It's the "loudness wars" in pop, i.e. he who uses the top of the dynamic range the most wins, loudness is all the counts to get the attention of the listener.

Who's at fault? Maybe the listener for buying this crap; it's about the money, uh sales. Producers compete in this uninformed market environment.

So, buy jazz and classical, let pop die in its swamp of harshness.

Who loses? The artists, unfortunately.