Karaoke Around the World: Global Technology, Local Singing

The karaoke machine is much more than an instrument which allows us to be a star for three minutes. Using the theoretical framework of thinkers from Erving Goffman to Foucault, the contributors to this volume consider the technological, spatial, communicative, ethnic, national, political, musical and gender aspects of karaoke in specific places and times across the globe. This study explores the influence of karaoke in such different societies as the United Kingdom, North America, Australia, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Korea and Japan. The essays not only answer a variety of questions about this phenomenon, but also open up possible ways of theorising contemporary music practice in the future.