Let the Embarrassment Begin—Apple Music Gets a New Karaoke Mode

Apple is adding a karaoke mode to its streaming service, Apple Music, allowing one and all to experience the red-faced embarrassment of hitting the wrong note in front of friends and family.

The appropriately-named Apple Music Sing has everything you want in a karaoke app. There are animated lyrics that dance to the song's rhythm, with independent animations for background vocals. You can also adjust the original vocals to suit your tastes, including turning them off entirely for an old-school experience. 

There's even a "duet view" that splits the lyrics to opposite sides of the screen to make multi-singer tracks more approachable; finally, you can perform Islands in the Stream with that special someone or whoever happens to be hanging around after a few glasses of wine. 

The catalog is one of the best features here, with "millions of songs" available from the Apple Music library. Apple is also launching the service alongside more than 50 dedicated companion playlists, including "epic songs, duets, choruses, and anthems."

"We already know our users all over the world love to follow along to their favorite songs, so we wanted to evolve this offering even further to enable even more engagement around music through singing," wrote Oliver Schusser, Apple's vice president of Apple Music and Beats. "It's really a lot of fun, our customers are going to love it."

Apple Music Sing is available later this month for subscribers worldwide, with full compatibility across all iPhone and iPad models, as well as the new Apple TV 4K.