Don't Lose The Music is brought to you by RNID

The Music Producers Guild gives its support to RNID

London, UK:  The Music Producers Guild (UK) has chosen RNID as its official charity and will be actively supporting the charity’s Don’t Lose The Music Campaign by holding a fundraising raffle at its 2010 Awards.

RNID’s Don’t Lose the Music campaign shows people how to enjoy the music they love now while safeguarding their hearing for the future.

There are four million young people in the UK who are at risk of hearing damage because they regularly listen to music at unsafe sound pressure levels. Many of these young people don’t realise that the music they love could be harming them, so they are not taking preventative measures such as wearing earplugs in clubs and at gigs or turning down the volume on their personal music players.

As professionals working in the music industry, the Music Producers Guild recognises the role it can play in helping RNID spread this important message.

Music Producers Guild Chairman Steve Levine says: “Everyone involved in the making or recording of music understands the importance of protecting their hearing because without accurate hearing we wouldn’t be able to do our jobs. Unfortunately the same can’t be said of many of our young people who are putting their hearing as risk of permanent damage by listening to music that is simply too loud. What many of these young people don’t understand is that there is no cure for hearing damage, but there are ways in which it can be prevented. As responsible professionals, we want to help RNID in any way we can because we think it is so important to educate young people and make them aware of this issue.”

Emma Harrison, RNID Director of External Affairs, adds: “We are delighted to be associated with the Music Producers Guild, it’s great to have backing from music industry heavy-weights. At clubs and gigs sound levels can easily exceed 110dB – the equivalent of an aircraft taking off. Don’t Lose the Music warns that listening to music too loud for too long can cause permanent damage to your ears, resulting in problems such as tinnitus and hearing loss. Together, with the Music Producers Guild, we want to educate music fans about the affects of listening to music too loud for too long so that they can make an informed choice about protecting their hearing.”

The Music Producers Guild Awards take place the Café de Paris in London on February 11th 2010. As well as holding a fund-raising raffle, the Guild will also include information about RNID’s Don’t Lose the Music campaign in its Award programme and other promotional material. The goody bags given away on the night will include earplugs donated by Advanced Communication Solutions Ltd., a company that specialises in supplying, developing and manufacturing products to protect the hearing of people whose work in environments with dangerously high sound levels.

For more information on exposure to loud music and hearing protection visit www.dontlosethemusic.com
The messages Don’t Lose the Music promotes to music lovers are simple:
•    Use chill-out areas to take breaks from loud music
•    Wear reusable earplugs at loud gigs and clubs
•    Make a conscious effort not to stand too close to the speakers
•   Don’t turn MP3 players up too loud and use noise-cancelling headphones to block out outside noise.
For press enquiries contact: Candice Christian, RNID Celebrity Officer, 020 7296 8136, candice.christian@rnid.org.uk
Notes to editors:

• According to the World Health Organization, exposure to excessive noise is the major avoidable cause of permanent hearing loss worldwide [1997]. Experts agree that exposure to sound levels over 85 decibels will damage hearing over time. Music played at clubs, gigs and bars can be well over this level. As a guide, if a person has to shout to be heard by someone two metres away, the music could be dangerously loud if they are exposed to it regularly or for a long time.
• Reusable earplugs are available to buy for around £10 - £15 from a range of high street stockists. Musicians’ earplugs are also available from specialist suppliers for around £150. Visit www.dontlosethemusic.com for further information and to buy earplugs online.
• RNID is the largest charity working on hearing loss and hearing health. We do this with the help of our members by campaigning and lobbying, raising awareness of deafness and hearing loss, providing services and through social, medical and technical research. For more information visit www.rnid.org.uk
• The Music Producers Guild (UK) is an independent and democratic organisation that encourages the highest standards of music production, and actively engages with other music industry organisations to campaign and lobby on matters of important mutual interest.
• The MPG represents and promotes the interests of all those involved in the production of recorded music, including producers, engineers, mixers, re-mixers, programmers and mastering engineers.