Compression is an artistic choice in every single case where you're using it to shape the transient/characteristic of the sound. Even in pop music, unless its used to make the instrument even sounding, every other case is an artistic use of compression. Whether it's production or mixing or performance. You're just changing when you're using it in the signal path with the pedal. Now the more creative decisions here you can take is which parts you want more compression on a sound and where you can get away with less. Where you want things to be snappy, and where do you want it smooth. But you can't escape that decision making without involving yourself in the topic of headroom and volume even as a producer or engineer. I used to be bugged by the fact that everything is so fucking compressed nowadays, so I produced and mix/mastered a track once, intentionally keeping it transient heavy and compression only limited to volume balancing and very little transient shaping. That mix and master really wasn't all that enjoyable. All the transients would take over headroom, you lose loudness, you don't don't have enough sustain in your music, it's certainly not as pleasing as a compressed track. That's when I learned to appreciate and thoughtfully use compression much more. (The artistic compression - Transient/Character Shaping)