Karen Civil, one of hip-hop’s most influential bloggers, has been appointed the new digital marketing manager at headphone company Beats by Dr. Dre. Civil played a vital role in the careers of Drake, Nipsey Hussle, and J. Cole, who all came to the attention of record labels after being featured on the her Web site, karencivil.com.
She recently served as online media coordinator at Young Money Records and helped propel labelmates Drake and Nicki Minaj — both releasing number one albums — to new heights. Now, she will be taking her talents to Los Angeles to join the ever growing Beats Empire and help maintain its dominance in the world of headphones.
Established in 2008, the line of headphones has become a cultural trend with a roster of endorsements ranging from Hollywood A-listers and sports icons. Following the success of Beats by Dr. Dre, other
celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Lebron James and Diddy have all followed suit and established their own line of earphones under the Beats umbrella: Bieber with the signature purple JustBeats for all the die-hard Bieliebers; Gaga with Heartbeats for all the monsters around the globe; Diddy with DiddyBeats and Lebron with Powerbeats, for those who love to work out to their favorite tunes.
The company also came out with a special Red Sox edition of their over-ear studio headphones last spring.
Late last year, the company expanded to laptops when it closed a deal with H.P., “the world’s biggest laptop seller.” Through this deal, Beats Audio system was made standard in their line of laptops starting with the Envy 14, Pavilion dv7 and TouchSmart 600 models. Following the critical and commercial
success of the Beats Audio system, H.P. plans to expand the sound system to other line of products in the near future. Dr. Dre, one of the co-founders of Beats, earned a whooping $17 million in 2010 with much of his income coming from the sales of Beats products, according to Forbes.com.
However, a threat to his surging Beats empire is looming, most notably in form of his once prodigy, 50 Cent.
Earlier this year, 50 announced that he will be coming out with his own line of headphones, Sleek by 50 Cent. Made by Sleek Audio, with both creative and financial input by the hip-hop mogul, Sleek by 50 Cent will bring something unique to the world of headphones: wireless hybrid. This means Sleek by 50 cent will utilize Kleer lossless wireless technology, and offer consumers the ability to listen to music without the annoyance of wires.
Offering similar sound quality to Beats by Dr. Dre and wireless technology, industry analysts suggest Sleek by 50 Cent will bring stiff competition to Beats by Dr. Dre. Hence, marketing will most likely be the key in Beats remaining dominant in the world of headphones and Civil is the most qualified woman for the job. In the age of digital media, the queen of hip-hop bloggers may hold the key in Beats staying ahead in the game.
