Videoke (Roberto del Rosario's Sing-Along System)
Videoke (sistema Sing-Along de Roberto del Rosario)
- Date
- 1975 (patente de 1983) · confidence medium
- Place
- Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
- Credited to
- Roberto del Rosario
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Equipment with a microphone and instrumental tracks that plays music with the lyrics displayed, devised by Filipino inventor Roberto del Rosario in 1975 and patented as the Sing-Along System. With the Magic Sing machines it popularised sing-along with backing tracks in Southeast Asia.
Dispute with Daisuke Inoue's karaoke (Kōbe, 1971); Del Rosario argues his machine was distinct and patented it in the Philippines in 1983. Some sources date the invention to 1975, others only the patent. It is a disputed, unresolved priority.
What it led to
- home karaoke with integrated microphones
- videoke in bars, parties and streets across the Philippines
- legal dispute over authorship with Japanese karaoke