“Mercury prize judge Simon Frith’s love of music may have damaged his ears, but his passion for new artists is loud and clear…”
Recent interview with Frith from Times Online (with thoughts on hearing loss, vinyl-vs-CDs-vs-mp3s, music education, etc.).
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There’s no need to lose hearing to loud music. Earplugs are an extremely useful tool for listeners and musicians both. Standard “Swedish wool” earplugs can be found at most drug stores. They’re inexpensive and great for making loud volume tolerable, although there is some cut-off in the upper frequencies.
Those who want noise reduction but with the full sonic spectrum can have custom-fitted plugs made by an audiologist (generally, any place that sells hearing aids will also make these ear plugs).
Sadly, there’s no extra protection for the other great threat to music fans’ ears: excessive headphone volume…