Music released today is louder than it was in the eighties.
Don’t just take our word for it, a recent study based out of Canada has found that tracks by today’s artists are intrinsically louder than hits from 30+ years ago.
As Forbes reports, the study was published by the Society of General Internal Medicine, and looked at a large collection of songs from the last nine decades.
Researchers found that changes in audio engineering over the years means that tracks are recorded and edited in a way that means there was fewer “quiet spots” within each song.
The study was compiled keeping in mind the increasing risk of exposure to loud music for young people.
According to The World Health Organisation, 50% of individuals aged 12-35 in developed nations are regularly exposed to unsafe levels of sound from personal music players.
So it turns out it’s not just our fault for turning up the volume, the overall sound intensity is higher than that of older music, definitely something worth keeping in mind when you next put on some headphones.
Earlier this year, RadioX ranked Motörhead, The Who, Foo Fighters, Leftfield, My Bloody Valentine and The Prodigy among the top few.
