The Asian population of Toronto has grown rapidly in the past 25 years, and some 825,000 Asians currently live in the city (according to the Metropolitan Toronto Population Survey of 2001). In a related development, many Asian-style karaoke bars have sprung up recently within the city of Toronto and the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). This essay will examine the distinctive role that Asian karaoke in Toronto plays in the lives of the karaoke participants who are of Asian background.
The origins of karaoke (the recording of orchestral accompaniments for singers) date back to 1972 in Japan, and the first commercial karaoke equipment was developed by the Clarion Company in 1976. The term “karaoke” is coined from two Japanese words, “kara” (empty) and “oke” (orchestra) – “empty orchestra,” that is, an orchestral accompaniment without singing. The term “karaoke box” comes from the fact that large metal containers which had been used for shipping goods were remodelled as rooms for singing karaoke. Later these “karaoke boxes” were replaced by smaller “karaoke rooms,” equipped with couches and karaoke machines.
A typical Asian karaoke bar usually contains many karaoke rooms of different sizes to accommodate different varieties of social groups. “Karaoke machines include playback equipment that amplifies a live performance of a song’s main vocal part and mixes this with the song’s often familiar instrumental tracks. Typically, a video screen that can be read easily by the singer and the spectators displays the lyrics of the song” (Shelemay, p. 257). A typical karaoke setup features a karaoke player, two speakers, a small TV and a Karaoke jockey that operates the karaoke equipment and ensures a good selection of songs. Participants take turns performing for the patrons of the establishment.
All participants support each other in the karaoke space. Everyone is expected to take a turn at performing for the enjoyment of others, no matter how well or how badly they perform. The dual role people play in the karaoke space (as both performer and spectator) helps to facilitate social bonding among the participants. Collectivism comes before individualism in the karaoke environment. This is especially relevant to the Asian ‘minority’ groups in Toronto, since a sense of group membership is established, which gives the participants a feeling of shared identity, security, and mutual support. Participants establish a comfort zone for the collective whole before they venture on stage to perform in front of the others as individuals.
Many non-Asian establishments in Toronto feature karaoke as a supplementary pastime, but Asians dominate the more specialized genre of karaoke bars in the city. Some of the most popular Asian karaoke bars in the GTA are shown in Figure 1. With the exception of Y&B Karaoke, located at Yonge and Bloor, all these bars are located in areas with large Asian populations, often near ethnic malls and restaurants. Asian karaoke bars thus provide an invaluable source of entertainment for the Asian communities in Toronto. These karaoke bars can be considered ‘ethnic businesses,’ with principally Asian clientele.
The two examples of popular karaoke bars studied in this paper are the XO Karaoke Bar, located in Korea Town, downtown Toronto and MHQ Karaoke, located in the Pacific Mall, Markham (in an area with a large Chinese population). In these two karaoke bars, it is estimated that at least 90% of the clientele is of Asian background. The XO Karaoke Bar opens late at night and operates with a liquor license, hence the target audience is aimed more towards young adults. In contrast, MHQ Karaoke opens earlier and does not have a liquor license, thus it is oriented more towards the youth and family market. From this it is seen that different karaoke bars may serve specific demographic constituencies within the Asian migrant population.
Managed by Koreans, XO Karaoke Bar is located in the heart of Korea town, 2 km from University of Toronto. It is easily accessible both by car and public transportation (the TTC Christie Subway station is just 65 yards away). This Asian-style karaoke bar has a capacity of 160 people from a combination of 14 small, medium and large rooms, and it serves mainly Korean and Chinese university students. The song selection is extensive, with many varieties of songs that range from North American hip-hop to Japanese enka. Languages sung include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The bar has a liquor license and an Asian-style kitchen menu. Judging from the late opening hours of XO Karaoke Bar, it is a source of Asian nightlife entertainment, offering an alternative to non-Asian after-hours bars for the Asian diaspora.
Figure 2 shows a floor plan of a small room at XO Karaoke Bar, with a capacity of six to eight people. The room is approximately 120 square feet (12 × 10) and has soundproof walls to provide better sound quality and ambience and prevent sound from leaking into the next room. The room contains a 32 inch flat screen TV with two speakers, an amplifier and two microphones. Notice that the room is constructed so that everyone is seated facing the TV, thus providing each person in the social group with an equal view and opportunity to sing. Given that space is limited within the karaoke box setting, mobility is also limited and consequently, people typically sit while they sing. This cramped setting originates from the earliest karaoke bars in Asia and may limit the quality of performance, but most people simply enjoy being in a group setting to sing their favorite song.
MHQ is one of the most sophisticated modern and ‘hip’ karaoke bars on the scene. Located inside Pacific Mall in Markham, MHQ Karaoke is more family-oriented in character, opening at earlier hours and catering mainly to the youth market. Although located approximately 26 km from downtown Toronto, it is situated in the heart of one of the Chinatowns north of Toronto and is surrounded by a predominantly middle-class Asian suburb. There are 21 rooms that come in various sizes and can cater to parties as small as 5 or as large as 76 people. The karaoke system is state-of-the-art and uses a network of computers and audio equipment. The song selection available includes Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and English songs. The bar has an extensive kitchen menu of Asian meals but does not have a liquor license.
The popularity of karaoke within the Asian diasporic community of Toronto can be explained by its ethnic and national associations. Karaoke plays an important role in integrating those in the Asian diaspora with their roots and culture; it offers an opportunity for Asians to meet with other migrants and sing songs (either popular or traditional) in their language and from their homeland. The patrons of these karaoke establishments tend to be in the age range of teens to early 30s. These migrants are able to catch up with the latest Asian music videos, and consequently, the latest trends, fashions and other aspects of pop culture back home. Furthermore, Asian food and drinks are served in these establishments. Karaoke bars provide one of the few distinctively Asian social gatherings in Toronto besides Asian malls and restaurants.
One may ask why karaoke seems to be more popular in Asia and the Asian diaspora, as compared to its standing with non-Asian Canadians. The answer lies both in the superior development of the Asian karaoke industry as well as in cultural differences. Whereas karaoke was a $300 million business in the United States in 1999, in Japan it was already a $10 billion industry by 1996. In Asia, karaoke bars are abundant and many aspects of the general culture have become integrated with the karaoke industry and lifestyle. In addition the majority of Asian karaoke songs retain the original music (i.e. same pitch, key, and melody) as well as the original music video. In North America, karaoke music is usually not accompanied by the original music video (sometimes only the lyrics are shown) and the music is made to sound somewhat different to avoid copyright infringements.
Culturally, modern Japan is a corporate society in which individuals are identified with the corporation where they work and excessively long work hours are the norm for a corporate person. In Japan, karaoke is often used as a form of recreational ‘business’ meeting. Traditionally in Japan, social and artistic activities function as part of the production cycle. As a result, the constraints placed on individual creativity have become needlessly binding. Furthermore, the high value placed on harmony and group thinking restrain people from expressing their individual wishes and opinions. This suppression of individualism may be one of the biggest factors contributing to the boom of karaoke in Japan. One can see how liberating karaoke is for people who have been taught to obey and conform to their group. Participants are able to construct and maintain an individual identity without jeopardizing their group membership. These values are contrary to those that prevail in North American society. As Matsui writes,
[T]he collectivistic, fixed form of karaoke that requires the participants to follow a set of rules not of their own making, where the individual should come after the group, seems to contradict the Anglo-American individualistic cultural pathos. Being individualistic means, to many people in the United States, being independent of others in thought and action, being distinct from others (66-7).In addition, the population densities in Asia tend to be much higher than in Canada, where there is more space for outdoor leisure activities. This may explain why the karaoke bar industry in Asia is much more developed and this has translated to Asian karaoke bars in Toronto due to migration.
Amongst Asian migrants in Toronto, the usage of karaoke seems to be dependent on their level of assimilation to Canadian society. Karaoke tends to be more popular with recent Asian immigrants to Toronto who are less acculturated to the ‘mainstream Canadian’ lifestyle. Furthermore, karaoke as a source of entertainment can even be said to impede the assimilation of new Asian immigrants towards a ‘Canadian’ lifestyle. Newer Asian immigrants will find karaoke more appealing since they are more tied to their homeland as compared to older immigrants. For newer immigrants unfamiliar with mainstream Canadian customs and language, karaoke and karaoke bars are a source of entertainment similar to that back home, so migrants can identify with one another without having to cross cultural boundaries into mainstream Canadian society. Participants of karaoke are able to congregate in their own groups, sing in their own language and maintain cultural links to their origins without having to interact with mainstream Canadian society. In addition to attending karaoke bars, many newer immigrants also have karaoke systems installed in their homes. As a result of advances in technology and the ready availability of ethnic malls, restaurants and entertainment almost identical to that found in Asia, new groups of Asian immigrants tend to be increasingly transnational in nature and thus may experience a slower rate of assimilation towards Canadian society. Older immigrants who are already assimilated to mainstream Canadian lifestyle may find Asian-style karaoke less appealing, since they have weaker ties to their homeland as compared to newer immigrants. Karaoke is a relatively new technology; older Asian immigrants in the past were fewer in number and karaoke bars did not yet exist in Toronto. In addition, second, third and further generations of Asian immigrants tend to be more assimilated into Canadian society and further removed both culturally and linguistically from Asia; thus they do not relate as closely with Asian karaoke-culture from back home and may find karaoke less beneficial in maintaining their identities, since many have become assimilated and ‘Canadianized.’
Karaoke, then, is not just a musical experience where one can be a star for a few minutes. Karaoke and karaoke bars are important to the Asian community in Toronto, since they carry a range of associations with Asian culture and provide a comfortable social environment for the Asian diaspora. It can be argued that karaoke bars are more culturally acceptable and adaptable for Asians since karaoke originated in Asia. Furthermore, karaoke tends to be more valuable for newer Asian immigrants who are struggling to adapt to their new environment. This is in contrast to the older immigrants, who are already more assimilated into the mainstream Canadian society and are less likely to find karaoke as appealing.