The quickest way to remove the vocals from a song is an AI vocal remover: you upload the song, and it splits it into the music without the singer (your karaoke version) and the singer without the music. Tera Studio's free vocal remover does this in your browser on any phone, tablet or computer in about 2 minutes, free with a free account (3 songs a day). On an iPhone with Apple Music you can also turn the vocals down on supported songs with Apple Music Sing, and on a computer Audacity has free options. Here's how each one works and which to use.

Key takeaways

  • AI separation beats the old tricks. Modern vocal removers are trained to tell voices from instruments, so they work on almost any song, not only ones with the singer in the middle.
  • One upload gives you two results: "music only" for karaoke and practice, and "vocals only" if you want the singer on their own (an acapella).
  • Apple Music Sing turns vocals down live on supported songs, but only inside Apple Music, with a subscription and a recent device.
  • Old "phase cancellation" (Audacity's classic effect) removes anything in the centre of the mix, so bass and drums often go too and reverb stays.
  • Use the result for practice and karaoke at home. Publishing someone else's instrumental needs the rights holder's permission.

Method 1: a free AI vocal remover (any phone or computer)

  1. Open the free vocal remover in your browser. Nothing to install; it works on iPhone, Android, tablets and computers.
  2. Choose the song: MP3, M4A, WAV or even a video, up to 10 minutes on a free account (20 minutes on a plan).
  3. Make a free account if you haven't, and press Remove the voice. It takes about 2 minutes.
  4. Listen to music only (the karaoke version) and vocals only. Listening is free and you can replay as often as you like; downloading and sharing need a plan.

Your results are private to you and deleted after 3 days.

Tips for a cleaner result:

  • Start from the best file you have. A clean MP3 or M4A from your library separates better than audio recorded off a speaker.
  • Songs with one clear lead singer come out cleanest. Heavy choirs, live recordings with crowd noise and very old mono recordings are harder.
  • A faint "ghost" of the voice can remain on the loudest notes, especially with lots of reverb. That's normal for every separator; under karaoke singing it's rarely noticeable.

Method 2: Apple Music Sing (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV)

If you subscribe to Apple Music, many songs in the catalogue have a Sing mode:

  1. Play the song in Apple Music and open the lyrics view.
  2. Tap the Mic button.
  3. Drag the slider to turn the vocals down or off.

It needs an active Apple Music subscription and a supported device: iPhone 11 or later or iPhone SE (3rd generation), recent iPad models, or Apple TV 4K (3rd generation or later), on current software. If there's no Mic button, Sing isn't available for that song. It only works inside Apple Music; you can't use it on your own files or keep the instrumental.

Method 3: Audacity on a computer (free)

Audacity is a free audio editor with two options:

  • OpenVINO Music Separation (AI). A free plugin that splits a song into instrumental and vocals, much like an online vocal remover but running on your computer. Audacity's own support page lists it for Windows and Linux. After installing: Effect → OpenVINO AI Effects → OpenVINO Music Separation, then choose the 2-stem instrumental and vocal mode.
  • Vocal Reduction and Isolation (classic). No longer included from Audacity 3.5.0 on, but available as a downloadable plugin. It cancels whatever is panned to the centre of a stereo mix. That often includes the voice, but also bass, kick drum and centre reverb, and the result can sound hollow.

Audacity is the right choice if you want everything offline and don't mind installing plugins. For a quick karaoke track on your phone, Method 1 is faster.

Why the old trick fails

Before AI, the standard method was "phase inversion": flip one stereo channel and add it to the other, so anything identical in both channels cancels out. Lead vocals are usually mixed dead centre, so they often disappear. So does everything else in the centre (bass, kick, snare), while stereo reverb and backing vocals stay. That's why old karaoke tracks made this way sound thin and echoey, and why modern separators learned to recognise what a voice sounds like instead.

What to do with your karaoke version

  • Sing over it. The music-only result is a karaoke track for practice, a party or a family video at home.
  • Move it into your key. If the chorus is too high, download your karaoke version (plan) and lower it a semitone or two with the free key changer, or use the key button in your karaoke app. See how to change a song's key to fit your voice.
  • Slow it down to learn it with the free tempo changer; the pitch stays the same.
  • Get just the voice instead with get only the vocals, for learning the melody or harmonies by ear.

Or hear the song sung in your voice

Removing the vocals leaves room for you to sing. Tera Studio can also fill that room with your own voice: record about a minute of your normal singing (2 minutes sounds more like you), upload the original song, and hear the whole song sung in your voice, with the original singer's notes and timing kept. It separates the voice from the music for you along the way, so you upload the normal song, not the karaoke version. See karaoke in your own voice.

Current price and limits

Every new account can make and hear 2 whole songs free, once per account, each up to 4 minutes, with no card. Downloads need a paid plan. Starter is $8.99 a month for 30 finished minutes (about 7 songs) and Creator is $19.99 a month for 90 minutes, or $89.99 and $189.99 paid yearly. Both include WAV and song-card video downloads, one guided correction per song and free re-downloads. Minutes refresh monthly without rollover. Prices show in your currency where available; pricing and Stripe checkout confirm the total before you pay. See the refund policy.

Frequently asked questions

Can I remove vocals from a song for free? Yes. The free vocal remover splits up to 3 songs a day with a free account, and you can listen to the music-only and vocals-only results as often as you like. Downloading the files needs a plan. Audacity's plugins are free too, on a computer.

How do I remove vocals from a song on iPhone? Open the vocal remover in Safari and choose the song from your Files app; it runs in the browser. If you have Apple Music, Apple Music Sing can turn vocals down on supported songs inside the Music app.

Can ChatGPT remove vocals from a song? Not on its own; chat assistants don't separate audio. You need a vocal remover, an editor like Audacity with a separation plugin, or Apple Music Sing.

Why can I still hear a bit of the singer? Some voice can remain on loud, reverb-heavy notes or when the singer and an instrument share the same notes. It's usually faint. Starting from a better-quality file helps.

Is it legal to remove vocals from a song? Making a karaoke track for your own practice or a private party is how most people use it. Uploading or selling the instrumental of someone else's song is a different matter and needs permission from whoever owns the recording.

Hear any song sung in your own voice. Your first 2 songs are free to make and hear.