The quality of musical recordings has been going down for several decades.
I listened to an old Paul McCartney/Wings album (on CD) a while back. The quality of the recording was shocking compared to the recording quality going out today (and I’m talking about mainstream commercial albums of today.) In other words, even commercial recording companies are scrimping on quality.
I can remember having a discussion with someone years ago who swore that the mp3 format would never catch on, because the quality was soo much poorer than a CD. Boy, was he wrong.
Look at the equipment people are using to listen to music with today. An ipod with earplugs. Even the BEST earplugs are sub-standard compared to full blown headphones (which pale compared to a full blown stereo system.)
Most people don’t buy music because of its recording quality, they buy it because they like the music. A basement recording artists today can put out a recording that is “good enough” quality wise to satisfy 90%+ of most people.
Also consider the musical style. If you like the symphony and opera, recording quality will be higher on your scale. How important is recording quality to the typical death-metal fan? Good enough is about all that is required.
To make a long story short, I’ve heard people argue “quality, quality” for a couple of decades, but I just don’t see a huge market for quality. Heck, you don’t even see the record companies pushing the fact that the sound off a CD is better than the sound of an mp3 (which they would be if they thought it would make any difference.)
Who buys music? I don’t know about today, but in the ‘70s and ‘80s the typical record buyer was a male between 14 and 21 (young men bought way more records than women.)
I am not an audiophile. Back in my youth in the 70's and 80's, I generally would record songs off FM radio or my turntable onto cassette tape and play it on my walkman. Sound quality mattered less than liking the music.