The Karaoke machine was invented by Daisuke Inoue in 1969, but he didn’t have a product go to market until 1971. At first, it wasn’t the biggest hit, but eventually, bars all over Japan wanted them. And while he did invent the machine, he technically never invented the term “karaoke.” It came from the phrase “kara okesutura” which means “empty orchestra.” It was shortened to “karaoke” and stuck.