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Seeing artists live is plenty of fun, but it can come at a cost. The biggest festivals and tours feature booming volumes to ensure everyone in the audience can hear, but without proper ear protection from concert earplugs, you risk permanently damaging your hearing. The World Health Organization even predicts that more than 1 billion young adults are at risk of permanent hearing loss caused by unsafe listening practices — and it’s easily avoidable.
Loop is encouraging you to live your life “full volume” just minus the hearing loss. In celebration of Tomorrowland’s 20th anniversary, Loop has partnered with Tomorrowland to help encourage music lovers of all genres to practice safe listening with an exclusive collaboration featuring limited-edition earplugs inspired by the music festival.
The Experience 2 Tomorrowland earplugs come in two shades: purple and black to choose from based on your style preferences. Both are priced at $40, but come with luxurious features that make the earplugs a worthy investment.
Keep reading to learn more and shop the exclusive pairs below.
Experience 2 Tomorrowland (Purple)
These purple Tomorrowland Loops come with a luminous ring inspired by the official shades of the music festival. In addition to soft ear tips for long time wear, you’ll notice the outer ring is inscribed with the festival’s motto: live, love, unite.
Experience 2 Tomorrowland (Black)
For a more edgy look, these black and gold Tomorrowland Loops come with a sleek case featuring the music festival’s logo as well as ear tips sized from XS-L for your to find your perfect fit. Once they’re placed inside your ears, the design aims to stay in place no matter if you’re dance or head banging to your favorite music.
Billboard had the opportunity to test out the Tomorrowland earplugs for ourselves and can attest that these are unlike your traditional foam earplugs. The most notable feature (besides how fashion-forward they look) is the comfort. Every pair comes with four sizes of soft ear tips to choose from — once you have yours picked, you just slide them into your ears and forget that they’re even there.
They’re also a more sustainable choice as one pair can last you a lifetime — no need to constantly buy more. And the case is so sleek and easy to carry, making them a travel necessity that’ll be at the top of your festival gear packing list.
You don’t have to worry about sounds being muffled, either; the earplugs were built with sound filtering technology that filters noise by 17 dB (SNR). You can barely tell they’re in your ears they’re that good, especially when we used them, the music sounded just as clear — and with the added bonus of ear protection. You can also still talk to your friends with the Loops in, you’ll just have to speak at a higher volume.
Loop also has a range of accessories and we had the pleasure of trying out the Loop Link with the earplugs.
Loop Link
Consider the Link a handy tool for keeping your earplugs within reach. It comes with a comfortable rope-like design and magnetic closure that’ll prevent the accessory from slipping off your neck. On the ends you’ll find rubber loops that can attach to your earbuds allowing you to seamlessly take them in and out without a hitch.
Co-founder Maarten Bodewes considers this partnership a dream come true as he and his co-founder Dimitri O have been attending Tomorrowland for years. Part of the reason the two even created the protective ear pieces was from experiencing hearing damage themselves and wanting to create something that “looked cool” yet would be beneficial for your hearing health. To help appeal to more younger crowds, Bodewes finds Loop to empower anyone to “go front row” without risking their ears. He even compares the rise in fashion-forward protectiveness with sunglasses.
“I think today, if the sun is out, it’s bright out, people really don’t think about [wearing sunglasses],” Bodewes says in an interview with Billboard. “They put on their sunglasses and you’ve got them in all kinds of styles and colors, and it’s part of your outfit or your lifestyle. I think we’re seeing that same change in ear protection; where if it’s loud, you put your earplugs in — whether it’s at a concert, a loud restaurant, in a noisy city like New York or when you sleep and you maybe lay next to your snoring partner.”
For more product recommendations, check out Billboard‘s roundups of the best music coolers, picnic blankets and belt bags.