Beats Electronics
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| Type | Consumer electronics |
|---|---|
| Industry | Audio |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California |
| Area served | Global |
| Key people | Dr. Dre (Co-Founder) Jimmy Iovine (CEO & Co-Founder) Luke Wood (President & COO) |
| Products | Headphones Audio equipment and accessories |
| Revenue | 350 million (2011) [1] |
| Owner(s) | Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine, HTC |
| Employees | 150 |
| Website | elin beatsbydre.com |
Beats Electronics, LLC is a producer of audio products and equipment headquartered in Santa Monica, California. The company was founded by hip-hop producer Andre "Dr. Dre" Young and Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records chairman Jimmy Iovine, and primarily produces products under the brand Beats by Dr. Dre.
Its products were manufactured under exclusive license by consumer electronics company Monster Cable since 2009. Beats has not renewed its five year contract with Monster, which ended late 2012. The company now manufactures all of its own products.
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History [edit]
The company was founded in 2006, and debuted its first product Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones, in late 2008.[2]
In August 2010, mobile phone manufacturer HTC acquired a 50.1% majority share in Beats for $309 million, before selling 25% back to the founders for $150 million, and remaining the largest shareholder with 25.1 percent,[3] in order to provide "flexibility for global expansion while maintaining HTC’s major stake and commercial exclusivity in mobile."[4] The purchase was intended to allow HTC to compete with other cellphone makers.[4] The purchase also granted HTC exclusive rights to manufacture smartphones with Beats-branded audio systems.[5] Despite its majority acquisition, HTC would still allow Beats to operate as an autonomous company.[5] In July 2012, HTC sold back nearly half of its stake in the high-end headphone maker for $150 million. HTC said in an e-mailed statement that it would still be the largest outside shareholder in Beats after the share sale and the two companies would continue to work closely, including a joint global marketing campaign later that year. “HTC and Beats today announced a realignment of their business agreement that provides Beats with more flexibility for global expansion while maintaining HTC’s major stake and commercial exclusivity in mobile.........Under the terms of the agreement, the founding members of Beats will buy back 25 percent of its total shares for a total of approximately 75 percent ownership, with HTC remaining the largest outside shareholder with approximately 25 percent,” HTC said in the statement.
On January 12, 2012, BusinessWeek reported that Beats and Monster would not renew their production contract and would be ending their partnership by the end of 2012.[2] Monster began to market its own line of headphone products at the start of the year, aiming towards an older demographic, women, and business professionals.[2]
In March 2012, reports surfaced that Beats was planning to acquire the online music service MOG. The acquisition was officially confirmed on July 2, 2012, reported to have been between $10 to $16 million. Beats chose to acquire MOG due to its use of high quality streams for its music library—which supports Beats' aim to create "a truly end-to-end music experience." The acquisition did not include the company's blog and advertising network, the MOG Music Network,[6][7] which was sold in a separate transaction to the radio and online media company Townsquare Media in August 2012.[8]
Products [edit]
Personal Audio [edit]
Beats' original product line were Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. In promotional materials, Dr. Dre outlined the line's advantages by alleging that listeners were not able to hear "all" of the music with most headphones, and that Beats would allow people to "hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do."[9]
The following is a list of their products:
| Type | Product name | Endorser |
|---|---|---|
| Headphones | Beats Pro | Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne |
| Beats Pro Detox (Discontinued) | Dr. Dre | |
| Beats Studio | Dr. Dre | |
| Beats Executive | Dr. Dre | |
| Beats Wireless | Dr. Dre | |
| Beats Mixr | David Guetta | |
| Beats Solo (Discontinued) | Dr. Dre | |
| Beats Solo HD | Dr. Dre | |
| JustBeats Solo (Discontinued) | Justin Bieber | |
| Earphones | Beats Tour | Dr. Dre |
| PowerBeats | LeBron James | |
| Heartbeats (Discontinued) | Lady Gaga | |
| Heartbeats 2.0 | ||
| Diddybeats (Discontinued) | P. Diddy | |
| JustBeats iBeats (Discontinued) | Justin Bieber | |
| urBeats | HTC Corporation | |
| iBeats (Discontinued) | Apple Inc. | |
| Speakers | Beatbox | Dr. Dre |
| Beatbox Portable | Dr. Dre | |
| Beats Pill | Dr. Dre | |
| Pink Pill | Nicki Minaj |
Beats Audio [edit]
Computers and mobile devices [edit]
Alongside Beats headphones, the company has also licensed the Beats brand, under the name Beats Audio, and technology to other manufacturers. In 2011, HP began to offer personal computers equipped with Beats Audio systems. The system features a software equalizer with a preset that HP marketed as being optimized for higher quality sound output.[10] Originally reserved for its premium Envy line of laptops, HP now offers Beats Audio in nearly all of its laptops, all-in-one TouchSmart desktops, and tablets.
Following its acquisition of a stake in the company, most new HTC smartphones began to be released with the Beats Audio software, beginning with the HTC Sensation XE/XL with Beats Audio in September 2011.[11] Other newer HTC phones, such as the Incredible 4G, Rezound, Evo 4G LTE, One series, and 8X also include Beats Audio.[12] [13] The Sensation XE and Rezound were also bundled with Beats by Dre earbuds, but HTC abandoned the practice on future devices. An HTC product executive claimed that despite the prominence of the Beats brand, "an accessory like the headphone doesn't factor in when someone is buying a smartphone."[14]
Vehicles [edit]
Beats also partnered with Chrysler, incorporating a 10-speaker Beats by Dr. Dre sound system in its 2012 Chrysler 300S luxury automobile.[15] Since the Chrysler 300 debuted the collaboration, Chrysler has begun offering Beats Audio in other models, including the Dodge Charger and North American version of the Fiat 500.
Causes [edit]
In 2012, Beats by Dre is listed as a partner of the (.RED) campaign, together with other brands such as Nike, Girl, American Express and Converse. The campaign's mission is to prevent the transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child by 2015 (the campaign's byline is "Fighting For An AIDS Free Generation").[16]
References [edit]
- ^ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-11/htc-to-acquire-control-of-dr-dre-s-beats-headphone-maker-for-300-million.html
- ^ a b c Cliff Edwards (January 12, 2012). "Beats Electronics Is Breaking Up with Monster". Business Week. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
- ^ Jonathan Standing & Clare Jim (24 July 2012). "HTC Just Sold Back Half Of Its Holdings In Beats Electronics". Reuters. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ^ a b "After HTC Sale, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine Gain Control of Beats Headphones". Media Decoder. The New York Times. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ a b Sandoval, Greg. "HTC to acquire majority stake in Dr. Dre's Beats". CNET. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
- ^ Mike Snider (2 July 2012). "Beats Electronics acquires MOG music service". USA Today. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ^ Charlie Warzel (2). "Beats Electronics Acquires Mog Rapper Dr. Dre's headphone makers scoop up digital streaming service". Adweek. Adweek. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ^ Rhian Jones (24). "Remaining half of Mog Music Network sells to Townsquare Media Group". MusicWeek. Intent Media. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ^ Evans, Joel. "Review: Beats by Dr. Dre headphones". Geek.com. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "HP Envy 14: Plenty of Power in a Stylish Package". PC World. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
- ^ Amar Toor (September 14, 2011). "HTC Sensation XE gets official, packing 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and Beats Audio". Engadget. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ Segan, Sascha (February 26, 2012). "Hands On With the HTC One X, S, and One V". PC Magazine. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
- ^ Velazco, Chris (September 19, 2012). "HTC Officially Reveals The 8X: 4.3-Inch 720p Display, 1.5GHz Dual-Core Processor, Beats Audio". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- ^ "More HTC handsets with Beats headphones? Probably not". CNET. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ "Meet The Boss Behind Chrysler's Image Makeover; He Is French". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
- ^ "(RED) Partners". (RED). The ONE Campaign. 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Beats By Dre |
