As a part-time Mobile DJ, tagging and organising my music library is very important to me. I’ve previously spent hours changing incorrect track information and I currently have around 12,000 songs in my iTunes library. Playlists are essential to manage all the songs and I rely on Smart Playlists to filter genre, new songs, decades, etc. In the same way, giving a rating to each song is also vital so I can easily filter your Arcade Fire from your Aqua.
Now I realise that rating anything is a subjective experience based on the taste of the reviewer so not everyone will agree with my decisions. A good example is the website metacritic.com where they give music, movies and games an average rating out of 100 based on cumulative reviews from known publications. However, I recently realised that even the seemingly simple 5 star rating has hidden depth that can be used in a variety of ways to produce very different results.
For example, some people might only have music in their library that they enjoy or appreciate (probably a lot of people). Therefore 1 star could represent a casual liking of a song, while a 5 star equates to a passionate auditory experience which few songs ever attain. This approach would be similar to the four star rating in Halliwell’s Film Guide, helpfully explained by Chewing Pixels:
all films by default receive a zero star rating. Only exceptionally interesting and important films manage to receive a one or two star rating with a tiny handful (just over 1%) of the 23, 000 odd films covered receiving the maximum recommendation of Four Stars.
For me however, a song in my library always starts as a 3 star by default. This is the middle ground and a safe arena which the majority of tracks fall into; not great but not terrible, just OK. Anything below par becomes a 2 star or, if woefully inadequate and pathetic, a 1 star. In contrast, anything that rises above the norm and stands out becomes a 4 star, with particularly inspired compositions receiving the full 5 stars. Any track that has no stars is classified as not yet rated.
I currently have 408 5 star rated tracks. A random selection includes:
- Arcade Fire – Windowsill
- Daft Punk – One More Time
- Lupe Fiasco – Daydreamin’
- Gorillaz – Dare
- Bloc Party – The Prayer
So how do you rate your music and what’s in your 5 stars?
6 responses to “5 Star Ratings”
See, I’m thinking the difference here is your Mobile DJ role that requires you to keep music of the toe-curling variety at hand in case someone needs to hear the Grease Megamix yet again. Something luckily most don’t have to worry about! 😉
It’s no stars for not yet listened to, 1 if it should be deleted soon (maybe the girlfriend likes it!), 2 for passable, 3 is good and 4 is great. 5 is reserved for things I really like right now, most move down to 4, 3 (even 2) after a few months. That works with the whole thing of really liking a new song now, and makes it easy to find with a Smart Playlist.
Current 5 Star (out of ~60 total):
(Mashups from http://www.bootieusa.com best of 2007/2006)
Lenlow – Work It Out (Beyonce vs. Dave Matthews vs. Jurassic 5 vs. Deee-Lite)
Lobsterdust – Walkin’ Out Yo Girlfriend (Unk vs. Avril Lavigne vs. Toni Basil)
Divide & Kreate – Illiterate City (Jackson 5 vs. Guns N’ Roses)
Thriftshop XL – Do You Wanna Cuz It’s Tricky (Franz Ferdinand vs. Run-DMC vs. The Knack)
Works for me, in my mind there is nothing worse than sticking on your 5 star *best music* list and wanting to skip tracks!
See, I’m thinking the difference here is your Mobile DJ role that requires you to keep music of the toe-curling variety at hand in case someone needs to hear the Grease Megamix yet again. Something luckily most don’t have to worry about! 😉
It’s no stars for not yet listened to, 1 if it should be deleted soon (maybe the girlfriend likes it!), 2 for passable, 3 is good and 4 is great. 5 is reserved for things I really like right now, most move down to 4, 3 (even 2) after a few months. That works with the whole thing of really liking a new song now, and makes it easy to find with a Smart Playlist.
Current 5 Star (out of ~60 total):
(Mashups from http://www.bootieusa.com best of 2007/2006)
Lenlow – Work It Out (Beyonce vs. Dave Matthews vs. Jurassic 5 vs. Deee-Lite)
Lobsterdust – Walkin’ Out Yo Girlfriend (Unk vs. Avril Lavigne vs. Toni Basil)
Divide & Kreate – Illiterate City (Jackson 5 vs. Guns N’ Roses)
Thriftshop XL – Do You Wanna Cuz It’s Tricky (Franz Ferdinand vs. Run-DMC vs. The Knack)
Works for me, in my mind there is nothing worse than sticking on your 5 star *best music* list and wanting to skip tracks!
Good point Steve, the cheese is definitely a down side! I also move tracks from a 5 to a 4 as they move out of favour. I’m liking the recommendations too.
Good point Steve, the cheese is definitely a down side! I also move tracks from a 5 to a 4 as they move out of favour. I’m liking the recommendations too.
Hey Steve,
Now I’ve had a chance to listen to those BootieUSA Mashups, I’m loving them! The ‘Beethoven’s Fifth Gold Digger (Kanye West Vs Beethoven Vs Walter Murphy)’ is inspired and far better than the original!
Thanks again.
Hey Steve,
Now I’ve had a chance to listen to those BootieUSA Mashups, I’m loving them! The ‘Beethoven’s Fifth Gold Digger (Kanye West Vs Beethoven Vs Walter Murphy)’ is inspired and far better than the original!
Thanks again.