Hi Mr. Messina.

Given the arcane nature of this problem and difficulty educating the public, what can we do about it? The only artists I recall complaining about it are, oddly enough, old-timers Bob Dylan and Neil Young. And Neil Young mistakenly blamed data compression.

I'm assuming you're talking about mastering or over compression so that the CD is as loud as it can be.
There's nothing wrong with having your mix 'jump out' at you. This doesn't mean you over compress your mix just to make it loud. You can get that 'jump out' result from a good arrangement, and good mixing technique.
I don't want to spend my time trying to educate the public, or change the world, for that matter. Things change on a large scale when people do what they believe in, and stick to it. I'm not saying I ignore the level of what the music is at these days. I make my music as competitive as it has to be without resorting to methods I don't believe it.

Thanks for your response!