Stephen Emmer is a celebrated composer of many television tunes, including those of the NOS News and RTL Boulevard, and also created the jingles of numerous television quizzes. This week he announced that he is a tinnitus patient.
“Among musicians, composers and artists, it’s a taboo subject. While I estimate that as many as a third of an average orchestra – including the top orchestras – suffer from it,” said Stephen Emmer.
Tinnitus means that you continuously hear a sound in your head. It can have several causes, including exposure to loud noise – at a concert, for example – or a cold. It can also vary in severity, Emmer said. “From fighter jet to a small noise.” Tinnitus can lead to severe hearing loss.
Emmer finds that musicians with tinnitus don’t talk about it for fear of losing their jobs. “They don’t dare mention it to the conductor or the management.” While having tinnitus doesn’t have to mean producing less quality music, Emmer experiences. “I think I made my better work after the ailment. I have also received awards for that.”
Emmer is coming out now because he wants to unite artists to ensure that a cure is sought. According to him, the pharmaceutical industry says not enough people suffer from it to develop medication. “While a quarter to half of young people are at risk for it. That statement by the pharmaceutical industry is outdated.”
Shouldn’t the sound just be less loud? There have long been calls for lower volume in nightclubs and festivals, for example, as well as on your earphones or headphones. That’s only one of the steps to take, Emmer thinks: “This discussion about loud sound is stuck right now. People in the music industry claim that you have to feel music. That’s a fallacy. As a professional, I can tell you that you can feel it even when the volume is softer. That’s why I want to unite artists to say for themselves: it’s like this.”
…joins composer Emmer. The music copyright advocacy organization has 38,000 members, all music creators. Buma/Stemra thinks that this will certainly include people who suffer from hearing problems and tinnitus, and are afraid to tell them.
[Broadcast Magazine – Redactie]
