When something is a must-have accessory for Taylor Swift fans, it’s faster to say everyone’s got some: within a certain age range, that is.
Loop earplugs, designed to protect the ears, came to market in 2016 and the company has tripled its revenue since, reaching €126m (£107m) in 2023. These aren’t any old foam earplugs, but little nifty silicone ones that come between the roar of the crowd and your two-in-a-lifetime eardrums.
Technology has moved on and there are adaptations so that, for instance, in a concert, you can hear the music but not the fans, or in a pub, you can hear your friend but not the strangers. That’s the theory, anyway.
This will sound bad, but I take it as a personal affront when I walk into my local pub, and there are large numbers of people I don’t know in there, audibly enjoying themselves. I’m fine with carousers; I just prefer it when they are known to me, so as you can imagine, the Euros are my personal hell.
I tested these earbuds at Glastonbury, however: for music, fans, weird noises, hedonism, strangers, screaming, basically, for everything except vuvuzelas, it’s as challenging a zone as you’ll get.
Loop is not the only brand available, but the USP is that they’re designed to look like jewellery, the buds attached to glitzy hoops, which nestle in your ears. Without that, you’d just look like a person, in a crowd, listening to music, wearing earplugs. And who would do that?
Well, tons of people, it turns out: the “Experience” Loops, designed for festivals and concerts, aren’t meant to cancel out the music, just shave off the excess that harms your ears. If 100 decibels for 15 minutes can cause permanent damage, 110dB is typical for live music, though an outdoor concert won’t reach that. There’s also – and this may be particularly relevant for Swifties – the screaming. The worst thing that’ll happen to you in a Squeeze gig is a guy who mutters every lyric a fraction too early (just because he can), but at a Taylor Swift or K-pop gig, a fair proportion of the crowd will be screaming all the way through (just because they must). Loops, in theory, screen all that.
But that wasn’t my experience. They looked awesome; particularly if you don’t have your ears pierced, this is a cute embellishment, you feel like Ferdinand the Bull. Certainly, the stage noise is less, but being slightly too loud is a large part of the point of live music. The sensation is one of being there but not there. Nice work, lads, I no longer feel elated. So I may as well be listening to this Flamingods DJ set on the sofa at home.