Engineering a Real-Time Platform for Managing Live Karaoke Events
A full-stack web platform enabling karaoke hosts to run live events, manage song requests, and coordinate singers in real time — even across unreliable venue networks.
Platform Overview
Karaoke Name is a full-stack web platform designed to modernize how karaoke hosts manage live events, replacing fragmented desktop tools and manual workflows with a unified real-time system.
I designed and built the platform's core systems, including browser-based karaoke playback, real-time queue coordination, and resilient offline operation for live events.
Interactive Device Showcase
The platform experience presented in-device to reflect the real browser workflow for hosts and venues.
Platform Preview
Homepage and landing experience — navigation and entry points for hosts, singers, and venues.
The Challenge
Running a karaoke event involves coordinating singers, song libraries, and live queues in real time. Traditional host software is fragmented, often desktop-only, and poorly suited to modern multi-device environments.
Karaoke Name was designed to modernize this workflow by providing a unified real-time platform that connects hosts, singers, and venues through a shared cloud backend.
Core Engineering Solutions
In-Browser Media & Audio DSP Engine
Built a browser-based karaoke player supporting CDG+MP3 and ZIP playback. Integrated real-time DSP controls for pitch shifting, formant preservation, and playback speed adjustment directly in the browser using the Web Audio API.
Offline Resilience & Local File System
Designed the platform to remain usable during unreliable venue connectivity. Integrated the File System Access API, IndexedDB persistence, and Service Worker caching to ensure the application continues functioning even when network connectivity drops.
State Coalescing & Real-Time Sync
Implemented real-time queue synchronization using Firestore, including subscription coalescing and atomic writes to maintain consistent singer ordering and derived ETA calculations during high request volume.
Asynchronous Push Infrastructure
Implemented serverless Cloud Functions that respond to Firestore events and dispatch push notifications via Firebase Cloud Messaging, alerting singers when they are "up next."
Enterprise B2B2C Monetization
Built Stripe-based subscription systems for host plans and optional singer subscriptions, including webhook-driven lifecycle management, trials, billing portals, and role-based access controls.
Custom CMS & Citation Processing
Built a custom MDX-based content system powering the platform's SEO academy. Implemented automated taxonomy generation and a citation processor for validating and formatting structured references during static generation.
Technical Architecture Stack
Framework Core
Next.js 15 (App Router), React 19, TypeScript
Backend Services
Firebase Auth, Firestore NoSQL, Cloud Functions
DSP & Audio
Web Audio API, Signalsmith-stretch, CDG Parser
Client Persistence
IndexedDB, Cache API, File System Access API
Payment Gateway
Stripe Checkout, Webhooks, Customer Portal
Data Integrity
Zod (Strict Schema Validation), DOMPurify
Discovery & Search
Fuse.js (Fuzzy Matching), Leaflet API
Testing & CI/CD
Vitest, Playwright (E2E), Sentry Monitoring
Building Complex Platforms?
If you're tackling a technically demanding product or platform, I'd love to hear about it.
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