From left: Jake Reisch, CEO; L.J. Berube, customer excitement manager; and Matt Reiners, co-founder and head of customer excitement. Photo by Christine Carignan.
In cities across the country, partygoers are coming together to dance in silence, or so it seems. Wearing wireless headphones, they choose from a handful of DJs playing live at the venue, and when they want to talk to friends, they can do so at a normal volume by taking off their headphones. The movement, called silent disco, is big business for Party Headphones, a Manchester company that rents headphones and ships them to 45 states for silent disco parties and events.
The three-year-old company has grown 40 percent annually in the last two years. Parties average 150 to 200 people, though the company has shipped headphones for 1,100 people. Rental costs range from $500 to $10,000, depending on the number of units needed. About 80 percent of revenue is generated from rentals with 20 percent of customers opting to purchase the headphones.
Designed in conjunction with Helix Design in Manchester, the headphones let users choose from two different channels, with a colored light indicating their choice. “The idea is people are more interactive during silent disco events. When you put on the headphones you are immediately in on the secret,” says CEO Jake Reisch. “We’re just scratching the surface. There are a lot of people out there who don’t know this concept and technology exists.”
Reisch started the company while in college in upstate New York and took a year off to get it going before graduating in 2015. He says the concept of silent disco has been popular in Europe for years and allows venues that previously could not host concerts or large dance parties due to noise ordinances to do so. A drummer who played in bands, Reisch says the headphones are also not as loud as concerts and will not lead to ears ringing, a common phenomenon at concerts.
Reisch moved the company from upstate New York to Manchester last August to be close to Helix, Boston and to the airport. During the busiest months it ships headphones to 40 to 50 parties, and unlike other silent disco companies, Party Headphones does not run the events, though they do help with technology planning remotely.
“You don’t just give everyone a pair of headphones and say let’s dance,” Reisch says. He says planners need to create one entrance and exit to keep track of headphones. Reisch is not involved in music choice, but says popular choices are often rap or electronic music. He says colleges and small private parties are the bulk of business.
Party Headphones has seven full-time employees and is now looking to hire for customer service, sales and administration.
For more information, visit partyheadphones.com
Current Issue - May 2024