[Transcript]

I went to a couple of festivals in London this weekend and noticed that so many people are wearing earplugs.

It’s crazy that hearing protection has done a complete 180 and gone from being stigmatised things that no one would wear to being a status symbol.

Like 15 years ago when I started going out, there’s no way the real heads in the music scene would be out in the rave wearing earplugs.

But now, by wearing them, it’s like you’re signalling that you care about music and you’re deep enough in the scene to warrant investing in a pair, it’s like signalling that you’re a part of this underground tribe.

Companies like Loop and Flare Audio have played into narrative this so well.

And it shows two things: that people do care about their hearing, and they want to wear something visible because of what it means to wear it.

So I’m curious, have you seen more people wearing earplugs? Do you wear them yourself? Do you care about how they look?

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