How biggest US karaoke firm turned to youth market to reinvent itself

Digital technology and an encroaching era of ‘cool’ almost sounded the death knell for the US’ largest home karaoke machine maker, until it upped the fun and eyecatching devices to draw kids

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By focusing on the youth market, Singing Machine has carved out a space for itself in the karaoke consumer arena.

Published: 7:45pm, 2 Oct 2016Updated: 7:45pm, 2 Oct 2016

For a while, it looked like the beat wouldn’t go on for the Singing Machine Co. The United States’ largest manufacturer of home karaoke machines, founded in 1982, was being crowded out of retail store shelves by newer, cooler products such as portable DVD machines, MP3 players, digital picture frames and GPS tracking devices.

At the same time, the karaoke industry was reeling from piracy lawsuits from record labels, which claimed hardware manufacturers were infringing on their copyrighted music. Video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band surged in popularity, making karaoke seem dated.

In 2008, the Singing Machine, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, lost US$3 million and the former management bailed. Its 100,000 square-foot warehouse in California was crowded with unsold karaoke machines and the 50-person staff was battered by layoffs. The end seemed assured.

But today, the Singing Machine is humming a much happier tune. The publicly held company reported a 25 per cent increase in sales during the financial year which ended this March and for the quarter which ended on June 30, the company saw a 40 per cent increase in net sales over the same period in 2015.

The social aspect of karaoke is part of what has helped the Singing Machine thrive alongside the digital revolution.

In an era where the digital landscape continues to dictate how people consume their news and entertainment, and cellphones and tablets have started to make even desktop computers obsolete, Singing Machine reversed its fortunes by focusing on what consumers really want: Fun. Instead of sleek but plain surfaces and few buttons, the company started adding lights, colours and disco balls to their karaoke machines, which are all made in Shenzhen.

“We’re doing the opposite of what the trend in technology is,” says Gary Atkinson, CEO of Singing Machine, who joined the company in 2008. We’re pushing bigger speakers, bigger boxes, bigger lights. That stuff is what is really driving sales.”