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China’s beloved and booming karaoke parlors aren’t the same anymore. Younger crowds at the bustling venues, where loyal patrons sing along to their favorite songs, are thinning. Business isn’t taking off as before, with consumers saying they now seek activities outside of singing and drinking inside a cubicle.
中国备受喜爱且蓬勃发展的卡拉ok厅不再一样了。熙熙攘攘的场馆里，忠诚的顾客们跟着他们最喜欢的歌曲唱歌，那里的年轻人群越来越少。商业并没有像以前那样蓬勃，消费者说他们现在除了在包间里唱歌和喝酒之外，还寻求其他活动。
“When I’m in the mood for singing, I just turn on a karaoke app and use a microphone at home,” Zhang Jingwei, who previously frequented karaoke parlors at least once a month, told Sixth Tone. “I’ve spent more time on role-playing and board games lately.”
“当我有心情唱歌时，我只是打开卡拉ok的应用程序，在家里使用麦克风唱，”张经伟说，他以前每月至少去一次卡拉ok厅。“我最近花了更多时间在角色扮演和桌游上。”
本段语言知识点积累
cubicle〔房间分隔出来的〕小室，小房间:a small part of a room that is separated from the rest of the room，比如说：•a shower cubicle 淋浴房•office workers in their cubicles在自己小间里的办公室员工。
Karaoke crossed over to the Chinese mainland in the 1980s after gaining immense popularity in Japan the previous decade. Commonly referred to as KTV across Asia, it quickly turned into a must-do activity during holidays and weekends, resulting in a boom for businesses across the country.
卡拉ok在上世纪80年代传到了中国大陆，在此之前的十年里，它在日本非常流行。在亚洲地区通常被称为KTV，它很快成为假日和周末的必备娱乐项目，使得全国各地的商业繁荣起来。
But recent data shows that love is gradually fading. Though footfall at KTV venues has consistently declined over the years, the pandemic slashed clientele by nearly 80%, according to an estimate from state broadcaster China Central Television. Last week, financial outlet Yicai reported there are only 56,300 karaoke-related enterprises in China compared with over 120,000 at its peak in 2015.
但最近的数据显示，人们对KTV的喜爱正在逐渐消退。根据国家广播公司中国中央电视台的估计，尽管多年来KTV场所的客流量一直在下降，但疫情使得顾客减少了近80%。上周，财经媒体《第一财经》报道称，中国只有5.63万家卡拉ok相关企业，而2015年巅峰时期有超过12万家。
本段语言知识点积累
And then, the playlist is shrinking, too. In 2018, karaoke parlors lost over 6,000 songs after a crackdown on copyright infringement.“There are not as many song choices at KTV as before, and the number of KTVs is also decreasing,” said Xu Shirui, a 21-year-old student from the northeastern city of Changchun, adding that a venue near her school also shut recently.
与此同时，KTV里的歌单也在减少。2018年，在打击侵犯版权行为后，卡拉ok厅损失了6000多首歌曲。来自东北长春市的21岁学生徐(音译)说:“现在KTV的歌曲选择不像以前那么多了，KTV的数量也在减少。”她还补充说，她学校附近的一家KTV最近也停业了。
Her sentiments echo tens of thousands of comments under a related hashtag on microblogging platform Weibo, asking: “Why don’t young people go to KTV anymore?”
她的观点呼应了微博上一个相关标签下的数万条评论，问:“为什么年轻人不再去KTV了？”
“Only one or two people sing at KTV while others play on their phones,” commented one Weibo user about the average night out. “It’s so much pressure to sing in front of others,” said another.
“只有一两个人在KTV唱歌，其他人则在玩手机，”一位微博用户这样评价一般每晚外出唱K时的情景。另一个说:“在别人面前唱歌压力太大了。
The growing need for more entertainment options among the young demographic has in fact pushed them away from karaoke parlors, according to Toni Yang, a brand consultant specializing in youth culture. She said the shortcomings of KTV parlors “cannot be ignored” amid a plethora of alternatives attracting young people.
专门研究青年文化的品牌顾问托尼·杨(Toni Yang)表示，年轻人对更多娱乐选择的需求日益增长，事实上已经使得他们不再选择卡拉ok厅。她说，在吸引年轻人的众多选择中，KTV的缺点“不可忽视”。
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本段语言知识点积累
“KTV requires core participation — there are those who sing well and those who love to drink — while others are merely paid audiences,” Yang told Sixth Tone. “There’s no sense of a fair involvement at KTV.”
“KTV需要核心参与——有唱得好的，也有爱喝酒的——而其他人只是付费观众，”杨告诉Sixth Tone。“在KTV没有公平参与的感觉。”
Entertainment genres like offline role-playing murder mystery games have soared in popularity as of late, despite authorities targeting those with obscene or violent plots. Yang said “script murder” games have emerged as a novel way of socializing for young people — they even serve as blind dates — and are gradually replacing KTVs.
像线下剧本杀悬疑游戏这样的娱乐类型最近人气飙升，尽管有关部门对那些有淫秽或暴力情节的游戏进行了整治。杨说，“剧本杀”游戏已经成为年轻人的一种新颖的社交方式——他们甚至被用在了相亲场合上——并且正在逐渐取代KTV。
