aeternuseternus

As a musician who self-records/engineers, I intentionally mastered my albums to be a little quieter than usual. I LOVE the dynamics I get in my songs. When I turn them up, the dynamics become more noticable, the quiet parts become more noticeable DURING the loud parts, etc. No audio will duck when there's a loud snare pop. I set that standard for myself after hearing how master bus limiting and compression will basically eliminate all of the reverb you worked hard to get so perfectly-tuned in the mix phase.

My question for you is, when there's dollar signs involved (things like advertising on the radio/TV, promotion of singles to achieve big record sales, etc), do you think it'd be more effective to get the sources (engineers, mastering technicians) to shake hands and say "no more loudness wars," or, to get the platforms for said audio (television and radio stations, commissions that regulate broadcasting, etc) to institute policies that reject audio that's too loud?

Edit: etc

Do the males in the industry ever express regret for what they do? I've seen enough media and heard enough from performers I know personally to know that it's not a job you just leave at the office. The lifestyle and culture kind of follows you to an extent, you'll know people you never would've met otherwise and they'll sometimes be a curveball of an influence in your life (without going into details). But do the males specifically, performers or not, ever have remorse for getting involved in that industry?