Everything about Karaoke Box totally explained
Karaoke Box is a variant of
karaoke that's popular in
East Asia.It features a small to medium-sized private room containing karaoke equipment for a group of friends to rent in timed increments. A monitor in the room displays lyrics atop a themed
music video. The music videos are often not the official videos, but are videos made especially for karaoke establishments. A typical Karaoke Box establishment contains 10-20 such rooms as well as a main "
karaoke bar" area in the front. Karaoke Box centers can scale to hundreds of rooms and can be extremely opulent. Karaoke Box establishments often sell refreshments.
In
Taiwan and
mainland China, Karaoke Box establishments are often known as
KTV, and are a popular form of extertainment. Very successful KTV chains in Taiwan include Holiday KTV and Cashbox KTV. "KTV" is an abbreviation for
karaoke
tele
vision, derived as a reference to "
MTV."
The name varies across countries:
It is also common to simply abbreviate it as "
K", often when used as a verb, such as in this usage: "去K歌 (To go "K" songs)Especially in
Hong Kong.
Karaoke Music Videos
The word "KTV" can also mean a "karaoke music video", a music video with karaoke lyrics and MMO audio track. Some karaoke music videos were sold to KTV establishments under exclusivity contracts, causing some people to
steal karaoke music videos and share them on the Internet. These are often found on the Internet in
MPEG(
VCD) or
VOB(
DVD) format with the string "(KTV)" appended to the filename.
"Special KTV"
A group of gentlemen patronizing a KTV in China will typically have a group of young women brought into the room from which each man may choose his personal hostess. In Taiwan, these establishments are known as
Special KTV. This "hosting" can range from polite conversation to
sexual liaison, depending on the policies and niche of the particular "special KTV" lounge. Sexual recreation can take place in the KTV room itself or at a "love motel". Such practice is illegal in Taiwan, but enforcement is weak. Special KTVs are commonplace and in Taiwan can be incredibly expensive.
Taichung, the third largest city on Taiwan, is a notable hub of special KTV lounges.
Special KTV are a popular form of corporate entertainment, and many business deals are struck within the confines of special KTV lounges, a striking difference between Taiwanese and Western business practices. Special KTVs can often be distinguished by red, white, and blue twirling barbershop spindles on their storefronts. They are alleged to have connections to
triads. These Special KTVs are also prevalent in Mainland China, although they're usually just known as 'KTV' (whereas plain vanilla KTV without hostesses is usually called 'Karaoke'). Similar to Taiwan, these KTVs are illegal but are nevertheless commonplace.
KTV lounges are also found in other East Asian countries, such as Singapore, the
Philippines and South Korea.
KTV outside Asia
Karaoke itself isn't as prevalent in the
Western World as it's in much of
Asia. Instead of KTV or Karaoke box, it tends to follow a more public format, which involves singing on stage in bars and clubs instead of in small, private, equipped rooms for rent.
Most Americans have experienced karaoke only in the "karaoke bar" setting, although karaoke boxes have become very popular in
New York and the
San Francisco Bay Area since the late 1990s. Asian subcommunities in the U.S. also have KTVs.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Karaoke Box'.
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