Beats by Dr Dre and Monster go together like left and right earbuds, but they've yanked the cable from the socket of their partnership. In a beef over benjamins, Monster and Beats are no longer to work together.
Beats is the bass-tastic audio brand spearheaded by rap supremo Dr Dre, while manufacturer Monster build the actual headphones. Now BusinessWeek reports the two are to part ways at the end of the year in a dispute over money and credit for the partnership's runaway success.
Over the past couple of years Beats and Monster have eaten up more than half of the headphone market with ear-fondlers like the phenomenally successful Monster iBeats and Beats by Dr Dre Tour earbuds, and the Monster Powerbeats by Dr Dre and Monster Beats by Dr Dre Pro headphones.
That's not to mention the high-class Beats by Dre Executive cans and giant Monster Beats by Dr Dre Beatbox iPod dock, or celeb collaborations with the likes of Lady Gaga, David Guetta and Justin Bieber. They're worn by everyone from Thierry Henry and Geordi LaForge to Lara Croft.
The brand is so successful it's made headphones as essential a rapper's accessory as oversized jewellery and a silly name: 50 Cent and Ludacris have joined in the head-to-head hip-hop headphone beef.
Beats tech has even found its way into other gadgets, including the HP Envy laptops. Beats is part-owned by HTC, and the familiar bass-friendly sound booms from phones such as the HTC Sensation XE and HTC Sensation XL.
Beats the brand will no doubt continue to thrive on the strength of its impeccable celebrity credentials, no matter who takes over the actual building of the headphones. As for Monster, it's not without celeb mojo, such as Daft Punk, and just today it announced Vektr, a new collaboration with fashionistas Diesel.
Are you a Beats master, or are there better headphones out there? Beat your ideas into our ears in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 11
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anonymous 13 January, 2012 10:17
I laugh at people wearing this crap
Seriously - spending 200 quid on a pair of tacky headphones, or 200 quid on a pair of AKG/Sennheisers? You'd have to be an utterly clueless tool to choose the former (surprise surprise, they're also popular with footballers and rappers ;) )
anonymous 13 January, 2012 11:14
Over-rated devices powered by little other than good marketing. Monster are worse than Apple, who actually sell products of some worth.
Got a pair bundled with my Sensation XE and went back to using a 20GBP pair of Klipsch X1, with it's crisper and deeper bass, warm but balanced mids and lack of tinny treble.
They've got a large enough foothold in the market for this to not have maximum impact, but it can only last so long without finding some other gimmic.
anonymous 13 January, 2012 14:16
Fantastic Marketing, Lousy Product....Beats will be much better off with a JL Audio, Klipsch or Bose (Not that Bose would ever compromise its brand in this manner)
anonymous 13 January, 2012 14:18
Bose are a marketing ploy too though - JL and Klipsch are more about the actual product
jab024 13 January, 2012 23:21
Best news I have heard all year! Hopefully once the wheels fall off this marketing crap all the celeb/ footballers out there will realise there are headphones out there that sound twice as good for half the price (no exaggeration)
What really makes me laugh is people like Lady Ga-Ga collaboration with beats that at the time L.Ga-Ga and her sound engineer was actually using on stage £1K custom ear monitors - JH16pros made by JH Audio which make Beats sound like a pair of apple buds with overblown bass.
The young easily impressionable generation that has to be seen with the latest hip looking stuff (fashion victims) can be excused to a degree as noting a bit of educating by comparing these to descent headphones would not solve. But the ones who cannot be excused are all those celeb/footballers who wear them through choice who can buy the best (and by the way the best sounding gear is not even reviewed by cnet) choose such crap, goes to show money does not buy you taste (in quality).
Next stop maybe Beats can team up with Bose and they both make the best crap sound for the most expensive price and go bust. (one can dream)
Ollie Dell 14 January, 2012 01:17
Next stop maybe Beats can team up with Bose and they both make the best crap sound for the most expensive price and go bust.
+1
anonymous 16 January, 2012 01:09
Thank god! the beats are so crap and cost over double what an amazing pair of audio technicas or akgs do which would have 100x better sound. Oh well, good marketing by dre! sucked in all the hipsters.
anonymous 16 January, 2012 05:42
Are you a Beats master, or are there better headphones out there?
LOL easy answer rite there. 400$ can get you an EXTREMELY good pair of headphones. Still think beats are good? go look at head-fi.org and watch how much beats get slammed by people who actually know sound instead of a bunch of people just buying beats for its overemphasized bass that make it seem like its been recorded in an earthquake. beats studio sound is worth about 70$ (as good as hd 202) and the rest of the $330 you spend is all on looks/brand/celebrity endorsements.
good for monster, because they actually understand good headphones, as their turbines are very good. and get lots of love on head-fi.org
anonymous 2 March, 2012 23:21
Whoever buys them is a mug. Just get a pair of Senheisers like a grown up man.
the unholy 1 26 May, 2012 14:18
cant beat bose, better quality for half the price
anonymous 28 December, 2012 03:19
Beats suck huge penis