‘For the Love of the Environment’ Reflections on Professional Music Practice and Climate Change in Nigeria

Abstract

The study is on the issues of noise pollution through professional music practice and its sociological impact on the environment in Nigeria. The study examines noise pollution through excessive sound pressure levels of music production by way of music merchandising, products promotion and live performances in indoor and outdoor venues in Nigeria. Data for this paper were gathered through observation of music production at social events and public places, interviews with music professionals and audiences using a Virtual Instrument; a Sound Pressure Level mobile application installed on a mobile phone for sound production measurement. The equivalent noise level using A-weighting was taken every fifteen minutes in each location between 6:00 am and 12:00 pm and the LAeq, T, of each research’s case study center, was calculated. Maximum LAeq, 6h of 105.40 dB was obtained in all the centers visited between 6:00 am and 12:00 pm while the minimum value of LAeq, 6h obtained for a residential area in the same period is 69.51 dBA. The findings of this paper reflect that the residents are exposed to average noise levels of 75 - 98 dB (A) or more every day which is higher than the recommended value of 60 dBA by World Health Organization (WHO).The paper concludes that the acoustic treatment of performance venues, training of music professionalism centers as well as appropriate legislation on awareness creation by the government are some significant ways to check noise pollution generated from professional music practice in order to make the acoustic environment more ecologically-friendly. This paper recommends that acceptable optimal standards for sound production either in enclosures or in open spaces should be established for effective sound control. More importantly, a lot of awareness and advocacy should be carried out in order to sensitize the citizenry on the dangers of very loud music which most times translate to noise.