Download PDF
Semin Hear 2017; 38(04): 348-358
DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1606328
Review Article
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Understanding Why People Enjoy Loud Sound

David Welch
1   Audiology Department, Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
,
Guy Fremaux
2   Triton Hearing, New Zealand
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
10 October 2017 (online)

Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Sounds at levels that can injure the ear are regarded as enjoyable by many people. In many societies, a common form of this behavior is listening to loud music, either via personal audio systems or at music venues. Drawing on theory from the literature around loud sound and emotional responses to music, and combining it with concepts of physiological sound adaptation and classical conditioning, we developed a model of the process that may underlie people's enjoyment of loud sound, particularly loud music in nightclubs. The Conditioning, Adaptation, and Acculturation to Loud Music (CAALM) model proposes that the benefits associated with loud sound, alongside other desirable aspects of nightclubs, provide the unconditioned stimuli. Over time regular clubbers become conditioned to enjoy loud sound in itself. Exposure to loud sound also causes adaptation within the auditory system, so there is both a desire for, and tolerance of, loud sound during leisure time. This sets up an expectation of loud music as a cultural norm, and staff of leisure venues, who are themselves part of that culture, set music levels to meet customer expectations; and a cycle is perpetuated. This theory may be a useful consideration for health promotion and hearing conservation interventions.

Keywords

Loud - music - adaptation - noise-induced hearing loss - conditioning
 

  • References

  • 1 Torre III P, Howell JC. Noise levels during aerobics and the potential effects on distortion product otoacoustic emissions. J Commun Disord 2008; 41 (06) 501-511
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 2 Beach E, Williams W, Gilliver M. Estimating young Australian adults' risk of hearing damage from selected leisure activities. Ear Hear 2013; 34 (01) 75-82
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 3 Williams W. Trends in listening to personal stereos. Int J Audiol 2009; 48 (11) 784-788
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 4 Opperman DA, Reifman W, Schlauch R, Levine S. Incidence of spontaneous hearing threshold shifts during modern concert performances. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2006; 134 (04) 667-673
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 5 Vogel I, Brug J, van der Ploeg CPB, Raat H. Young people's exposure to loud music: a summary of the literature. Am J Prev Med 2007; 33 (02) 124-133
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 6 Griest SE, Folmer RL, Martin WH. Effectiveness of “Dangerous Decibels,” a school-based hearing loss prevention program. Am J Audiol 2007; 16 (02) S165-S181
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 7 Juslin PN, Västfjäll D. Emotional responses to music: the need to consider underlying mechanisms. Behav Brain Sci 2008; 31 (05) 559-575 , discussion 575–621
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 8 Fettiplace R, Kim KX. The physiology of mechanoelectrical transduction channels in hearing. Physiol Rev 2014; 94 (03) 951-986
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 9 Henderson D, Bielefeld EC, Harris KC, Hu BH. The role of oxidative stress in noise-induced hearing loss. Ear Hear 2006; 27 (01) 1-19
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 10 Kujawa SG, Liberman MC. Adding insult to injury: cochlear nerve degeneration after “temporary” noise-induced hearing loss. J Neurosci 2009; 29 (45) 14077-14085
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 11 Ceriani F, Mammano F. Calcium signaling in the cochlea—molecular mechanisms and physiopathological implications. Cell Commun Signal 2012; 10 (01) 20
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 12 Rutherford MA, Moser T. The ribbon synapse between type I spiral ganglion neurons and inner hair cells. In: Dabdoub A, Fritzsch B, Popper AN, Fay RR. , eds. Primary Auditory Neurons of the Mammalian Cochlea. Vol. 52. New York, NY: Springer; 2016: 117-156
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 13 Whitmire CJ, Stanley GB. Rapid sensory adaptation redux: a circuit perspective. Neuron 2016; 92 (02) 298-315
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 14 Beach EF, Gilliver M, Williams W. Leisure noise exposure: participation trends, symptoms of hearing damage, and perception of risk. Int J Audiol 2013; 52 (Suppl. 01) S20-S25
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 15 Williams W, Beach EF, Gilliver M. Clubbing: the cumulative effect of noise exposure from attendance at dance clubs and night clubs on whole-of-life noise exposure. Noise Health 2010; 12 (48) 155-158
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 16 Rintelmann WF, Borus JF. Noise-induced hearing loss and rock and roll music. Arch Otolaryngol 1968; 88 (04) 377-385
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 17 Blesser B. The seductive (yet destructive) appeal of loud music. Available at: www.blesser.net . Accessed August 23, 2017
    PubMed
  • 18 Todd NPM, Cody FW. Vestibular responses to loud dance music: a physiological basis of the “rock and roll threshold”?. J Acoust Soc Am 2000; 107 (01) 496-500
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 19 Welch D, Fremaux G. Why do people like loud sound? A qualitative study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2017; 14 (08) 908 . doi:10.3390/ijerph14080908
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 20 Forsyth A, Cloonan M. Alco-pop? The use of popular music in Glasgow pubs. Pop Music Soc 2008; 31 (01) 57-78
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 21 Forsyth AJM. “Lager, lager shouting”: the role of music and DJs in nightclub disorder control. Adicciones 2009; 21 (04) 327-345
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 22 van de Goor LAM, Knibbe RA, Drop MJ. Adolescent drinking behavior: an observational study of the influence of situational factors on adolescent drinking rates. J Stud Alcohol 1990; 51 (06) 548-555
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 23 Guéguen N, Jacob C, Le Guellec H, Morineau T, Lourel M. Sound level of environmental music and drinking behavior: a field experiment with beer drinkers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2008; 32 (10) 1795-1798
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 24 Guéguen N, Le Guellec H, Jacob C. Sound level of background music and alcohol consumption: an empirical evaluation. Percept Mot Skills 2004; 99 (01) 34-38
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 25 Mercier V, Hohmann BW. Is electronically amplified music too loud? What do young people think?. Noise Health 2002; 4 (16) 47-55
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 26 Gilles A, Thuy I, De Rycke E, Van de Heyning P. A little bit less would be great: adolescents' opinion towards music levels. Noise Health 2014; 16 (72) 285-291
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 27 Johnson O, Andrew B, Walker D, Morgan S, Aldren A. British university students' attitudes towards noise-induced hearing loss caused by nightclub attendance. J Laryngol Otol 2014; 128 (01) 29-34 , quiz 33–34
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 28 Mulder J. Average is the new loudest. Leonardo Music J 2016; 26: 56-59
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 29 Siegel A, Sapru HN. Essential Neuroscience. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2011
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 30 Brown RE, Basheer R, McKenna JT, Strecker RE, McCarley RW. Control of sleep and wakefulness. Physiol Rev 2012; 92 (03) 1087-1187
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 31 Koch M, Schnitzler HU. The acoustic startle response in rats—circuits mediating evocation, inhibition and potentiation. Behav Brain Res 1997; 89 (1–2): 35-49
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 32 Gillmeister H, Eimer M. Tactile enhancement of auditory detection and perceived loudness. Brain Res 2007; 1160: 58-68
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 33 Kellaris JJ, Mantel SP, Altsech MB. Decibels, disposition, and duration: the impact of musical loudness and internal states on time perceptions. Advances in Consumer Research 1996; (23) 498-503
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 34 Schafer RM. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Rochester, NY: Destiny Books; 1977
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 35 Axelsson Ö, Nilsson ME, Berglund B. A principal components model of soundscape perception. J Acoust Soc Am 2010; 128 (05) 2836-2846
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 36 Andringa TC, Lanser JJL. How pleasant sounds promote and annoying sounds impede health: a cognitive approach. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2013; 10 (04) 1439-1461
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 37 Watts GR, Pheasant RJ. Tranquillity in the Scottish Highlands and Dartmoor National Park—the importance of soundscapes and emotional factors. Appl Acoust 2015; 89: 297-305
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 38 Brown AL, Kang JA, Gjestland T. Towards standardization in soundscape preference assessment. Appl Acoust 2011; 72 (06) 387-392
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 39 Aiello LM, Schifanella R, Quercia D, Aletta F. Chatty maps: constructing sound maps of urban areas from social media data. R Soc Open Sci 2016; 3 (03) 150690
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 40 Welch D, Shepherd D, Dirks K, Tan MY. Towards a quantitative tool to assess the soundscape. Paper presented at: INTERNOISE 2014—43rd International Congress on Noise Control Engineering: Improving the World Through Noise Control; Melbourne, Australia, 16–19 November, 2014
    PubMed
  • 41 Brown AL. A review of progress in soundscapes and an approach to soundscape planning. Int J Acoust Vib 2012; 17 (02) 73-81
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 42 Arnett J. Sensation seeking—a new conceptualization and a new scale. Pers Individ Dif 1994; 16 (02) 289-296
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 43 Bull M. iPod: a personalized sound world for its consumers. e-LiS 2010; 17 (34) 55-63
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 44 Clark WW. Noise exposure from leisure activities: a review. J Acoust Soc Am 1991; 90 (01) 175-181
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 45 Widen SE, Erlandsson SI. Risk perception in musical settings—a qualitative study. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being 2007; 2: 33-44
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 46 Florentine M, Hunter W, Robinson M, Ballou M, Buus S. On the behavioral characteristics of loud-music listening. Ear Hear 1998; 19 (06) 420-428
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 47 Arnett J. The soundtrack of recklessness. J Adolesc Res 1992; 7 (03) 313-331
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 48 Stansfeld SA. Noise, noise sensitivity and psychiatric disorder: epidemiological and psychophysiological studies. Psychol Med 1992; (Suppl. 22) 1-44
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 49 Siegel AW, Cousins JH, Rubovits DS, Parsons JT, Lavery B, Crowley CL. Adolescents' perceptions of the benefits and risks of their own risk-taking. J Emot Behav Disord 1994; 2 (02) 89-98
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 50 Martin WH, Griest SE, Sobel JL, Howarth LC. Randomized trial of four noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus prevention interventions for children. Int J Audiol 2013; 52 (Suppl. 01) S41-S49
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 51 Weichbold V, Zorowka P. Effects of a hearing protection campaign on the discotheque attendance habits of high-school students. Int J Audiol 2003; 42 (08) 489-493
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 52 Keppler H, Ingeborg D, Sofie D, Bart V. The effects of a hearing education program on recreational noise exposure, attitudes and beliefs toward noise, hearing loss, and hearing protector devices in young adults. Noise Health 2015; 17 (78) 253-262
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 53 Welch D, Reddy R, Hand J, Devine IM. Educating teenagers about hearing health by training them to educate children. Int J Audiol 2016; 55 (09) 499-506
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar