Encore Festival Solutions Presents GloBuds: Stylish Neon Light-Up Earplugs To Keep The Rave Alive

Nobody is too cool to wear earplugs.

Attending concerts and festivals without earplugs has been shown to cause mild tinnitus (ear ringing) in the short term. However, consistent and longer exposure—as little as 15 minutes—can lead to more severe and permanent damage. This is seen if you are at a show that is 104 decibels and higher.

Wearing earplugs decreases this risk, and numerous ear protective gear has been created. Notably, GloBuds, owned by Encore Festival Solutions, is among the latest earplugs sought after.

GloBuds, founded by Noah Bower and Steffen Disbergen, aims to provide a more stylish approach to hearing protection. The earplugs light up in neon colors, creating the vibe that raves are known for. They contain a multicolored LED that promises a long-lasting battery, and the flashing rainbow is guaranteed and tested to survive hours of mosh pits, dancing, headbanging and multi-day events.

According to Bower, the idea for GloBuds was sparked in 2019 when a festival attendee gave him night bulbs. He put them in his ear and people around him thought they looked cool. The hearing protective gear was initially made with Amazon earplugs, night bulbs and glue, but the duo strayed away from that by investing in a 3D printer to create a more sophisticated version. Before creating the earplugs, Bower didn’t wear them as he was worried he would look like a “dork” and people would question him as to why he would even wear earplugs—some concert goes believe it doesn’t give them the full experience of the music, although that is not true. Bower now regrets that decision and wishes he had started wearing them sooner. Disbergen, however, has been an avid wearer of them. The full-time partners now hand out the earplugs for free at events in exchange for comments and feedback.

“I think that hearing damage is really going to start ramping up,” Disbergen says. “It’s a really hard issue to solve once you have it.”

Looking forward, Bower and Disbergen plan to sell the earplugs on Amazon and increase direct-to-customer sales from their site.

“The mission for the company is Encore Festival Solutions,” Disbergen says. “We want to solve problems that people encounter at festivals. The first one we’re tackling obviously is the hearing damage….We’re both engineers and that’s where our engineering minds come together to try and optimize regular items and make them into something that’s not just an accessory but makes it fashionable and really improves your quality of life and your quality at the festival. You can relieve your anxiety of damaging your hearing.”