Spectrum online magazine (from the Electrical Engineering Society, IEEE) has a great article on how compression techniques in the recording studios are turning music into noise.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aug07/5429 

It's something that's concerned me for a long time... the lack of dynamics in pop recordings. Everything is turned up to the maximum loudness.

"The loudness war, what many audiophiles refer to as an assault on music (and ears), has been an open secret of the recording industry for nearly the past two decades and has garnered more attention in recent years as CDs have pushed the limits of loudness thanks to advances in digital technology. The “war” refers to the competition among record companies to make louder and louder albums. But the loudness war could be doing more than simply pumping up the volume and angering aficionados—it could be responsible for halting technological advances in sound quality for years to come."

It's also making people deaf.