Musicians found to listen to and enjoy louder music than non-musicians

Bob Yirka is a research scientist at Phys.org.

Researchers at the University of Manchester found that musicians listen to music louder than non- musicians. Volunteers were asked to listen to music at sound levels they liked and then noted the differences between musicians and non-musicians. The findings can be found in the journal.

Rock stars are known for playing loud music and many people who listen to it turn it up to ear splitting levels. Do musicians prefer to listen to music louder than most other people? The three people asked that question. Half of the people they asked to listen to music were musicians.

The volunteers were told to set the volume at a level that they preferred. The researchers recorded the volume levels. The researchers did the same exercise twice more. All of the volunteers underwent a hearing test and were found to have normal hearing levels.

The researchers found that the musicians listened to a song at a higher volume than the non-musicians. The musicians had more exposure to loud noises throughout their lives.

The researchers didn't ask the musicians why they turned their music louder, but they did suggest a difference in the parts of the brain that make music enjoyable. The musicians might have said that listening to music at louder levels allows the brain to hear more of what is happening in a song. Background singers can't be heard unless the music is louder. As a group, musicians tend to want to hear everything that is happening.

The preferred music listening level in musicians and non-musicians was studied. The journal has a DOI of 10.373/journal.

Journal information: PLoS ONE

There is a science network.