How To Set Up An Online Karaoke Party With Friends In 9 Steps

Karaoke night is always a great time. And the more friends you can bring to the party, the better. But sometimes you can’t get the gang together. And sometimes, you want to be able to invite friends that live across the country, or maybe even on the other side of the world.

The solution is simple. Set up an online karaoke party with friends!

How? Here are the steps involved:

Step #1 – Agree On A Time For The Online Karaoke Party

Your first step to setting up your karaoke party is choosing a date and time to host it.

Get in touch with your friends. Ask what time works for them. Compromise as needed.

And if necessary, take advantage of an event scheduling poll tool like SurveyMonkey or Whatsapp Polls to survey your friends. This can help you identify workable times faster.

Once you’ve decided on a date and time for your party, you’re ready to move on to the next step.

Step #2 – Choose An Online Meeting Software For Your Party

If you want to set up an online karaoke party, you’re going to require the assistance of video conferencing software.

One of the most popular options is Zoom. Zoom is powerful, flexible, and easy to use.

But in case you’re considering alternatives, you could also investigate:

• Google Meet
• Skype
• UberConference

Some tools may cost a bit of money. Zoom is free for up to 45 minutes, but you will need to purchase a paid plan if you intend to go for longer, and we all know your party won’t be over in 45 minutes.

Step #3 – Schedule Your Meeting

Here I’ll share the steps to scheduling your party inside Zoom. Note that if you’re using another video conference tool, you may need to take different steps.

Either way, the basic process is this:

1. Log in to Zoom.
2. Click on “Meetings” in the left-hand sidebar.
3. Click on the “Schedule a Meeting” button on the right side of the screen.
4. Name your meeting (if nothing else, “Karaoke Party” should work).
5. Add a meeting description, if desired.
6. Choose a date and time for the meeting.
7. Add invitees via email.
8. Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page.
9. Copy the generated meeting link to your clipboard (we’ll look at what to do with this in the next step).

Step #4 – Create A Calendar Invite

You can, of course, schedule your Zoom meeting and leave it to your friends to join you at the right date and time. But as an extra courtesy, I always like to create a calendar invite inside Google Calendar. Don’t worry – the process is simple. Here’s how to do it:

1. Find the specific date and time your party will be hosted and click, hold, and drag to create a new time block.
2. Give the time block a title. If nothing else, “Karaoke Party” should do.
3. Add guests to the calendar event via email.
4. Copy and paste the Zoom link for your event into the location and description sections.
5. Click “Save” in the bottom right corner.

Maybe not all your friends use Google Calendar, but those who do will appreciate this extra gesture, as the calendar invite will appear in their calendar as well.

Step #5 – Prepare Your Playlist

Optionally, you could do this on the fly. But if you want the night to run smoothly, you should consider preparing the playlist in advance.

So, make a list of songs you want to sing, and ask your friends what songs they plan to sing at the party as well. That way, you can put the queue in order before the party begins and no one will end up hogging the spotlight for longer than is reasonable.

If possible, organize your list, and put all the songs in the order they will be played on party night.

Step #6 – Find Karaoke Tracks on YouTube

This is another good reason to prepare your playlist in advance – you’ll need to find the appropriate karaoke tracks on YouTube.

Not that karaoke tracks are hard to find, especially if you’re looking for popular songs. All you need to put in the YouTube search bar is “[song title] karaoke.” And if that doesn’t work, you can try adding the artist’s name to the search query.

If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, you could always purchase and download karaoke tracks from sites like Karaoke Version.

Step #7 – Start Your Zoom Meeting Early

Technology is great when it works. But it doesn’t always work according to plan. So, it’s recommended that you log in and start your Zoom meeting early. That way, you can also greet the keeners who show up before the night’s festivities begin.

Another good reason to log in early is because it allows you to prepare for the night. You can test your video and sound, as well as your screen-sharing capabilities.

This could save you from having to restart your computer, reconfigure your microphone, etc. and interrupt the party unnecessarily.

Step #8 – Share Your Screen

Ready to get the party going? Then share your screen using Zoom’s built-in features. Follow these steps to get going:

1. Click on the green “Share Screen” button (you should be able to find it at the heart of the bottom menu bar.
2. Choose which screen / browser tab you want to share. Ensure that the “Share sound” checkbox is checked.
3. Click the “Share” button in the bottom right corner.

If you want to be able to hear your friends sing, it’s recommended that you set the volume of the YouTube videos to about 40%. You can experiment with different settings to taste.

Either way, you may not be able to hear your friends perfectly, but that can sometimes add to the fun.

If preferred, you can also share just audio. Simply follow these steps:

1. Click on the green “Share Screen” button.
2. Click on the “Advanced” tab at the top of the screen.
3. Click on “Computer Audio.”
4. Click on the “Share” button in the bottom right corner.

This method makes it simple for you to share audio via Spotify, iTunes, or any other app you may want to use.

Again, you may want to set the karaoke tracks to about 40% of their normal volume for best results.

Step #9 – Have Fun!

The only thing left to do now is enjoy yourself – glitches, bad connections, and all.

And if you want to continue to host more karaoke parties in the future, keep an eye out for new tools and apps that improve your overall audiovisual experience. Technology is evolving fast and new developments are eliminating latency, improving video and audio quality, and more.

How To Set Up An Online Karaoke Party, Final Thoughts

Hosting an online karaoke party need not be complicated. If you’ve already got a Zoom subscription, then you’ve got everything you need. Simply figure out a date and time for the event, invite friends or coworkers, and if you like, prepare a playlist in advance.

Things rarely go perfectly with online meetings, but they are getting better with time. If you care about improving your parties, keep an eye out for apps and tools that can help you create the best experience possible.