With both Tropico 3 and 4 I have the same problem. I hear the music loop, like a stuck CD and then sometimes it crashes to desktop or blue screen. Sometimes it will right itself with a radio announcement or something. I am not sure if it is a sound problem or just does the loop thing because of something else. I have tried all the obvious things like updating drivers etc. I have many games from Steam and the Tropico series seems to be the only one I am having trouble with.

I kindly advise you to follow the instructions in this thread.