Songwriter, producer, instrumentalist, critic.

My ratings all come down to how essential the records in question are to my own personal musical aesthetic.

Let's imagine I were teaching a year-long college course on listening.

The 4 - 5 range is populated by records with an extremely high likelihood of appearing on the syllabus. I might even assign a term paper on one of them.

At 3.5, the records fall into a slightly more esoteric "useful for illustrating a particular point, artist, or genre" category. There would undoubtedly be some - quite a few, perhaps - that made the syllabus. However, due to time constraints, many would not make the cut. I might assign a short essay on one of them.

2.5 and 3 are two sides of the same coin. I recognize both as moderately effective pieces of music. The difference comes down to personal preference. A 3 indicates something for which I have some degree - if not a great degree - of personal fondness. A 2.5 denotes something for which I have little fondness (or in some cases, a great deal of contempt). A few, but not many, of these records would undoubtably make the syllabus. I might give a quiz on one of them.

2 or below suggests something that I find wholly ineffective, lacking of depth, formulaic, excessively commercially motivated, or any other damning descriptive one can muster. The highest end of the scale is populated by records held in generally high esteem by some respectable individuals. The lower end is reserved for, in my humble opinion, the absolute worst of the worst. I might play very short examples in class to illustrate (ridicule?) a particular artist or genre, but that's where it would end.