Protect & preserve your hearing

A resource hub for audio professionals. PAMA is on a mission to help protect and preserve the most critical tool for audio professionals: their hearing. Through Hearing Rocks we’re championing awareness, education and actionable solutions for the longevity and well-being of our industry.

The one tool you can’t replace

4×

Professional musicians are nearly four times as likely as the general public to develop noise-induced hearing loss — and the risk reaches the crew, front-of-house staff, and everyone working the room.

Schink et al., Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2014.

03 — The listener

Giving sound a voice starts with being able to hear it

Noise damage doesn’t make the world quieter. It takes the high frequencies first — the consonants that turn sound into words — and it doesn’t come back. Hearing Rocks is PAMA’s campaign to keep the people who make sound able to hear it.

Listen
HealthyEarlyModerateSevere

Healthy hearing. Every consonant is there — the s, t and f that tell “fifteen” from “fifty.”

A simplified simulation, not a hearing test. NIOSH’s fuller simulator is linked below.

Hearing health

Three habits that keep you hearing

Noise damage is permanent, gradual and silent until it isn’t. It is also almost entirely preventable.

01

Get tested every year

Damage creeps in a few decibels at a time, and nobody notices until it’s permanent. A baseline hearing test from an audiologist, repeated every year, catches the change while there’s still time to act on it.

Annual hearing tests are what OSHA requires for workers whose exposure averages 85 dBA over a workday.

02

Wear protection made for your ears

Custom ear molds, taken by an audiologist, seal the same way every time. Musicians’ earplugs with flat filters lower the level without muddying the mix, and custom in-ear monitors let performers turn the stage down instead of up.

Foam plugs help in a pinch. They also cut the highs hardest, which is why people pull them out.

03

Manage the dose, not just the peak

Damage is level and time. Every 3 dB louder halves how long you can safely stay.

8 hours a day, at 85 dBA
85 dBA112 dBA

8-hour limit for a workday.

NIOSH recommended limit: 85 dBA for 8 hours, 3 dB exchange rate. A guide, not a hearing test.

Find an audiologist More hearing-health resources

Webinar · Part 1

Mind the Mix

Hearing preservation strategies for audio engineers, from seasoned engineers and an audiologist.

Webinar · Part 2

Safer SPL Levels

How the WHO Global Standard for Safe Listening Venues and Events is moving into practice.

Part 3

What should we cover next?

The first two drew real interest across the industry. Tell us what the next conversation should be.

Tell us

Hearing loss: just the facts

  • Professional musicians are nearly four times as likely to develop noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) as the general public.
  • They are also more likely to experience tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.
  • Hearing damage can affect everyone in the music industry, including backstage crew and front-of-house staff, as well as bartenders, waiters and other staff.
  • Hearing loss can develop from repeated exposure to loud sounds, according to the British Medical Journal.
  • Over time, loud sound irreparably damages the sensory hair cells of the inner ear that send sound information to the brain.
  • There is also evidence that loud sound disrupts how cells transmit information via synapses, leading to what is termed “hidden hearing loss,” because it isn’t easily detected by traditional hearing tests.

What does hearing loss sound like?

Hear it for yourself in our listening demo above. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has also developed a hearing loss simulator that demonstrates the effects of noise exposure without anyone having to experience it.

Try the NIOSH simulator

How do I know if I have hearing loss?

According to the American Academy of Audiology, common signs include:

  • Asking people to repeat what they say.
  • Feeling like others are always mumbling or not speaking clearly.
  • Difficulty hearing and understanding speech in noisy environments.
  • Missing words or phrases on the telephone.
  • Turning the television or radio up louder than normal.

How can I help prevent hearing loss?

MusiCares and Tuned have partnered to offer these ways for people in the music industry to protect their hearing:

  • Know the warning signs.
  • Care for existing hearing issues.
  • Use recommended earplugs.
  • Don’t overdose on sound.
  • See a music audiologist for annual checkups.

Hearing health contributes to career health. A sound level meter app to track decibels, and in-ear monitors onstage and in rehearsal, can also help. MusiCares has partnered with Tuned to give the music community access to music audiologists who specialize in hearing loss prevention, amplification, tinnitus and disorder management, in-ear monitors and more: MusiCares x Tuned National Audiology Services ↗

Three habits that keep you hearing, and how long is safe at what level ↑

What can venues and live events do?

The World Health Organization has developed a Global Standard for Safe Listening Venues and Events ↗. Its six features, when implemented, let audiences around the world enjoy amplified music with protection for their hearing, while preserving the integrity of the artistic experience.

What are audio manufacturers doing?

PAMA members are committed to hearing health, designing and manufacturing products that meet or exceed all government regulations on hearing health. PAMA is also working to provide additional education to help everyone in the audio industry with hearing health, including the Hearing Rocks webinar series.

Additional resources

Find help and learn more

Have a resource to list, or want to sign on in support of Hearing Rocks? Contact us.

PAMA’s Hearing Rocks initiative is intended to bring this important topic top-of-mind, but is not an advocacy for any specific treatment, organization, or endorsement of standards.