With Glastonbury sitting out its planned fallow year, Reading & Leeds is shaping up to be the UK’s biggest festival event of summer 2026, headlined by Charli XCX, Dave, RAYE and Florence + The Machine. But as festivalgoers pack their tents ahead of the August bank holiday weekend, new analysis suggests some of this year’s headline sets could leave more than just happy memories, with experts warning that just one weekend of live music at these volumes could cause lasting hearing damage.
The research, carried out by Alpine Hearing Protection, analysed the most popular tracks from this year’s Reading & Leeds headliners to determine which songs are most likely to leave fans with hearing fatigue when played live. Topping the list is Charli XCX’s “I Love It”, which scored 7.95 out of 10 on the brand’s hearing fatigue index, the highest of any track assessed. The song spends an average of 24.2 seconds at consistently high volume levels, and researchers say the longer music stays loud without easing off, the less opportunity listeners’ ears have to recover, increasing the potential for hearing fatigue during a live performance.
| Track | Artist | Avg LUFS | High RMS Duration (s) | Avg Dynamic Range | Avg Treble to Bass Ratio | Avg Annoying Score /5 | Hearing Fatigue Score /10 | |
| 1 | I Love It | Charli XCX | -10.21 | 24.2 | 0.44 | 2.04% | 4.38 | 7.95 |
| 2 | Location | Dave | -12.97 | 48.7 | 0.49 | 1.53% | 4.49 | 7.72 |
| 3 | Dog Days Are Over | Florence + The Machine | -12.21 | 52.3 | 0.35 | 2.20% | 3.88 | 7.7 |
| 4 | You’ve Got The Love | Florence + The Machine | -21.73 | 32.4 | 0.12 | 2.60% | 4.28 | 7.39 |
| 5 | Shake It Out | Florence + The Machine | -11.41 | 24.7 | 0.34 | 1.84% | 3.97 | 7.37 |
| 6 | party 4 u | Charli XCX | -12.75 | 51.3 | 0.38 | 1.16% | 4.04 | 7.27 |
| 7 | Where is my husband | RAYE | -14.21 | 26.7 | 0.31 | 2.80% | 3.87 | 6.67 |
| 8 | Escapism. | RAYE | -12.07 | 51.1 | 0.61 | 1.37% | 3.67 | 6.61 |
| 9 | Prada | RAYE | -11.26 | 11.2 | 0.32 | 1.23% | 4.03 | 6.54 |
| 10 | Sprinter | Dave | -13.09 | 39 | 0.49 | 1.77% | 3.52 | 5.97 |
Charli XCX headlines Friday’s bill, with Dave, RAYE and Florence + The Machine confirmed atop the rest of the weekend’s line-up as Reading & Leeds prepares to fill the gap left by Glastonbury’s year off. Florence + The Machine’s headline slot at the festival was confirmed as part of a run of major summer bookings for the band, alongside a previously announced appearance at Open’er Festival 2026, following on from Florence Welch’s acclaimed headline turn at Boardmasters back in 2023.
According to the analysis, Charli XCX’s “I Love It” also scored highly for overall loudness and audio intensity, combining prolonged high volume passages with production characteristics that researchers say can place greater strain on listeners’ ears over the course of a set. It was followed in the rankings by Dave’s “Location” (7.72), Florence + The Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over” (7.7), “You’ve Got The Love” (7.39) and “Shake It Out” (7.37), and Charli XCX’s “party 4 u” (7.27).
RAYE’s contributions to the list include “Where is my husband” (6.67), “Escapism.” (6.61) and “Prada” (6.54), while Dave’s “Sprinter” rounds out the top 10 with a score of 5.97. RAYE arrives at Reading & Leeds off the back of a remarkable run of form, having previously headlined All Points East to a sold-out crowd of 50,000 in Victoria Park last August, and having made history at the BRIT Awards as the first artist ever to win six awards in a single year.
Researchers assessed each track across several metrics, including average LUFS (a measure of perceived loudness), the duration spent at high RMS (root mean square, a measure of sustained volume), dynamic range, and the ratio of treble to bass frequencies, alongside a subjective “annoying score” reflecting how grating a track’s sound qualities can be over a live set. Tracks that combine loud, sustained passages with limited dynamic range, such as “I Love It” and “Location”, tend to score worst, as fans’ ears get little chance to recover once exposed to the peak volume.
Reading & Leeds Festival takes place across the bank holiday weekend of 27th to 30th August 2026, at Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds. The full dataset behind Alpine Hearing Protection’s analysis, along with its methodology, is available via the brand’s published research.
The findings serve as a reminder for festivalgoers to take hearing protection seriously over the weekend, particularly during headline sets where sustained high volumes are most common. Simple measures such as high-fidelity earplugs, taking regular breaks from the crowd barrier, and staying hydrated can all help reduce the cumulative strain on the ears across a three or four day festival.
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