My initial intention when approaching any track is to explore the characteristics that make it unique, then decide if I need to adjust, preserve, or support them.
Mastering has become my primary focus because of its unique fulcrum point between technicality and creativity. My specific interests, under the broad scope of 'music', feel most connected to the practice of mastering.
Observing and understanding various metering types to gain information. Mastering being the last stage of the creative process means quality control is imperative.
Understanding how every move I make will change the listener's emotional response to the track. And finding the best combination of processing units to achieve a maximised response from the listener.
Ensureing every elemnt of the track can be heard clearly and in balance, through any playback system is a difficult challenge, but one I will rise to every time. Translatability is key.
While loudness can be maximised, it is not my main priority - unless it is made clear to me that it is a priority for you. It is becoming increasingly known that most streaming platorms now have fairly complex backends, that are pimarily designed for loudness management accross all tracks on their website. I translate this into my practice, as having more freedom to make the track sound as good rather than as loud as possible.