At home, I have a weekly karaoke spot. We're a proper group, with table reservations and everything. Regulars. The kind of people who, even when you butcher that song, cheer you on anyway. That's what karaoke is about - being brave, getting on stage even when you sing badly, and just having fun.
When I travel, I want that too. Not just any karaoke location or event, but the kind of place where the regulars will let you join their table. Where you know it's actually happening tonight, not listed on some website from last year but the venue closed two years ago.
I asked on Reddit: "Finding Karaoke When Traveling" - does anyone else want this? Could we build a network of karaoke people who keep a database up to date?
The responses were instructive.
One person: "It's a noble venture but very difficult to keep up with."
Another: "There have been many, many, many attempts over the years to create 'comprehensive' directories of karaoke locations and every one of them has failed."
Someone mentioned an existing app. I checked. It listed 17 venues for Washington state. A moderator of a Pacific Northwest karaoke Facebook group confirmed: "Hundreds of active gigs in WA state that I personally know about."
I Couldn't Resist
I needed a break from other projects. And I love databases.
So I built a prototype. Not to prove it could be done perfectly - clearly that's hard. But to see if I could get something useful out there fast.
The approach: scrape Reddit posts where people ask about karaoke locations and times. Threads like "Where's karaoke in Denver?" or "Best karaoke nights in London?" People answer with specific venues, days, times.
That data exists. It's scattered across hundreds of Reddit threads, Facebook groups, forum posts. But it exists.
I built a scraper, processed the data with AI to extract venue names and details, generated static HTML pages with an interactive map showing upcoming events.
Two days later: karaokecrowd.com went live.
What It Is (And Isn't)
KaraokeCrowd is a prototype. The data is tagged as "suspected" or "expected" because it came from scraping - I haven't personally verified 1172 karaoke venues.
That's the next step. Get people to confirm: yes, this venue still does karaoke on Thursdays. Or: no, this closed last year.
The website is intentionally simple. Static HTML generated from markdown files. It'll probably stay that way forever, because even today we still need a website for SEO. When someone googles "karaoke near me," they should find actual current information.
But there's a second layer I want to build: the social layer.
RSVP to events to get notified if it's not happening. Mark an event series as "confirmed this week" when you show up. Connect with the regulars. Find your karaoke crowd.
Long term: features for karaoke hosts - maybe tools to automatically announce gigs on Instagram and Facebook, that kind of thing.
The Data Problem
Everyone who's tried this before hit the same wall: data rot.
Venues close. Karaoke nights change. The directory becomes useless within weeks to months.
The only solution I see is to make it interactive. Not a database maintained by a few people, but a community that keeps it alive because they're using it.
That means:
- Regional moderators who watch over their area's data (like Facebook group admins do now)
- Making it dead simple for regular attendees to give a "life signal" - I was here, it's still happening, the vibe was good
I don't know if this will work. But it's worth trying.
Why It's Worth Trying
Karaoke culture is about showing up and being brave. You don't need to sing well. You just need to show up.
But you can't show up if you don't know where to go.
I want to walk into a karaoke venue in a city I've never been to and find people who'll let me join their table. Where we cheer each other on when we sing (more or less badly) songs we love.
That network exists. It's just invisible. Nobody knows where the good karaoke nights are unless you already know someone local.
KaraokeCrowd is an attempt to make that network visible.
What's Next
The prototype is live. 1172 venues across the US, EU, and beyond. Some of that data is probably wrong. Some venues have closed. Some never had karaoke in the first place.
That's fine. It's a starting point.
If you're a karaoke regular and you want to help keep your local venues' data current, reach out. If you're a KJ and want to help shape what features would actually be useful, let's talk.
And if you're traveling and want to find karaoke: try the map. Let me know what you find.
KaraokeCrowd is a directory of karaoke venues worldwide. Built with OCaml.