a Karaoke mode as a recent patent they submitted references a ‘Karaoke Query Processing System’.

It’s no surprise that Spotify is looking to expand into this as it coincides with their expansion into the Asian markets, where Karaoke is incredibly popular. Not to mention that Twitch recently closed its Twitch Sings app in January 2021, meaning there is a gap in the market for a streaming service to run a karaoke app.

Chinese company Tencent Music Entertainment also has its WeSing app, which is hugely popular in Asia. Last year, Tencent claimed its WeSing users generated over 10 million karaoke recordings per day and accounts for 77% of the online karaoke users in China.

The patent details Spotify’s ‘Karaoke Query Processing System’ as “An electronic device receives an audio clip and performs a matching process on the audio clip. The matching process includes comparing at least a portion of the audio clip to a plurality of reference audio tracks and identifying, based on the comparing, the first portion of a particular reference track that corresponds to the audio sample.” The patent adds: “Upon identifying the matching portion, the electronic device provides a backing track for playback which corresponds to the particular reference track and an initial playback position of the backing track”.

It continues: “There is a need for a karaoke system which is capable of determining a users’ desired song for a karaoke performance even if the user cannot remember the name of the song or any other attributes of the song except for the melody of the song. In some embodiments, a user starts singing a song a cappella in the presence of a karaoke system as described herein. The karaoke system determines what the user is singing and begins playing an instrumental version of the determined song. In some embodiments, the karaoke system plays the instrumental version using the key and tempo at which the user is singing.”

Judging by this patent it’s safe to assume that Spotify is going to be delivering a Karaoke app or system within their platform. Although when it will launch though is yet to be announced.