Hearing health for music lovers

Protect your hearing.
Keep the music.

EarMeOut helps young people understand hearing risks and make safer listening choices at concerts, festivals, clubs, and through headphones.

Protect your hearingLearn more

Why it matters

Protect your hearing now.
Your future self will thank you.

Hearing damage can build gradually through repeated exposure to loud music, concerts, festivals and unsafe headphone listening. Once hearing is damaged, it can be permanent — but a lot of noise-related hearing damage is preventable.

1B+

young people at risk

More than one billion people aged 12–35 are at risk of avoidable hearing loss from unsafe listening.

430M

need hearing rehabilitation

Around 430 million people globally currently require rehabilitation for disabling hearing loss.

2.5B

projected by 2050

Nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss by 2050.

9.6%

of Australians

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 9.6% of Australians had a hearing impairment in 2022.

Australia

Hearing loss becomes more common with age

Prevalence of bilateral hearing impairment in Australian adults aged 50+.

Age 50–5919.5%
Age 60–6937.0%
Age 70–7959.1%

Source: Australian national hearing survey, The Lancet Global Health, 2026.

Start early

Hearing loss isn't only something to think about when you're older.

What you do now matters. Repeated exposure to loud sound can contribute to permanent hearing damage over time, especially when unsafe listening habits continue for years.

Earplugs, safer volume levels, listening breaks and simply being aware of how loud your environment is can all help protect the hearing you want to keep for the future.

Protect the hearing that lets you enjoy the music.

Safe listening doesn't mean giving up concerts, festivals or your favourite songs — it means enjoying them more safely.

Sources

World Health Organization, 2026 • Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey, 2022 • Australian national hearing survey, The Lancet Global Health, 2026

WHO hearing loss factsWHO Make Listening SafeAustralian Bureau of Statistics

Know your sound levels

How loud is too loud?

Decibels (dB) measure sound level. Louder sound means less listening time before the risk of hearing damage increases.

Below 80 dB: lower risk

Aim to keep your average headphone level here.

80 dB and above: watch the time

Turn it down and shorten your exposure as levels rise.

Louder sound. Less time.

Adult weekly listening guide at a constant average level. Longer bars mean more listening time.

  • 80 dB40 hours / week
  • 85 dB12 hours 30 min / week
  • 90 dB4 hours / week
  • 95 dB1 hour 15 min / week
  • 100 dB20 min / week

Hours per week (7 days)

Time adds up. These are weekly totals, not daily targets or separate allowances at each level. Headphones and loud events both contribute to your exposure.

This is a risk-reduction guide, not a guarantee. Children have a lower reference level: 75 dB for 40 hours per week.

Protect your hearing

Small changes. Big difference.

Hearing risk depends on how loud, how long, and how often you listen. Lowering your exposure helps protect your hearing while you keep enjoying music.

At concerts

  • Fit your earplugs properly.A good fit reduces the sound reaching your ears.
  • Keep your distance.Move away from loudspeakers and amplifiers to reduce exposure.
  • Take quieter breaks.Spend about 10 minutes in a quiet area each hour.

With headphones

  • Keep levels low.Use headphone sound monitoring where available; aim below an 80 dB average.
  • Use noise cancelling.It can reduce the need to turn music up over background noise.
  • Limit long sessions.Listening time still matters, so take regular breaks.

After loud sound

  • Reduce further noise.Choose quieter activities after a loud event.
  • Get ongoing symptoms checked.Speak to a hearing-health professional about persistent ringing or hearing difficulty.
  • Act on sudden hearing loss.Go to an emergency department for urgent assessment.

Myth or Fact

Test your hearing knowledge.

Question 1 of 813%

If music doesn't hurt your ears, it can't damage your hearing.

Educational information only — this is not a diagnostic hearing test.

Hearing symptom check

Should I get my hearing checked?

Answer a few questions about symptoms you may have noticed. We'll use your answers to show whether a professional hearing or medical assessment may be worth considering.

This tool provides general educational guidance only. It cannot diagnose hearing loss or another medical condition.

Useful tools

Tools that can help you listen more safely.

Use phone features and free public-health tools to monitor headphone listening, understand the sound around you, and check your hearing.

Built into iPhone

Check your headphone levels

Apple Health: Hearing

Review your average headphone audio level in decibels (dB) and see how your listening changes over time.

  1. Open Health → Browse → Hearing.Select Headphone Audio Levels.
  2. Review your listening history.Choose a time range to compare levels. Tap Show More Data for additional exposure details.
  3. Check levels while listening.Add the Hearing control to Control Centre to view your current headphone level.

Set a volume limit

In Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Headphone Safety, turn on Reduce Loud Audio and choose a limit.

Measurements are most accurate with Apple or Beats headphones. Other headphones may show estimates.

Apple setup guide (opens in a new tab)

On Samsung Galaxy

Samsung Health: Hearing

Look for Hearing in Samsung Health to review sound exposure. Newer supported setups can also track headphone levels; availability varies by device, software, and region.

You can also look for Media volume limit in Settings → Sounds and vibration → Volume → More options. This caps volume rather than showing your average dB level.

Check Samsung support (opens in a new tab)

On other Android phones

Pixel Buds: Hearing Wellness

With Pixel Buds Pro, Pro 2, or 2a, open Hearing Wellness in the Pixel Buds app or paired-device settings. Review your current dB level and exposure over 24 hours or seven days.

Android features depend on your phone and headphones; a headphone-level history is not available on every setup.

Hearing Wellness setup (opens in a new tab)

Sound level

Live environment

92dB

Check how loud your surroundings may be.

Check your environment

NIOSH Sound Level Meter

Use your iPhone to estimate environmental sound levels and get a better sense of how loud your surroundings may be.

Why it's useful

Loud environments do not always feel dangerously loud. Seeing an estimated sound level can help you recognise when it may be time to move away from the sound source, use hearing protection, or take a quieter break.

FreeiOSNoise awareness
View NIOSH app

Hearing check

Digits in noise

Can you hear

4 · 7 · 2

Check your hearing

hearWHO

hearWHO is a hearing-screening tool developed by the World Health Organization using digits-in-noise technology.

Why it's useful

It provides a quick way to screen your hearing and monitor your results over time, which may help you recognise when a professional hearing assessment is worth considering.

FreeiOSAndroid
View hearWHO

These tools can support hearing awareness but do not replace a professional hearing assessment. If you notice sudden hearing loss, persistent tinnitus, or other concerning symptoms, seek appropriate medical or hearing-health advice.

About EarMeOut

Hearing protection should be normal.

EarMeOut is a youth-focused hearing health campaign designed to make safer listening more practical, accessible, and relevant to everyday life.

We focus on the places where young people are most likely to experience loud sound — including concerts, festivals, clubs, commuting, and personal headphone use. Rather than telling people to avoid music or loud environments altogether, EarMeOut promotes realistic ways to reduce harmful sound exposure while still enjoying the experiences that matter to them.

Our campaign combines education, social media, interactive tools, university outreach, and partnerships with venues and organisations to help people understand how sound exposure affects their hearing and what they can do to protect it.

Our work on campus

Bringing EarMeOut to campus.

A look at our campus outreach and the conversations behind the campaign. This is where we share the work we have done to bring hearing-health awareness into student life.

Photo 1 of 7

Our EarMeOut × Earjobs campus stall.

EarMeOut × Earjobs

Swipe or use the left and right arrow keys to browse photos. Press Escape to close the viewer.

1 / 7Our EarMeOut × Earjobs campus stall.

University of Sydney

EarMeOut × Earjobs

We teamed up with Earjobs at the University of Sydney to raise awareness of hearing protection and give students practical tools to take away.

Students received earplugs from Earjobs and our own supplies, plus keychains to keep them handy for concerts, raves, loud events and instrument practice.

Outreach highlights

  • Free earplugs distributed on campus.
  • Carry-ready keychains for everyday hearing protection.
  • Conversations about safer listening and enjoying music.

Interested in hearing protection? Explore Earjobs (opens in a new tab).

Bring EarMeOut to your campus.

Interested in a collaboration with your student society or university? Get in touch to talk about campus outreach.

Plan a collaboration

Evidence & Sources

Built on trusted hearing-health guidance.

EarMeOut's educational content and interactive tools are informed by guidance from recognised public-health and hearing-health organisations. We aim to make this information easier to understand without replacing professional medical advice.

World Health Organization

Safe Listening

Guidance on sound exposure, headphones, hearing protection, listening breaks, warning signs, and safer listening habits.

View source ↗

World Health Organization

Safe Listening Venues & Events

International guidance for safer listening at concerts, festivals, clubs, and other amplified music events.

View source ↗

WHO & ITU

Safe Listening Devices & Systems

Guidance on personal audio devices, sound exposure, listening duration, and safer listening features.

View source ↗

Healthdirect Australia

Hearing Loss

Australian health guidance on hearing changes, symptoms, assessment, and when medical attention may be needed.

View source ↗

NICE

Hearing Loss Assessment

Clinical guidance used to inform the referral and warning-sign logic in our hearing symptom check.

View source ↗

NICE

Tinnitus Guidance

Clinical guidance covering tinnitus assessment, referral, and warning signs.

View source ↗

About our interactive tools

The EarMeOut quizzes and symptom check are educational tools. They use evidence-based guidance to help users understand safer listening and recognise when professional assessment may be worth considering. They are not designed to diagnose hearing loss, tinnitus, or any other medical condition.

Get involved

Want to work with EarMeOut?

We work with venues, organisations, companies, hearing-health professionals, students, and individuals who want to support safer listening.

Which best describes you?

Stay connected

Check out our social media!

Keep up with EarMeOut beyond campus. Join the conversation about hearing protection and follow our campaign on Instagram.

Instagram

@earmeout.syd

Follow on Instagram (opens in a new tab)
Screenshot of the EarMeOut Instagram profile, @earmeout.syd, showing its hearing-health bio and campaign posts.
EarMeOut on Instagram