he History of Beats by Dre headphones The Beats by Dre headphones came into existence in 2006 & brought lots of changes to the market of headphones. The idea of creating this brand was conceived by Jimmy lovine who was concerned about 2 main issues facing the music industry. The 1st problem was related to how privacy was affecting music sales while the second issue was about the low sound quality of the plastic earbuds produced by Apple. While looking for solutions to these problems, Iovine discussed with Dr. Dre who also had sad experiences about the 2 issues. Following their discussions, Iovine told Dr. Dre about the idea of creating a brand that would take care of the issue of substandard earpieces. After agreeing on the deal, Iovine went ahead to get the opinions of wonderful musicians who could give him a few ideas of the things to do right. The musicians he spoke with include Pharrel Williams, Gwen Stefani, M.I.A, & will.i.am. At the beginning of the production, Beats was in partnership with a California-based company that was producing audio & video components. The name of the company is Monster Cable. The company handled the development & production of the first sets of products from Beats. In July 2008, the groundbreaking Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones were officially launched. The headphones made good marks on the headphone market & Beats have produced many products afterward. Two years after the release of the first Beats products, over 50% of Beats was bought by HTC, a phone manufacturer; thus, this company became the biggest shareholders of Beats. The shares were worth US$309 mil. The acquisition was a part of the overall plan of HTC to win the competition with other brands that were producing mobile phones. As a result of this, HTC got the exclusive rights to produce mobile phones that would be made with the audio systems of Beats. However, HTC still Beats the autonomy to function as a separate company. At this stage, the partnership between Beats and Monster Cable was still functional However, in January 2012, Beats & Monster could not reach an agreement on their partnership which finally stopped at the end of the year. From that moment, Dre & Iovine took over the operation of Beats; thus, managing all of its processes. The first self-developed products of Beats are Beats Pill wireless speakers and Beats Executive headphones. Over the next few years, the company has undergone various changes with the acquisition of the stake that HTC bought previously being one of the major changes. Also, there have issues of acquisition by Apples that prolonged for a few months. Apple Inc. finally bought Beats by Dre in March 2014 for a whooping sum of $3 billion. Similarly, several lawsuits were filed from Monster Inc. and Bose. Beats by Dre has manufactured several headphones that are customized based on the agreement with P.DIddy, Justin Beiber & Lady Gaga. It is worthwhile to note that Beats bought MOG Inc., which was a music-streaming firm. The acquisition cost Beats around $10 million. Over the new few years, the music streaming company grew to as many as two hundred thousand subscribers. However, this company became defunct after the Beats was acquired by Apple Inc. This was perhaps due to its competition with Apple Music. Why Are Beats by Dre So Popular? There are many reasons why Beats by Dre are very popular. Foremost, Beats by Dre are so popular because they are one of the main headphones that started the era of costly headphones that are endorsed by well-known celebrities. As a result of this, Beats by Dre have become so popular among people, especially those that fancy a celebrity endorsement as a primary reason for buying their headphones. Similarly, Beats by Dre are known for its powerful branding which has continued to draw more wiling customers to the brand. In fact, there are hardly other brands of headphones that have been endorsed by as many celebrities as Beats by Dre. Due to this reason, Beats by Dre are sometimes regarded as things that reflect social status, particularly among kids & young adults. Lastly, the popularity of Beats by Dre is associated with its ability to customize the sound to suit the particular needs of the listeners. It provides arguably the best bass; therefore, people that want to enjoy almost perfect bass as they are listening to music also often choose Beats by Dre. Considering the varying reasons for the popularity of Beats by Dre, different people go for these headphones for many purposes Q1. Wit reference to generation groups & social class, distinguish an ideal market segment for Beats Music. (U may suggest segmentation based on group(s) of listeners or groups of music genre.) Q2. Examine whether Beats earphones influence the cultural rituals or introduce a new culture.  Q3. Propose the use of the influence of reference groups in marketing Beats earphones. (Propose or suggest different types reference groups that may be used to assist the marketing of Beats earphones.)