It's a perception thing. As the "Loudness War" shows, music sounds "better" when it's louder; it's something about how humans perceive sound. Of course, this

It's a perception thing. As the "Loudness War" shows, music sounds "better" when it's louder; it's something about how humans perceive sound. Of course, this is problematic because for long-term exposure, it doesn't have to be all that loud to cause permanent hearing loss. It's largely cumulative, sort of like radiation exposure.