We live in a headphone world. From 50 Cent’s new sweat repelling sport earphones to Diamondz rhinestone encrusted headphones recently revealed at the CES 2014 trade show, big brands continue to capitalize on the luxury headphone trend. Average users, not connected to the music industry, are willing pay thousands of dollars for the ultimate listening experience and recognition as die hard music connoisseurs. But, what about the other experience that excites music lovers? The pleasure of enjoying music with loved ones. The headphone industry tended to undervalue the social, human side of music before ShareBuds. Deemed, “the friendship headphones,” ShareBuds are designed for convenient listening between two people without the inconvenience of having to share a single set of headphones or buying an extra headphone splitter. The innovation is simple because ease is key to ShareBuds’ selling point.

ShareBuds MX2 feature four ear buds and a 3.5 mm connection jack integrated into one product allowing you to share audio from iPod, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Nook, portable DVD Player, Android and other portable electronic devices. TechCrunch’s Jordan Crook cited some useful scenarios for ShareBuds, stating: “I can think of at least ten examples where ShareBuds would have come in handy. One would be the time that my boss John took me on a road trip with his family to visit startups in DC. His kids, Kasper and Milla, were in the back and wanted to watch Netflix. Meanwhile, John was listening to his own music in the front seat, and I had my own music in my headphones. Luckily, we had a set of ShareBuds for the kids to pop in and get their Tangled on.”

The earliest adopters can pre-order ShareBuds MX2 headphones starting at $49 through the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, which has already reached it’s goal at http://igg.me/at/sharebuds/x/1821271. After the campaign, ShareBuds MX2 Headphones will be available for $79. ShareBuds MX2 headphones are expected to ship to backers in May 2014.

Perhaps the deluxe and expensive headphone trend isn’t going away anytime soon. Geoffrey Morrison’s, “Are expensive headphones worth it?,” suggests there will always be “a style, brand, form, celeb endorsement, and/or color” to match consumer interest. However, these offerings don’t change the fact that great technological innovations tend to catch on because they posses three main characteristics: simplicity, convenience and relevance. ShareBuds MX2 easily integrates into the lives of their social media consumers and satisfies a niche market need.