Apple Music To Receive New karaoke-Like Feature, Apple Sing

Apple has announced the launch of a new Apple Music feature that is expected to allow users to instantly convert tens of millions of their favourite songs into karaoke tracks.

Users of the new feature, known as Apple Sing, will be able to reduce the vocals in well-known songs by sliding a button, and then singing along to the music while using improved real-time lyrics.

Users won't be able to switch between music tracks with erased voices using this feature, either.

According to Apple, it is instead using an on-device machine learning algorithm to process the music in real time.

Using a new slider feature in the Apple Music app, users can now change the volume of the vocals separately from the rest of the music thanks to the algorithm.

The technology, according to Apple, relies on its experience in noise reduction and other advancements it has made for FaceTime. Apple TV, iPad, and iPhone models 11 and later all support the feature.

Users must first access the lyrics page in order to use the feature, after which they must press on a microphone button to access a slider for adjusting the volume of the singing.

The feature leaves some vocals behind, but it's still adequate for a family game night or karaoke session at home.

Apple's previous investment in real-time lyrics, which already enables customers to view synced lyrics while they listen to music on the service, is built upon by Apple Sing as well.

These lyrics have since been improved to work better with Apple Sing.

The improved lyrics feature will now animate the lyrics with each syllable for beat-by-beat sync rather of just animating them line-by-line as it did before.

Even if they aren't as familiar with the music itself, this can aid folks while singing along, similar to karaoke.

Two other new elements are also being added to the lyrics to better enable duets and overlapping singing.

For the first time, Apple Music will split the backup vocal from the main line and animate those independently as they are sung thanks to the new background vocals feature.

This would enable, for instance, a group of individuals singing along to a song to take on different parts. In order to set these background lyrics apart from the lead vocals, they are also displayed in a smaller typeface.

To make it simpler to understand when to start or when your duet partner should start, lyrics for duets now signal when there is a vocalist change by adjusting the justification of the words on the screen.

Other modest changes to lyrics include the addition of a highlight and an undulating pattern to indicate to listeners who are singing along to hold that note as well when the artist is holding a word or portion of a word for a longer period of time.

The functionality won't be accessible throughout the whole 100 million song library of Apple Music because each song must go through an internal process before being made available for Apple Sing.

Instead, Apple claims that it will first be accessible across the top 80% of its most-played songs and that it will gradually expand.

Apple will release 50 playlists that showcase this new capability in various ways, including thematic playlists, playlists by decade, and playlists by genre, to make it simpler to find this music. On the newest iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV models, these will be emphasised in Apple Music.

While Android users won't be able to use Apple Sing's vocal control function, they will be able to enjoy the other real-time lyrics improvements, according to the firm.

The new function won't go live right away but will do so "soon" for Apple beta testers. (Apple now permits the general public to beta test its software in addition to developers)

Then, it will be made available to all consumers later this month.

Although Apple didn't provide a specific debut date, it's safe to assume that the company wants the functionality to be accessible before the end of all the holiday festivities.

The functionality is specifically compatible with the iPhone 11 and later or iPhone SE (3rd generation), the iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation and later), the iPad Air (4th generation and later), the iPad mini (6th generation), or the iPad (9th generation and later), as well as the Apple TV 4K. (3rd generation).

In previous years, Apple had surpassed Spotify, Spotify's main competition, in the field of lyrics since Spotify was unable to reach agreements to integrate lyrics into its product across international markets.

When Spotify eventually made real-time lyrics available to its user base in November 2021, that situation altered.

Apple is now moving ahead once more, this time with a feature that the company claims its staff has been working on for the past few years as a "labour of love."

Additionally, if Apple Sing takes off, it can inspire individuals to subscribe for the first time or make the switch.

While Spotify was said to be developing its own karaoke option, it has not yet been made widely accessible.