[grandalf]

I have a few theories:

- The people deciding already have significant hearing loss and don't realize

- People who are into venue sound stuff tend to like music very very loud

- The majority of customers are actually relieved not to have the burden of needing to carry on a conversation (b/c doing so is impossible).

Not sure which of the above it is. A similar mystery is why it's considered OK for motorcycles to be extremely loud, even with modified mufflers designed to make them louder. I don't buy the safety argument, since the same could apply to any motor vehicle or pedestrian.