Apple Music Sing is a new karaoke feature for Apple Music Subscribers…but there’s a catch.


Apple Music subscription service, called Apple Music, keeps getting better. Since its launch seven years ago, the service has quickly risen to be one of the largest music streaming services in the world.

The service boasts over 100 million songs, 30,000 playlists, Spatial Audio, offline listening, no ads, lyric view, and more.

And with the release of iOS 16.2, Apple has added another feature to Apple Music – Apple Music Sing. Here’s what you need to know about it…

What Is Apple Music Sing? Understanding Apple’s New Karaoke FeaturePin

What Is Apple Music Sing?

Apple Music Sing is a new karaoke feature of Apple Music. It allows people to sing along with a song as the lyrics are displayed on their iPhone, Apple TV, or iPad. In other words, Apple Music Sing turns your Apple device into a defector karaoke machine, with a few caveats.

As Apple explains, “Apple Music Sing offers multiple lyric views to help fans take the lead, perform duets, sing backup, and more — all integrated within Apple Music’s unparalleled lyrics experience. Coupled with an ever-expanding catalog that features tens of millions of the world’s most singable songs, Apple Music Sing makes it fun and easy for anyone to participate, however and wherever they choose.”

Does Apple Music Sing Cost Money?

Yes and no. You need to be a subscriber to select Apple Music subscriptions and you get Apple Music Sing for free with the subscription. Apple Music Sing is not available without select Apple Music subscriptions.

Does Apple Music Sing Work With All Apple Music Subscriptions?

No. Apple Music Sing is included with nearly all Apple Music subscriptions. The only exception is the Apple Music Voice Plan. That plan offers Siri-only access to the Apple Music catalog, and thus cannot display song lyrics.

So Apple Music Voice Plan subscribers will not get access to Apple Music Sing.

How Does Apple Music Sing Work?

You essentially play a compatible song and then activate lyric mode. In lyric mode, you’ll see a new toggle that will turn down the vocals in the song, so you can sing along with your own voice.

However, it’s important to note that Apple Music Sing doesn’t get rid of the original vocal track entirely. You’ll still be able to hear the original vocals but their volume will be reduced. This means that Apple Music Sing isn’t a true replacement for most karaoke machines, which plays songs without vocals.

The toggle to activate Apple Music Sing in lyric mode is a button that has the icon of a microphone on it.

Can You Use Apple Music Sing With Any Song In Apple Music?

No. Apple hasn’t revealed which songs you can use with Apple Music Sing, but it’s not compatible with Apple Music’s entire 100 million song collection. All Apple has said is Apple Music Sing “features tens of millions of the world’s most singable songs.”

What Devices Are Compatible With Apple Music Sing?

To use Apple Music Sing, you’ll need a recent iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.

The Apple TV is the most restrictive option as only the new 2022 Apple TV models will support Apple Music Sing. Apple TV models that were released before 2022 do not support Apple Music Sing.

As for iPhones, you’ll need an iPhone 11 or later. This includes the iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 series.

Anything Else Yo Know About Apple Music Sing?

Apple seems very excited about it. Announcing Apple Music Sing, Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, said:

“Apple Music’s lyrics experience is consistently one of the most popular features on our service. 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. It’s really a lot of fun, our customers are going to love it.”

Oliver Schusser
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