We've often heard about good neighbors—the ones that bake you pies, invite you over for barbecues, help with renovation, pet-sit—the list goes on. But on the other side of the spectrum are the annoying people who make living next door to them impossible. Whether they block your parking space or throw their trash on your patio, some individuals need a lesson or two on how to be neighborly. Today, the Bored Panda team has compiled a list of people who love being neighborhood DJs. Yes, we are talking about the ones who play their soundtracks on blast. These folks don’t consider that people might be sleeping, working, attending a seminar, or simply enjoying their serenity when they make excessive noise. Cover your ears, pandas, as we look at some music lovers who can’t keep the volume down.

#1

I have setup a decibel alarm right by my fence.. when the punk kids music gets too loud my siren goes off the only way it will stop is if he lowers his noise. At first it was going off all the time. But now it hasn't gone off in months.. he finally learned his lesson

Image credits: StingX1

Many people listen to music using headphones, and by doing so they only subject themselves to loud sounds, not anyone else. When individuals attend concerts or go to clubs, they are making a choice to be at a place where things get noisy. However, when your next-door neighbors play songs on loudspeakers, they expose everyone around them to high decibels (dB) of sound.

Hearing music can be relaxing, but regularly listening to songs at high volume can be dangerous. Studies show prolonged exposure to high levels of noise can lead to hearing impairment.

#2

I’ve lived here for 7 years and this kid just moved in caddy corner across the street from me about 6 months ago. Apparently his grandpa used to live there but now the kid is taking over the house but his mom technically owns it. Anyways, he starts blasting music super loud in the middle of the night and afternoon. If my door is open, it sounds like I have my stereo cranked to full blast. It’s the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’ve called the non-emergency police line numerous times and they do nothing. Apparently I can keep a log of the disturbances and take him to court but I really have wanted this to remain anonymous. One of my neighbors knows the mother who owns the home and called her to tell her what was going on and it stopped for a short while but he is back at it. Since the cops won’t do anything about it, I’m ready to take matters into my own hands. Was thinking of stink bombing his house so he decides to move eventually, some random thing periodically like egg his house, blast a horn by his house early in the morning, anything to pester him repeatedly without getting caught

Image credits: whatsthepoint07

#3

If you are visiting apartment you consider renting/buying and you hear loud music from other apartments, GTFO out of there ASAP. It is NOT a one time thing. No, these people are not celebrating birthday, new family member or promotion, don't fool yourself. They are neighbors from hell. People who blast loud music do it all the time and they won't stop. Considerate people don't blast loud music inside apartment even during holidays. Considerate people know that neighbors don't care about your holidays and don't want to listen to your music

Image credits: Legitimate_West7857

While you can’t really escape everyday commotion, when it comes to certain activities like music events, bars, and nightclubs, you can choose to control your exposure. Many young adults enjoy leisure-noise exposure these days. For instance, they feel motivated to work out when they listen to peppy songs. Other factors include personal preference, socializing, or a desire for rebelliousness.

A 2022 study revealed that unsafe music listening habits are putting 1.35 billion young adults at risk of damaging their hearing. Researchers found that people between the ages of 18 and 34 listen to loud music at entertainment venues for unsafe lengths of time. While it might be an enjoyable activity for individuals, they are risking their future ear health by doing so.

#4

We had neighbors just like this. Their father was deaf so he didn’t care. It was Thursday though Saturday. Young millennials with no respect, living off of welfare and cheating the u.s system. We sold our house after only one year because it got so bad one of the young guys started threatening us with physical violence after asking then several times to stop. Good luck! If you have the time, money and energy to sue go ahead but if you want to live in peace as we all have the right to do, sell while the market is somewhat a hot

Image credits: Confident-Unit-626

#5

I know it probably bothers me more than most because I’m on the spectrum, but I don’t even live next door to these people. They’re literally 3 streets away. And you can hear their bass from their music in the entire front half of the neighborhood.

I’m ordering noise reducing curtains but part of the reason I got a house is to leave the noise of an apartment behind. I don’t know how their next door neighbors deal with it. I can slightly feel it in the walls if I touch them, and it’s coming from a car with brand new speakers in it. People are so inconsiderate.

But the neighbors behind me have told me a lot of people have been moving out of this neighborhood because neighbors like this one. They buy a house here and play really loud music. She bought her house a year before we got ours, and the previous owners of her home moved because of who lived in mine. They frequently threw old food out in the backyard and attracted mice to the street. Everyone on our street had to get exterminators because of who used to live in my house

Image credits: anon

#6

For those of you who have neighbors who play loud music, for how many years does it go on for?

I have neighbors who play loud music every Thursday through Saturday and I’m sick of it. They’re in their 50’s for whatever that is worth. I only just moved here so who knows how long it was going on. But I wonder just how many years will they keep this up? They even blast it in the winter! But in the winter it isn’t quite as frequent.

I just want to know if this can go on indefinitely. I read stories of loud music neighbors but I’m not sure if they ever stop before someone moves etc.

Image credits: lv0316

Among young people, a major source of leisure-noise exposure is nightclubs. Loud music is beneficial for businesses, as people tend to drink more when there is less social interaction. In the absence of any conversation, people quickly finish their cocktails or mocktails. Clubbers, on average, experience continuous noise levels of close to 98 dB if they spend roughly five hours a week at a disco. Clubbing for 10 years generates more than 60% of the maximum noise exposure acceptable for a working life of 42 years.

So how much is too much? Anything below 85 dB is okay. For instance, when you're walking down a bustling street, you will encounter various sounds, such as honking cars, people talking, and occasional construction work. Such noises combined fall within the range of around 70 to 85 dB. Anything louder than that might require hearing protection.

#7

Many years ago we had awful neighbours across from us who had loud noisy parties. Several nights every week. The landlord - who lived in the area - never seemed to follow up. Not just us, several neighbours also struggled with the antisocial behaviour and loud thumpy music. (Had to report complaints through a letting agency btw and they did nothing.) But someone down the road also knew the landlord, and told us apparently he was well aware there was an issue, just not bothered to do anything and allegedly didnt want the hassle and to lose money with costs of evicting and reletting fees etc. By chance we got the landlords phone number. Every time there was party late at night /early morning we would phone him and stand outside our door and play the noise over the phone so he could hear what we had to put up with. He said why bother him so late, we said well we thought you should know just how horrible the constant noise is at all hours. Shared the number with other suffering neighbours so they also did the same. It sometimes went to his voicemail so we prefaced the noisy recording with date and time amd how longnit had gone on for. And left heaps of messages with the noise …. Within 2 months the noisy tenants were given notice

Image credits: Akitapal

#8

I just bought my first home and didn’t realize my neighbor would be such a problem. I’ve never had issues with any neighbors. I mind my business and don’t care what my neighbors do, but this guy literally plays music daily from around 9-10 am until 1-2 am. Occasionally playing music loud is no problem, but it’s every single day. I have young children and he even plays it with them playing in the driveway 15/20 ft away, with every other word being the n word or f**k or b***h. Sure I could ask him to be quiet, but also this guy is in 50’s and I feel like I shouldn’t have to teach someone twenty years my senior basic human decency. I set up my sound bar and subwoofers today and played music louder than his, next time I’ll take it a step further and set it up right in the driveway like he does. Only thing is I don’t want to piss off my other neighbors but also this guy can eat s**t

Image credits: ProfessionalCarob223

#9

I blasted my noisy neighbours with a few hundred watts of power via my 17" subwoofers but I do not advocate this solution as it is almost certainly illegal and in violation of your lease lol. I understood and accepted the potential consequences at the time but 2 kids and a housing crisis later, I would not do this

Image credits: Flaktrack

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, USA, suggests that you shouldn’t be exposed to 90 dB for more than 8 hours per day. In a busy restaurant, the overall ambient noise level—a lot of conversations, clinking dishes, chaotic kitchen noise, and other background sounds—can reach around 90 dB.

Being exposed to 100 dB for more than 15 minutes is usually not recommended. When you attend a rock concert in a small venue, the volume is generally high to create a vibrant atmosphere. In such places, chances are the music reaches 100 dB or even higher, especially near the stage or speakers.

#10

It's not even the bass in my case. It's the overall volume, with the occasional shouted conversation because they can't hear each other by speaking normally. If I knew spanish I'd understand every part of the song. They've got it cranked up entirely too loud. My neighbors are weird to me. They seem to come home then go straight to the backyard and have guests over, and start a party. They don't seem to go inside until around 11pm. This is EVERY day now. they used to only do this on/around holidays, now it's like one of them wants to be a big man at work so he invites all his coworkers to his house for daily after-work get-togethers. There are always 2-4 cars of people who don't live at this residence when this is going on. My neighbors all have the "I'm used to it, I'm from the projects/just turn your tv up louder" attitude. This is the ONLY house around here that plays excessive music. I let this go for 6 days before I started calling the police

Image credits: ElevatorEastern5232

#11

Our neighbors play heavy ~heavy~ bass music for hours a day. It’s always profanity laden which is odd cause they have small kids. Can start as early as 10am on a Monday, if not, 3p-730p without fail. We’ve asked them to chill before and they were very apologetic but it hasn’t stopped. There are ordinances we can put on them but don’t want to cause too much of a rift. That being said, we’ve lost patience. We’re in northern NJ.

Image credits: Rude_Entertainer5199

#12

I live in a townhouse and i have the same problem but we share ONE wall only. People are extremely inconsiderate my wife spoke to him he said sorry but nothing changed landlord got involved he told him "i'm allowed to have fun" um yes you are but your bass is vibrating my home and i have 2 young kids so sleeping is already a luxury for us. To this day nothing changed it's been ongoing for almost 2 months now landlord said it's his home i have no power to do anything and my wife thinks calling the cops will make him blast it even more.

We will be moving in May but i get so many panic and anxiety attacks when i hear his music my wife can easily shrug it off and ignore it but for some reasons i can't at all i'm having suicidal thoughts and 3 days ago i had a meltdown and my wife is starting to hate me for it.

I'm able to handle many things in life but for some reason bass music triggers a fight and flight response in me and i have no clue how to stop it i wish i can sleep till May and not wakeup but unfortunately not an option. Hoping i don't die from a heart attack by May but reading stories on this subreddit helps me calm down sometimes.

Image credits: firefox971

Loud noises pose a threat to ear health as they might damage the outer hair cells in the ear’s cochlea. Sam Couth, an ear-health researcher at the University of Manchester, said, “These cells are responsible for amplifying sounds; they help us to hear things better. If they are damaged by loud noise, they are not going to amplify everyday sounds, and we’re not going to be able to hear as well.”

#13

Live in the suburbs so it’s not like we share walls. We have asked them previously to turn it down. The bass from inside their house can be heard on the other side of our house with the tv on! It’s infuriating to hear during the day, even worse at night. We have had to walk over at 2, 3am and ask them to turn it down when they have parties. They don’t. We’ve contacted their landlord and he said he’d have the management company tell them to stop. We’ve even called the cops once when it’s 3am and they’ve spoken to them.

It was quiet for about a month and then today it started all over again. So much for a quiet New Year’s Day. I hope the landlord doesn’t renew their lease when it’s up.

Image credits: daniyellidaniyelli

#14

I'm an incredibly petty individual.

Ever since my neighbour moved in earlier this year, I've had constant nights of being woken up by his music at 5am (after all the clubs have shut), mostly on work nights. Literally about 2 nights a week on average.

I (and other residents) first tried speaking to him with no success, so I then complained to the council during summer and they sent their toothless letter etc and that worked for a while, and then it started again in September.

About 6 weeks ago, I messaged his landlord to get him to stfu. Thankfully, this seemed to work.

However, last night, right on queue, starts blasting out music at 5:30 in the morning with girls screaming their heads off. Turns out he'd actually been travelling for a month so his landlord's bollocking lasted all of about 2 weeks.

I've been ill all week with flu, and I couldn't back to sleep despite only needing to be up at 8am, so I lied awake for about 2 hours trying to sleep to no avail.

Now, I want payback. The idea I currently have is to put my Alexa in the room adjacent to his whilst I go away this weekend and get her to play Baby Shark at full volume at 4 in the morning.

Image credits: _DeanRiding

#15

Every single Friday and Saturday starting between 10-11pm my across the street neighbor starts playing really loud thumping repetitive dance/beats/bass heavy music. I live in a single family house and it makes my windows rattle sometimes and I can’t get any sleep. Then cars are coming and going all night and groups of like 6-12 teens are running in the street at 1:00am screaming and crap. The thing is I don’t know who is playing this music. I barely know who lives there because there’s usually between 6 and 8 cars, and I see different people come and go. I wouldn’t even know who lives there if I rang their doorbell. The one I think is doing this is the 16 year old.

I’ve asked them to turn it down. They did. Once. I’ve called the cops multiple times and they come by and tell them to turn it down. But they do it EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND OVER AND OVER. I don’t call the cops until it’s after midnight but I’m getting really sick of this not being able to sleep in my own damn house.

Should I call the cops every time or try and speak to them? They don’t speak English very well and again I don’t even know who lives there for sure.

Image credits: CompletedMyRun99

To lower your risk, you should avoid exposure to loud areas, especially places where the sound is exceeding 85 decibels. If you are in a tiny space, it’s best to stand a little far away from the source of the sound. And if you're unsure about the noise level, there are many mobile apps that help you measure it. Taking regular breaks from noisy environments gives you time to recover. So, while attending a concert, you can take a 10-minute break after an hour or so.

When you use headphones, keep the volume at a reasonable level. You can also use the noise-canceling feature to block out external sounds when you are in a noisy place. Alternatively, you can wear earplugs or earmuffs as well. This is especially important for people who work in noisy environments, like construction sites or clubs. Taking proactive measures to protect your hearing is important. You should try to schedule regular hearing assessments with an audiologist as well.

#16

I (27F) know that COVID is kind of old news by now, but my organization is healthcare related and hasn't moved corporate staff back to the office. I'm fine with it although there are some quirks to working from home for the last year.

One of the quirks is that, since we live in an apartment, we have neighbors. I believe that the person whose room is on the opposite side of the wall from my office is a teenager or at least a young person, because I can see a sliver of their room through a window and it looks like teenage wall decor. (Not trying to creep, obviously -- their wall juts out further than mine does and their window looks in on my office window.) I can only assume they're not in school though because they BLAST music during the day.

It's not every single day, and it's not music I don't like (it's usually American pop music or Spanish music) but it's just so loud that I'm afraid to turn on my mic during video calls for work. I can hear basically all the words and certainly the notes and VERY certainly the beat. It gets even worse if they open their window and terrible if we both want to have the windows open on a nice spring day.

I love music as much as the next person, but damn. I have a job.

Image credits: Starworks07

#17

Our old neighbor, TripleH (HipHop Honky - we’re white af so it felt ok to call him this). He played HipHop constantly, and loudly whenever he was home. Sometimes he’d drive around the neighborhood in his s**tbox doing the same. Dude was always picking fights and being a general nuisance. One day somebody must’ve had too much because the cops came and he ended up brawling with them in the street. They took his a** away and we never saw him again. All his crap was on the lawn about a month later (he rented). God was that satisfying

Image credits: Ichgebibble

#18

Our neighbor installed a high-end speaker/subwoofer system right by our property (.25 acre lots) and would blast bass and vibration into our home every night and all weekend long, from April to October. I cried for months. We first tried to work it out with him but he harassed and threatened us (mind you, he also built a fence on our property and created damage to our property which we had to fight and thankfully resolved after a lot of trauma). We learned about our county sound ordinances (no music past 11PM AND a beautiful one: "No person shall permit, operate, or cause any source of sound or sound generation to create a sound that is audible and discernible in any other person’s residential dwelling with the doors and windows to that other person’s residential dwelling closed." We called up the county zoning folks who showed up to his house and warned him about the misdemeanors and fines he will face. He's been keeping the volume down for several months, but I feel pretty confident he will test us out. At that point, we will call up our friends at the zoning department to come out and fine him

Image credits: Aggravating_Gas5806

If you are exposed to loud sounds because of people like your neighbors, it’s best to have a chat with them. You can try to explain to them the impact of their actions. Maybe share this post with them. And if talking doesn’t help, you can approach all the others in the neighborhood who are disturbed by their actions. Collectively, you can figure out a solution for the problem.

If the problem persists, you can also try to block the sound by using a white noise machine, installing noise-reducing curtains, or filling your space with furniture to better absorb the sound. Have you ever had a neighbor who blasted music all the time? Share your experience with us in the comments.

#19

Guy next to me likes to smoke with his buddies until 5am which doesn’t affect me at all if they’re quiet but noooo they have to f*****g yell at the top of their lungs over stupid s**t while I work night shift. I’ve called the cops multiple times in the past and I don’t give a f**k if I have to keep calling. You’re not gonna make my dog bark and f**k over my wife’s sleeping routine just bc you wanna be a loud motherf****r

Image credits: Browniesrock23

#20

My brother works from home. The walls literally shake from their music at all hours. He knocked on their door and told them he's trying to work... They turned it down. When they did it at 12am on a Tuesday, he wasn't happy and came knocking on their door. Basically said, "Dude, it's 12 in the morning... The walls are shaking and we need to sleep." Guy just said oh ok like it was new to him that it was loud. Fortunately, It's been mainly quiet since then

Image credits: Kalel714