Hits in the head
Headphones are meant to be silent. But they’re getting visibly louder, says Tech Sunday.
The line between music and fashion has always been blurry. Lady Gaga, for instance, is as much a fashion icon as an alternative Madonna.
Speaking of Madonna, nowadays we’re more likely to check out what she’s wearing than what she’s singing. And then there’s vintage crooner Tony Bennett, who graced the fashion shoot of last month’s Esquire in a wardrobe of classic coats.
Apart from the performers themselves, musical instruments and technology also make a fashion statement. When they still shone with the bright light of innovation, CDs were frequently part of a Saturday night outfit. And back in the 1980s, boom boxes slung over one shoulder were as streetwise as basketball sneakers and chequered shirts.
Yet in that big hair, big lips decade, the ultimate fashion statement was a pair of headphones.
The craze for headphones may have been fuelled by the popularity of the walkman, yet the technology is much older than that. In fact, the first headphones are a close relative to the earpiece which, before amplifiers were invented, was a necessary piece of equipment to listen to audio signals.
Fast forward to the arrival of the iPod and headphones lost most of their fashion credentials – rather than a nod at showing off, the whole point of headphones became subtlety. In fact, together with coloured jeans, big shoulder pads and white handbags, headphones were relegated to the bottom drawer, in favour of earbuds.
Now, however, there’s a return to the loud past, and big, colourful, over-ear cans are all the rage. In fact, pop stars like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Dr Dre have endorsed their own brands of oversized headphones, while HMV has reported that if the demand for oversized headphones continues at the present rate, headphone sales will outstrip those of recorded music. Dixons has also expanded its headphones range by 50 per cent and now stocks more than 300 different types of headphones.
Smartphone manufacturers are also gearing up to cadge a ride on the gravy train – HTC, for instance, has bought 51 per cent of Beats Electronics, the company that manufactures the Dr Dre headphones brand.
Of course, headphones are still about music, but not exclusively so. It’s like a band T-shirt – it’s about music, but it’s also what you’re wearing.