World Music Day celebrates music in all its forms and the importance of music in people’s lives. This day celebrates the positive power of music by encouraging people to gather and fully enjoy the positivity brought to us through music.
Although listening to music is a mostly enjoyable experience for those that choose to indulge, music can be damaging to your hearing, especially for those working within the music industry.
In fact, studies have shown that musicians are twice as likely to develop tinnitus as office workers!
High Noise Levels and Tinnitus
A study published in “Trends in Hearing” states that high levels of occupational noise exposure can increase the risk of hearing difficulties and tinnitus.
The study took data from a subsample of the U.K. Biobank (an online database of medical and lifestyle records of half a million Britons) and analysed this to determine the extent of hearing difficulties and tinnitus in different risk level environments.
The results of this study showed that the levels of tinnitus were greatest for high-risk industries, such as music and construction, compared to low-risk industries such as finance, and these differences were accounted for by occupational and music noise exposure.
A perfect example of hearing being impacted in the music industry comes from the number of high-profile musicians who have tinnitus, including Plug’em Ambassador Mark Ronson, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Ozzy Osbourne and Noel and Liam Gallagher.
What about hearing protection?
Hearing protection must be worn when noise levels exceed 85 decibels in the workplace.
Most amplified concerts exceed 100 decibels, meaning that musicians shouldn’t be exposed to that level of noise for more than 15 minutes, however previous research has shown that only 6% of musicians consistently wear hearing protection.
Occupational Noise Measurements
Occupational noise is one of the most overlooked risks in the workplace. If you own a music/performance venue then it’s vital to understand the Regulations surrounding Occupational noise, known as the Control of Noise at Work Regulations, to ensure that you’re protecting your staff and your business.
How can Cirrus Research help?
At Cirrus Research, we’re here to help you every step of the way, from choosing the right instruments for monitoring noise in your venue to providing ongoing UK training and support. All of our noise measurement equipment complies with the Noise at Work Regulations, ensuring you are taking accurate measurements.
The Optimus+ Industrial Sound Level Meter from Cirrus Research makes noise level measurements in the workplace incredibly easy and straightforward, as it uses advanced digital acoustic technology to save you time while capturing all essential noise level data simultaneously. With this instrument, you simply have to press one button, and all the relevant data that you need for workplace noise measurements will be captured and saved.
The Advanced doseBadge5 Noise Dosimeter is a high-performance wireless noise dosimeter that allows you to make compliant occupational noise exposure measurements for each individual person working within your venue. This powerful yet simple-to-use instrument gathers robust, reliable information that can be used effectively for the assessment of occupational noise exposures.
You can speak to our noise experts for more information on sound and noise within the music industry, and to learn more about protecting those working within your venue/s.
