SAN FRANCISCO, US  -  MySpace has launched an overhauled karaoke channel that lets amateur crooners post online video of themselves in all their vocal glory.

The MySpace Karaoke redesign includes improved recording, upload and website navigation capabilities.

In the six months since its launch the channel has attracted more than four million visitors and amassed a half-million recordings "making it the largest karaoke venue in the world," according to MySpace general manager Nimrod Lev.

MySpace has arranged licensing deals with music publishers to spare users of its karaoke channel from hassles regarding song copyrights. Those licensing restrictions have resulted in MySpace Karaoke only being available in Canada and the United States.

MySpace bills its online video recorder as innovative, custom-built technology that lets people record themselves singing by using computers equipped with microphones, Web-cameras and Internet connections.

MySpace is promoting the redesigned channel with karaoke contests that call on people to submit their best renditions of songs by musicians Seal and Jesse McCartney. The artists will choose the winning entries. --AFP