That's not really more accurate as it misses the entire point of the article. Everyone knows that prolonged exposure to loud music/noise is bad for your hearing

That's not really more accurate as it misses the entire point of the article. Everyone knows that prolonged exposure to loud music/noise is bad for your hearing. What most people are not good at judging, is whether they are inherently listening to music at damaging volume levels or not when using earbud style headphones, especially when ambient noise levels are high. And that is what is causing trouble for people. These aren't renegade, death metal adoring teens blasting music at high volumes just to be cool...