The Business of Selling Sound: Meet the Marketing Execs Behind Today’s Top Headphone Brands
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Remember when headphones were just a personal way to listen to music? Then along came digital music, iPods, tablets and smartphones, and, with the help of a couple of trendsetting rappers and music producers, the headphone morphed into a high-end fashion, technology and music necessity for digital natives.
Today the headphone industry consists of eclectic marriages between wonky technology companies and streetwise musicians. And it’s booming: The headphone industry grew from a $1.8 billion market in 2011 to $2.4 billion last year. Premium headsets drove 95% of the growth, according to NPD Group.
The stories of how these leading headphone companies were formed are different, but all are growing fast. Beats created the premium-headphone category in 2008 when rapper-producer Dr. Dre and music executive Jimmy Iovine struck a production deal with Monster. Rapper 50 Cent bought KonoAudio in 2011 and launched SMS Audio, adding producer Timbaland as an investor earlier this year. Skullcandy got its start by sponsoring athletes in skateboarding and snowboarding, adding a partnership with Jay-Z in 2010.
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