I take a different approach to rating than most. First I only rate records that are in my collection. Thus, I only rate records that I like. If I don't like it, it is not in my collection. How can I be a good judge of something I don't like? Restricting my ratings to music I like, allows me to use the whole ten point scale rather than being locked into using only three through five stars.

The next thing I do, that is different, is I award stars based on a set of evaluation categories. First I evaluate the notoriety of the artist. Do I know a lot about them? Can I look them up in Wikipedia or Allmusic? If so they get one star.

Then I evaluate the album/disc. Is this set of music above average for the artist? It gets one star. Is this collection peak example for it's genre? It gets another star.

Next I rate the individual songs along the same lines as the album. Is it a peak example for the artist and/or genre? If so it gets stars four and/or five.

I then tweak the sum of the stars up or down a half star; to indicate my interest in getting more music by this artist (or not). The result is, on the top half of the ratings I tend to be about a half star lower than most. On the lower half I tend to be a full star lower than most. By using my system, I am doing my part to reduce ratings inflation. How about you? :-)

Rating Tags:

0 = Obscure Artifact (I use this for rare items that are not of any note but I really like the genre)

.5 = Should it stay or should it go? (a place holder)

1 = Of Some Interest

1.5 = Has Potential

2 = Not Bad

2.5 = Keep An Eye On (for more)

3 = Good Stuff

3.5 = Give Me More

4 = Not To Be Missed

4.5 = Turn It Up

5 = Crown Jewel