Cornell’s Party Headphones Keeps It Quiet with a Silent Party

Imagine a packed nightclub that’s nearly silent. Where the DJ set doesn’t boom out of Marshall stacks but instead gets transmitted to the wireless headphones everyone wears.

Welcome to the strange world of a silent party!

The Silent Disco movement took off in Europe around ten years ago and has slowly made its way to the States. And in Bloomberg-era New York, when quality-of-life concerns have shuttered most big clubs, the time for polite percussion is ripe. That’s where Ithaca-based startup Party Headphones comes in. The brainchild of Cornell undergraduates, the company equips clubs, events, and museums with all the hardware necessary to make a Silent Disco event happen. “It was a business plan for our entrepreneurship class,” Jake Reisch, CEO and cofounder of Party Headphones said. “We got positive feedback from our judges and we decided to see if it could work. I started selling, and we booked a bunch of events before we even had headphones.

”That was in May 2012. Today, the company has worked with MOMA, Red Bull, and Nestle, has a staff of eleven, and plans to start aggressively expanding. Some of that will have to wait while Reisch finishes his final year at Cornell. “It’s been a lot of sweat,” Reisch said. “ And trying to act like a real business before we actually were.”

For those dreading another summer in the city, maybe Ithaca’s worth a look. Party Headphones is looking for experienced marketers at their HQ. Contact the team here. Now go forth (and keep it down).

Nitty Gritty: Local Law 113: NYC legislation enforcing the Noise Control Code42: Decibel level limit for bars and restaurants, as measured from inside nearby residences 5 minutes: Time limit for continuous animal noise after 10pm and before 7am

Source: Wakefield