Huxley did this in the 30s, or as close as tech then allowed, with pillow speakers and "hypnopaedia" - for which he can't fairly be blamed, as back then they didn't yet know sleep teaching doesn't work - and even Doctor Who used the same idea back in 2006 or so for a Cybermen story.

Don't let the coincidental similarity of form factor distract you from the point of their use in these stories, which is that it's not the earbuds per se that are frightening, but rather the idea that everyone with them is always hearing exactly the same thing. This could scarcely be less true of modern earbuds, be they made by Apple or otherwise.