there's no consistency, is there? you could like a song just as much as someone else, and he gives it an eight and you a six. music magazines will periodically roll out a ten, but i'm one of those tedious pedants who thinks ten out of ten should mean nigh on perfect, and should be reserved for albums like 'More Songs About Buildings And Food', and '...But Seriously' by Phil Collins.
therefore, in an attempt to standardize the rating of music on a numerical scale, i have suggested a 10 point scale replete with loose descriptions by which i think music my usefully be rated.
0 - entirely worthless
1 - plain terrible
2 - really crappy
3 - crappy
4 - kinda crappy
5 - okay, but...
6 - quite good
7 - good
8 - very good
9 - excellent
10 - nigh on perfect
to calibrate the scale, i suggest taking the ratings 2, 4, 6 and 8 out of 10 - if people nominate a song for each that is definitively of that rating, we can move towards a common understanding of the 10 point scale. or alternatively, you might want to refute the scale i have described, and suggest a different one with examples.
we have an obligation to succeed, for the good of mankind.
(yes, yes, i know it's fundamentally retarded. do it anyway.)
― Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 10 March 2005 12:37 (twenty-one years ago)
as my opening gambit:
2/10 - 'Vertigo' by U2
4/10 - 'Soldier' by Destiny's Child
6/10 - 'No No No' by Destiny's Child
8/10 - 'Bills Bills Bills' by Destiny's Child
― Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 10 March 2005 12:37 (twenty-one years ago)
Are we talking songs or albums here, 'cos you start of about songs then mention albums.
― andyjack, Thursday, 10 March 2005 13:14 (twenty-one years ago)
You only need a two-point scale, viz.:
10/10 - worth buying/downloading
0/10 - not worth buying/downloading.
― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 10 March 2005 13:21 (twenty-one years ago)
Everything should either be given maximum points or nul points. Either it's worth you investing your time and money in it or it isn't. End of story.
― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 10 March 2005 13:22 (twenty-one years ago)
you can still come up with ratings for albums by counting the number of worthwhile songs and dividing by the total number of songs. that's the best way to judge albums. maybe giving a bonus point for an extremely good song should be allowed.
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 10 March 2005 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)
i like that idea in priciple, Alex, but that means you ignore overall themes like cohesion.
the binary thing is bit rubbish, really. i think it's only natural to compare albums or songs with each other, even if they are both worthwhile. i practically do it without even meaning to, and i'm sure most people are the same. that's probably where ratings came form in the first place.
once you have an idea of how your scale works, it's equally applicable to albums and songs. i chose songs for the calibration because it's easier and mostly less contentious.
― Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 10 March 2005 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)