“In the weeks since Apple bought Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion, I have been forced to listen to a number of audiophile friends rant about the technical superiority of other headphones, such as Sennheiser, Bose and JBL (just to name a few),” Chris Kocek writes for Entrepreneur. “Inevitably, at the end of their long-winded diatribes, they always ask me the same question: ‘Why did Apple pay so much for such an inferior product?’ In a word: branding.”
“When Apple bought Beats, they didn’t just buy a collection of products. They bought a brand. They bought street cred. They bought a beautifully wrapped up pop-culture icon that had an incalculable amount of perceived value,” Kocek writes. “From the very beginning, Beats got its product into just about every music video, mixing studio, locker room, dressing room and runway… When every major athlete and musician is wearing your product, people take notice.”
Kocek writes, “More importantly, customers didn’t ask questions about product specs and technical details. They figure if it’s good enough for Li’l Wayne or Nicki Minaj, it must be the best that’s out there and worth the $300 price tag. Right?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
Beats. A triumph of marketing over sound quality. – MacDailyNews Take, May 8, 2014
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“Audiophiles” don’t talk about Bose and JBL… Especially when it comes to cans..
He’s talking smack…
Audiophiles do not talk about Bose and JBL because they suck. Sennheiser (except the low end like the HD 40 and a few others are talked about because the sound quality is so much better than Beats.
Go listen for your self and you will hear the difference.
Rich
I’m partial to Koss headphones.
Sennheiser!!!! The only way to listen.
Quite like the ones that came with my iPhone 5s actually.
First standard-issue earbuds I’ve had that fitted me.
Apple bought an advertising company.
Actually the Beats Studio Pro headphones are very good at playing music. I have Sennheiser and Beyers in the same price bracket and they sound “nice” and clean but cannot present music in a coherent way. The Beats are fun.
The key here is that without the coolness of the brand,nobody would be caught dead wearing over the ear headphones on public. It was only for your music den and Beats singlehandedly changed that. Sure, they may not be the best in sound (those too much base is what some prefer), but they are far ahead of earbuds, and that is what really matters.
Considering the number of people who are willing to proclaim the inferiority of Beats sound, they must be selling very well!
Nonsensical statement. Beats headphones look cool and sound like crap. They are selling well because consumers—especially young consumers—can’t tell good from bad. They just want “cool”.
Headphones being the reason for Apple buying Beats is somewhere down around #834.
I hope in the lab they are developing affordable Airplay headphones that can pair with an Apple TV.
It was $3 billion, not $3.2 billion. But hey, what’s $200 million among friends?
Bowers and Wilkins currently for home. Etymotics to travelSennheiser makes some good stuff as well.
How difficult could it be for Beats headphones to be modified by the manufacturer? I doubt Beats is using inferior components in their headphones. I’m guessing they simply tailor the headphones acoustics to be heavy on bass. If Apple wanted to change those characteristics, I’m sure they easily could. I don’t see what the big deal is. Apple has the money and control to build headphones as they want them to be and as long as they have the Beats branding, Apple can come out ahead.
I have these pair of Bluedio R+ Legend headphones and they have the ability to have their acoustics altered through software. Apple could build headphones the same way if it wanted to. Headphone science isn’t magic. It’s up to the designer to tailor the audio the way he wants it to be. I’m sure Apple could build headphones to copy the finest sounding headphones around. If Apple can build iPhones and iPads, I’m sure they can build decent headphones.
I recently bought the new PowerBeats2 wireless buds, and the sound is vet impressive. They do have room filling bass (in your ears), but for my music that’s fine. They’re petty awesome.