Karaoke Box

Karaoke Box is a variant of karaoke that is 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 television, derived as a reference to "MTV."

The name varies across countries:
* KTV in korea and Taiwan.
* Videoke in the Philippines.
* Karaoke Box in Hong Kong and Japan.
* Noraebang (노래방) in South Korea. "Noraebang" literally means "song "(norae)" room "(bang)".

It is also common to simply abbreviate it as "K", often when used as a verb, such as in usages like "去K歌 (To go "K" songs)" or "去唱K (To go sing "K")" 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 illegally copy 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 are usually just known as 'KTV'. 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 is not as prevalent in the Western World as it is 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 Westerners 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 Australia, and the U.S. also have KTVs.

External links

* [http://www.taiwanfun.com/central/taichung/articles/9804/9804KTV.htm At the Mic: Karaoke Television] , by Mia Shanley, Compass Magazine, Apr-May 1998, retrieved November 5, 2006