Friendship bracelets, heart-shaped sunglasses, LED wristbands — when Taylor Swift takes her Eras Tour to Edinburgh this weekend, expect to see attendees bedecked in all the key Swiftie accessories. Look closer, and you’ll notice many wearing another item that’s on the way to becoming a concert must-have: earplugs.
Yes, earplugs. From standard-issue “foamies” to specialised custom models, hearing protection is making the jump from workplace PPE to big-night-out mainstay. It’s a shift happening thanks to wider awareness of the importance of hearing protection — and to the rise of brands intent on turning a utilitarian product into a stylish lifestyle accessory.
Maybe you’ve already spotted someone wearing black-and-red earplugs at a Formula 1 event (probably Alpine’s Racing Pro model). Perhaps you’ve seen a carrying case with Earpeace, Blox or Eargasm branding dangling from a friend’s keychain.
But the earplugs you’re most likely to spot at a show, on the London Underground or at Glastonbury come from Loop, an Antwerp-based start-up that’s given hearing protection a glossy makeover — in part because their products are designed to be seen. “We’ve never tried to hide something that cannot be hidden,” says Loop co-founder Dimitri O. “The visibility of the product is part of the style.”
Their design — like metallic or pastel Polo mints that nestle behind the tragus — makes Loop earplugs look more like a next-level piercing than staid protection. The company has sold more than 10mn pairs of earplugs globally since its launch in 2016, and ended 2023 with revenue of €126mn, up from €42mn in 2022.
Growth has been particularly pacy since the pandemic, when people working from home sought ways to block out noise; TikTokkers recommending Loops have also helped build brand awareness. Its products resonate with Gen Z and Millennial customers in particular — a spokesperson said that around 85 per cent of buyers fall into the 18- to 40-year-old age range. They’ve even inspired an accessories market, with Etsy creators and small brands offering ear cuffs and chains to prevent wearers from losing a plug in a crowd.
The rise of earplugs stems partly from a marketing pivot, with brands positioning their wares as lifestyle enhancements or wearable tech. The mass adoption of Apple AirPods and other wireless headphones also helps, insofar as it means that people are already primed to accept the idea of tucking something into their ears.
Dimitri O sees another parallel. “We like to compare it to sunglasses. When the sun shines in our eyes, we’re going to put on sunglasses without even thinking about it,” he says. “Ultimately we will be successful when people wear their Loops just as naturally as they would wear their sunglasses.”
For O, hearing protection is a personal issue. Both he and fellow co-founder Maarten Bodewes are former engineers who enjoy motorcycles, car racing and raves — “a lot of fun but loud stuff.” Both have hearing damage as a result; in O’s case, hearing loss and tinnitus. Once he realised the damage he’d incurred, he understood he’d have to wear earplugs. None of the products on the market at the time seemed comfortable, secure or stylish enough.
Audiologists and hearing researchers welcome the wider acceptance of earplugs. “If people ever used earplugs at concerts before, they probably had the experience of being given disposable foam earplugs,” says Dr Ian Wiggins, a senior research fellow at the University of Nottingham and lead technical author of the WHO global standard for safe listening venues and events. “The problem with those is that they’re terrible for sound quality. Yes, you’ll protect your hearing, but you won’t enjoy the event.”
With the rise of reusable earplugs, however, “We’re seeing more people experiencing a decent quality earplug that’s actually designed for listening to music. It’s so important.”
While custom-moulded models remain the ideal, Wiggins says off-the-peg versions are also effective. “It’s a case of finding ones that suit your ears. They do need to fit snugly.” He adds: “I hope there’s a greater acceptance that if you enjoy music and enjoy sound, it’s in your interest to be able to continue to enjoy that for a long time.”
Not that concerts are the only places people use earplugs. Writer Eleanor Cording-Booth relies on them to mitigate the effects of her misophonia, or acute sensitivity to sound, when in her flat in London’s Barbican. “For me, the worst thing is when I can hear other people through the walls when I’m at home. It makes me so anxious. Earplugs help.”
Child-sized earplugs offer neurodiverse kids a way that’s more discreet than bulky ear defenders to manage stimuli during the school day. Then there’s urban life in general. Taking the Tube into central London one night last week, a woman sat beside me wearing Loop’s tell-tale yellow-gold Polos. (I wished I’d thought to do the same: London is one of the noisiest cities in Europe, and the section of the Northern line between Camden Town and Euston stations, which we traversed, ranks among the loudest in the network.)
The standout reason to wear ear plugs, though, remains attendance at festivals and concerts. Research has shown that exposure to sounds of 100 decibels for just 15 minutes without protection can lead to hearing damage. Most festival sound levels are around 97db, nightclubs 100db and rock concerts 104db. “Taylor concerts have a reputation for being even louder,” O says, “not because of the music necessarily, but because of the singing of the fans.”
A few days later, with the memory of O’s decibel warning (figuratively) ringing in my ears, I threw a pair of Loop’s gold Experience Plus plugs (£39.95) into my carry-on and flew to Stockholm for the Eras Tour. I tucked them into place as Taylor made her entrance to “Miss Americana” and the screams and shrieks of her fans instantly receded. The music wasn’t dampened or muffled, but somehow clearer, in a way that told me my ears wouldn’t ring the morning after. Less welcome was the way my own singing along seemed amplified in my head.
Looking around, I saw a lot of people declining foamies from wandering earplug vendors, and a lot of empty ears. Loop co-founder O said he estimates that even with the uptick in earplug use, only a small minority of concertgoers wear them. “So 90 to 95 per cent are in effect without hearing protection in a setting where they really need it. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Then there was the Swiftie I spotted with a pair of serious-looking black earplugs hanging from a cord around her neck. “These? They’re a must,” she said before the show got under way, and went on to tell me that she flew in from Boston to attend two consecutive concerts. “I want to go hoarse singing, not go deaf.” I heard her, loud and clear.
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