I always knew that based on the recording and production process, some tracks play louder than others. But I never knew that this was done intentionaly to make a track “stand out” or more noticeable when played back to back with other tracks, such as from a jukebox. And these wars for sound level happened mostly around the time when a particular media format is most popular.
Yup, it’s mainly pushed by the medium the track will be reproduced on. You don’t expect an ambient tune to be squeezed as much as a pop track for example, since people will rarely be blasting that on their car stereos.
Personally I’d rather keep a balance between both, I like dynamics on my stuff.