Carpool Karaoke fans can start counting down the days till summer because that’s when you’ll be able to buy Singing Machine‘s Carpool Karaoke, the Mic, which debuts this week at New York Toy Fair 2019.
Connect the Carpool Karaoke microphone to your car radio via Bluetooth to make your next road trip a mobile karaoke party. Created in partnership with CBS Consumer Products, the microphone was inspired by the Carpool Karaoke segments featuring famous singers and musical groups on The Late Late Show with James Corden. The Mic is intended for passenger use, not drivers. It’s a unique product in the world of aftermarket car accessories.
The Carpool Karaoke Mic has independent volume and audio echo controls, but the music plays through the car’s speakers. The mic connects to your car’s audio system via Bluetooth wireless or an AUX stereo audio cable. Complete with lights that flash in sync with the music, the Carpool Karaoke Mic runs on a rechargeable battery.
Here’s how to connect and use the Carpool Karaoke Mic:
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- Turn on your car radio and find an open station — a frequency that isn’t streaming content. Your vehicle’s seek-and-scan controls won’t help because both functions look for content. So you’ll have to turn the selector manually to find a setting without a broadcasting station.
- Turn on the Carpool Karaoke Mic and match the frequency setting on the microphone to the open frequency displayed on your car radio. At this point, you can hear your voice over the car speakers.
- Pair the Mic with your smartphone via Bluetooth.
- Stream songs from any music or karaoke app — for example, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube.
- Start singing. Only the car’s driver and passengers will hear you, so don’t hold back.
- If the app you use streams song lyrics on the display, all the better.
- Note to parents: Even though the microphone has its own volume control, you can still turn the music and the singing down (or off) with the car audio controls.
Singing Machine sells a line of karaoke systems, but this is the company’s first in-car product.
“Carpool Karaoke is a global, viral phenomenon that is all about the joy of music and singing,” said Bernardo Melo, Singing Machine vice president of global sales and marketing. “We believe Carpool Karaoke, the Mic is the perfect complement to our Singing Machine brand, and we can’t wait to bring a unique twist to the Carpool Karaoke universe.”
Scheduled for availability in summer 2019, with no specified date, Carpool Karaoke, the Mic will have a $50 retail price.