Business Battles | Monster vs Beats by Dre | 1
Business Wars
Audible
4.6 • 13.5K Ratings
🗓️ 7 August 2019
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With all the hype around portable and smart speakers, it’s easy to forget that they didn’t always exist. In fact, it took one fateful meeting with Monster Cables and Interscope Records to really kick the industry off. In this one-episode Business Battle, we explore the time when headphones became fashion, what it takes to get people to shell out $350 for a pair, and what happens when a million dollar mistake becomes a billion dollar mistake.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Business Wars ad-free on Amazon Music. |
| 0:04.6 | Download the app today. |
| 0:07.0 | The last time we featured the Beats by Dre versus Monster Business Battle, it was a fun little |
| 0:17.5 | story about the candy-colored headphones that in 2006 became Derriger Headgear on college |
| 0:23.3 | campuses. |
| 0:24.3 | The founders developed beats in part because of what they perceived as the poor sound |
| 0:28.4 | quality of Apple's headphones at the time. |
| 0:31.2 | Then in 2014, Apple swallowed the Beats Business whole. |
| 0:37.0 | And now, just in time for back-to-school shopping, we revisit this story because, well, the |
| 0:43.9 | story grew. |
| 0:45.7 | Apple is offering buyers a combo, a computer and wireless powerbeats pro headphones. |
| 0:52.4 | These headphones fit into your ear, an aesthetic more in line with Apple than the original |
| 0:57.0 | bulky Beats. |
| 0:59.3 | Before there were Beats, there was everything else. |
| 1:03.4 | And those early headphones just didn't have the cool factor. |
| 1:08.2 | Until a Korean father and son had an idea for headphones they felt could be big if they |
| 1:15.3 | could bring music and prosario Jimmy Iovine and rapper Dr. Dre on board. |
| 1:20.9 | It wasn't long before Beats by Dre dominated the headphone market. |
| 1:30.0 | It's November 2005 in Santa Monica. |
| 1:33.5 | Kevin Lee is well into his thirties, but he's still working for his dad, Noel Lee, the founder |
| 1:39.0 | and CEO of Monster Cables. |
| 1:42.2 | Father and son are walking into the headquarters of InnerScope Records. |
... |
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