Karaoke booths and a $473 million market

Jia Guo

Karaoke, known as KTV in China, has been popular in the country since the 1980s.

The latest KTV trend is mini karaoke booths, installed in shopping malls, theaters, and even subway stations.

Each booth has an air conditioner, a singing machine, two chairs, and headsets.

Users scan a QR code with their mobile phone to enter the booths.

Costs range from $8 an hour in Beijing to less than $2 per song in other cities.

According to research company iiMedia, the value of the KTV booth market in China will reach $473 million in 2017, almost twice as much as last year. The market is expected to double in 2018.

Jia Guo is from the coastal city of Qingdao. She has an M.A. in multimedia journalism from NYU and has worked at Facebook and Bloomberg TV in New York City. Read more

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