Shigeichi Negishi, the inventor of the karaoke machine, died at 100 years old.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Negishi's daughter Atsumi Takano said her father died from natural causes back in January 26.
According to an NPR report, Negishi was around his 40s when he had an idea of creating a “mass-produced, coin-operated karaoke machine,” which he called a “Sparko Box” following a criticism he received from a colleague regarding his singing.
Author Matt Alt, who interviewed Negishi for his book “Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World,” bid his goodbye to the inventor on X: “By automating the sing-along, he earned the enmity of performers who saw his machine as a threat to their jobs,” he wrote.
Farewell to another legend: Shigeichi Negishi, inventor of karaoke, has died age 100. By automating the sing-along, he earned the enmity of performers who saw his machine as a threat to their jobs. It's an eerie precursor of the debate surrounding AI's impact on artists today. pic.twitter.com/ZOpLdSisb2
— Matt Alt (@Matt_Alt) March 14, 2024
CEO of Tokyo-based company AltJapan Hiroko Yoda also shared a video of Negishi on X, showing the inventor with his “Sparko Box.”
I took this video of karaoke inventor Shigeichi Negishi in 2018, when @Matt_Alt interviewed him for the book "Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World." I remember how happy Mr. Negishi was showing off his Sparko box. This video still makes me smile. š§µ pic.twitter.com/AflgWkLm1L
— Hiroko Yoda (@Ninetail_foxQ) March 16, 2024
The Sparko Box used eight-track cassette tapes with instrumental recording which the public can sing along to using a paper booklet that has lyrics on them. Due to issues around distribution, he stopped producing the Sparko Box in 1975. He did not have a patent for his invention.
