Skullcandy and Hard Rock ink partnership

By Sarah Feldberg

Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 | 12:05 a.m.

At a hotel and casino dedicated to rock 'n' roll and its often-loud lifestyle, sometimes you just need a good pair of headphones to cut through the din.

Today, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino announced a partnership with Park City, Utah-based headphone company Skullcandy that will find the fashionable 'phones favored by the action sports set solidly implanted in the rock-focused Vegas property.

The partnership will grant Skullcandy naming rights to three Hard Rock stages — the Joint, Wasted Space and the Friday Night Live concert series at the pool. That doesn't mean you'll be seeing the venue names shuffled anytime soon, however. Skullcandy is only naming the actual stages, a Hard Rock representative clarified, and Rogue will retain its overall naming rights (hence, the subtle switch of the main concert venue's name from "The Joint" to "The Joint by Rogue" last year).

More importantly, the Skullcandy deal will pave the way for a new event series at the Hard Rock titled The Next, which likely will tap the headphone company's heavy presence in the snow- and skate-sport communities for what the Hard Rock has called "a premiere summit showcase for sports, music, technology and lifestyle industries." We're picturing skateboarders flying above a half-pipe poolside to the tunes of a live band and perhaps appearances by members of Skullcandy's "Artist Familia," which includes names like Slightly Stoopid, Snoop Dogg, Del the Funky Homposapien and Ozomatli. And, of course, plenty of houndstooth print headphones emblazoned with buck-toothed skulls.

Guests at the hotel's new HRH Tower Suites also will feel the Skullcandy influence with special playlists created by the brand accessible on the Sound Matters Sound Bar, the in-room music system that lets guests play from the Hard Rock's library of tunes or plug in their own iPod for an in-room soundtrack. Because even when your headphones are as stylish as they come, sometimes it feels good to free your ears.

— Originally published on LasVegasWeekly.com