In a move that will surprise absolutely no one, Harman International Industries, Inc. will be getting involved in the celebrity-endorsed headphone game.

Times are tough for companies that manufacture high-end headphones. A certain Doctor has the market cornered with his Beats line of headphones and by “cornered,” I mean 55% of the high-end market according to a recent article in Business Week.

AKG Acoustics, which is owned by Harman, previously have released headphones that were endorsed by the legendary Quincy Jones. They are said to be working on two new lines of headphones for release in 2012. One will be endorsed by country music star Tim McGraw and the other by…Kanye West?

A country singer coming out with a line of headphones is an interesting (and completely unnecessary) novelty, much like a rapper coming out with a line of headphones was interesting back in 2008.

And then we had a massive influx of what rappers colloquially call “biting.”

Diddy has his line of Diddybeats (also by Monster Cable, the company that makes Dre’s Beats), Ludacris has Soul, 50 Cent has SMS (plus Sleek by 50, a line that never came to fruition), and one of my idols, the RZA, has Chambers. Even Tech N9ne has a line of headphones.

It’s obvious that this is all about money and form over function. Is any serious producer or musician really going to shell out money for a celebrity endorsed headphone or will he/she use a trusted brand like AKG, Audio Technica, Sennheiser, Sony or Shure?

The case of AKG needing celebrities is unfortunate but necessary. The Austrian-born company, which was acquired by Harman in 1994, is well known in the pro audio world. There are famous for their microphones first but they also make a line of high quality headphones for audiophiles and musicians alike. Sadly, they have no mainstream appeal and even sadder, they have no commercials that play during American Idol.

I have tried Beats headphones before. The sound quality is fine but it’s not mind blowing. What Beats has going for them is their appeal as a fashion accessory. I see plenty of people walking around malls with Beats around their neck, usually matching them with whatever they are wearing.

Try wearing these around your neck the next time you go out. Heads will definitely turn and fingers will be pointing but deep down, you’ll know that you possess superior audio quality…something that the vast majority of Americans clearly care about.

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