Photo credit: Charlotte May
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
Is it bad to listen to music all the time? That is the question that Hussein, a teenager from Iraq asked the Curious Kids site, and reported on the U.S. edition of The Conversation. The article, unsigned but apparently written by audiologist Jillian Hubertz at Purdue University, doesn’t really answer this simple yes or no question. But my answer is an instant: Yes, it’s bad to listen to music all the time. It’s probably bad to do anything all the time, but it’s certainly bad for auditory health to listen to music all the time.
Hubertz discusses how different kinds of music can affect work and study habits. She provides various options for safer listening, including allowable times to listen to music at different volumes and the “60% rule,” listening at no more than 60% of a device’s volume output. This appears to be a variant of the “60/60 rule,” listening at 60% of maximum volume output, with the suggested exposure time varying from 60 minutes at a time or 60 minutes for the entire day. To the best of my knowledge, there are no published studies showing that use of any version of the 60/60 rule is safe for auditory health. Unfortunately, personal listening devices don’t come with a volume dial like stereo systems did in the old days. I don’t know how anyone figures out that the sound output is at 60%. Also, to overcome ambient noise levels, most personal listening device users have to turn the volume up higher than safe noise exposure levels. The only evidence-based safe noise level was calculated by the Environmental Protection Agency 50 years ago. That level is 70 decibels time-weighted average for a day.
The problem with Hubertz’s advice is that it won’t protect anyone from developing noise-induced hearing loss, certainly not a teenager who listens to music all the time. She cites the World Health Organization’s safe listening criteria, but WHO’s 2018 Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region actually recommends a yearly average of 70 decibels for all leisure time noise exposure. Unfortunately, noise exposure isn’t limited to leisure time. We are exposed to noise from birth to death, 24 hours a day and year-round, at work and at play. My review of the literature found that most people in industrialized countries get exposed to noise above the EPA’s safe noise level with personal listening device use being particularly dangerous for auditory health.
My advice to Hussein and everyone else is don’t listen to music all the time, and certainly not when you’re trying to do schoolwork. Focus on what you are doing. And, turn down the volume when you do listen to music or anything else. If it sounds loud, it’s too loud and your auditory health is at risk.
