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Inventor of the First Karaoke Machine, Shigeichi Negishi, Dead at 100

Shigeichi Negishi, the Japanese engineer who invented the first karaoke machine, has died at the age of 100.

Despite leading the vanguard of the karaoke revolution, Negishi never really made a fortune from his device and actually got out of the business after just a few years (he continued to run his very successful company until retiring at the age of 70). He did sell about 8,000 Sparko Boxes — along with instrumental recordings and lyrics books — to bars, restaurants, and even so-called “love hotels.” But having to do sales and maintenance was exhausting, as was the process of getting a patent in Japan. The other most famous contributor was Daisuke Inoue, a nightclub musician who released the “8 Juke” in 1971 and came up with the idea to provide instrumental tracks that were slightly slowed down and in keys that were easier to sing for the average person.

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