Singing along to favourite tracks has always been an enjoyable element of mobile music listening, but standard audio mixing often keeps lead vocals loud and prominent, making it difficult to practise karaoke or perform duets. With Apple Music Sing, Apple introduced an on-device vocal processing technology directly within the Apple Music app on iPhone. By leveraging advanced machine learning algorithms processed locally on the Apple Neural Engine, Apple Music Sing allows listeners to adjust lead vocal volume levels independently in real time, view beat-by-beat synchronised lyrics, and enjoy dedicated duet views with friends.
What Is Apple Music Sing and How Does It Work?
Unlike traditional karaoke tracks that require artists to publish separate instrumental stems, Apple Music Sing works directly on millions of existing catalog songs in the Apple Music library. When enabled, your iPhone separates the vocal frequencies from background instrumentation on the fly using on-device neural processing models.
Key features of Apple Music Sing include:
- Adjustable Vocals: A dedicated vocal slider allows you to dial down the artist’s lead vocals to sing lead, raise them slightly to sing along as a guide, or turn them off completely for pure instrumental karaoke.
- Real-Time Beat-by-Beat Lyrics: Lyrics animate with precision timing syllable-by-syllable, illuminating the exact cadence of each verse.
- Background Vocals and Harmonies: Spoken backing vocal lines and ad-libs animate independently from the main lead lyrics for clarity.
- Duet and Multi-Singer View: When songs feature multiple vocalists, the lyrics split across opposite sides of the screen, making collaborative singing natural and easy to follow.
Device Requirements for Apple Music Sing
Because Apple Music Sing relies on intensive real-time audio stem separation powered by the Apple Neural Engine, it requires specific hardware:
- iPhone Models: iPhone 11 or newer (including iPhone 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 series), and iPhone SE (3rd generation).
- Software: iOS 16.2 or later (including iOS 17 and iOS 18).
- Subscription: An active Apple Music subscription (Individual, Family, or Apple One plan). Note: The Apple Music Voice plan does not support Sing.
Step-by-Step: Enabling and Using Apple Music Sing on iPhone
Activating the feature takes just a few taps within the Music player interface:
- Open the Apple Music app on your iPhone.
- Select and start playing any song from your library or the Apple Music catalogue.
- Tap the Now Playing mini-player bar at the bottom to open full-screen playback.
- Tap the Lyrics button (speech bubble with quotation marks) in the lower-left corner to activate animated lyrics.
- If the track supports Apple Music Sing, a Microphone icon with small spark stars will appear on the right side of the playback interface, above the scrub bar.
- Tap the Sing (Microphone) icon. A vertical volume slider will instantly appear on your screen.
- Drag the slider down to suppress the lead vocals, or drag it up to restore original vocal volume.
Singing Duets and Managing Multi-Singer Tracks
When listening to tracks performed by multiple artists or featuring duet dynamics (such as musical theatre pieces or featured pop collaborations), Apple Music Sing automatically reconfigures the visual display:
- Lyrics sung by the primary artist align along the left edge of your display.
- Verses sung by the featured or secondary artist align along the right edge.
- Harmonised lines and shared refrains centre automatically on screen.
Browsing Dedicated Apple Music Sing Playlists
Apple Music curates dozens of dedicated playlists categorised by genre, decade, and party themes specifically configured for Apple Music Sing:
- Tap the Search tab at the bottom of Apple Music.
- Scroll down to the Browse Categories section and tap Sing.
- Explore curated collections such as Party Anthems, Duets, Classic Rock, or Pop Hits to find tracks pre-optimised for karaoke sessions.
By blending real-time on-device audio separation with beautiful syllable-timed lyrics, Apple Music Sing transforms your iPhone into a portable karaoke studio whenever you are ready to perform.