Is there addiction to loud music? Findings in a group of non-professional pop/rock musicians

Abstract

Listening to loud music may be connected to addictive behavior possibly leading to damaging effects on the cochlea. We hypothesized that members of non-professional pop/rock bands with regular exposure to loud music are more likely to show an addictive-like behavior for loud music than matched control subjects. Fifty non-professional musicians and 50 matched control subjects were asked to complete the Northeastern Music Listening Survey (NEMLS) with two basic components. The first comprises an adaptation of the validated Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST) to study the addictive-like behavior towards loud music. The second comprises the criteria outlined by the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Society for the diagnosis of substance dependence. The NEMLS was scored using the same point system as used in the MAST. The DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence were met by nine of the musician group and by one control subject. Seven of these nine musicians also had a positive NEMLS score. Traits of addictive-like behavior to loud music were detected more often in members of nonprofessional pop/rock bands than in control subjects.

Keywords: addictive behavior; electroamplified music.; loud music; pop; rock.

Figure 1

The results of the Northeastern Music Listening Survey (NEMLS) scored for the pop/rock musician subjects in comparison to the control group.

Figure 2

The percentage of positive responses to each question for both the group of musicians and the control group. Questions 1 to 31 are covered by the Northeastern Music Listening Survey. Questions 32 to 49 represent subareas i) history of music exposure and hearing problems (questions 32 and 33), ii) the subjective effects of loud music on the individual (questions 34 to 38) and iii) drug use and related mental attitude (questions 39 to 49). All six musicians who gave a positive answer for question 18 also provided a positive answer for question 18a.

Figure 3

Personality self-assessment characteristics using a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 (not present) to 10 (particularly present) for the group of musicians, in comparison to the control group.