Remote Karaoke: Sing With Your Friends on YouTube

Karaoke is that magical moment when your shyest friend suddenly turns into a rockstar on some early-2000s banger. Good news: you no longer need a packed bar or an overpriced machine for it. With YouTube and a decent connection, you can throw a remote karaoke night with your friends, everyone comfy at home, and turn your video call into an impromptu stage.

In this guide, we'll cover how to find the right karaoke versions, manage the singing turns, dial in the sound without blowing out your eardrums, and above all how to spice up the vibe. Grab your mic (or your hairbrush): here we go.

Finding karaoke versions on YouTube

The foundation of a great online karaoke night with friends is the playlist. On YouTube, just type the song title followed by "karaoke" or "instrumental with lyrics." You'll land on versions with the words scrolling across the screen and the lead vocal stripped out, exactly what you need to sing over the top.

A few tips for singing on YouTube without any nasty surprises:

• Check the lyrics: some videos show translations or hilarious typos, so test them before the night.
• Look for dedicated channels: several channels offer clean backing tracks with no ads dropping in the middle of the chorus.
• Plan a wide selection: mix classics everyone knows with a few more personal gems for the surprise factor.
• Keep the pace up: alternate heart-tugging ballads with all-out bangers so the energy never dips.

Managing singing turns and sound

The trickiest part of a remote karaoke is coordination. Who's singing? When? And how do you keep everyone from talking over each other? Here's the simple method: appoint a "karaoke master" who shares their screen, cues up the videos and hands out the mic. One at a time, like passing a mic around the room.

On the sound side, that's where it gets serious. To avoid the hellish echo and the feedback that sends the neighbours running:

• Use a headset or earbuds: it kills the audio feedback and echo instantly.
• Mute your mic when you're not singing, so the star of the moment can shine.
• Turn the music volume down a touch in your video-call app so you can hear yourself singing over it.

And if you want to turn it into a proper themed night, slot in some other online happy hour games with friends between songs to give the vocal cords a breather.

Themes for an amazing vibe

A good remote karaoke is also about the vibe. Kick off a theme for the night: '80s special, French hits, nostalgic Disney tunes, or "the most embarrassing song on your playlist." That last one is unbeatable for the laughs. You can even set up a mini-jury that rates the performances on totally subjective criteria (dance moves count double).

To go further with shared music, take a look at our music category, packed with ideas to liven up your sound-filled nights with friends.

What if you all sang together, live?

Classic screen sharing is fine, but it can quickly turn into chaos when everyone wants to pitch THEIR song to butcher. The collaborative version changes everything: picture every friend dropping their video into a shared queue, with a random draw deciding who's up next. No more fighting over the mic, just the thrill of the luck of the draw.

That's exactly the idea behind AperoRoom: a collaborative jukebox where you watch and listen to the same YouTube video at the same time, live, with a chat to react in real time to your friend's performance. Everyone submits their karaoke versions, the random draw decides, and everyone sings together, wherever they are in the world. Check out how it works: it's free to get started and it perfectly replaces the "who handles the videos" part of your karaoke.

Whether you go for homemade screen sharing or the live jukebox, the essentials stay the same: bring your friends together, dare to hit the wrong notes and laugh together. So pick your first song, give everyone a heads-up, and launch your remote karaoke this weekend. The neighbours might hold it against you a little, your friends will love you forever.