When set up properly, Smart Playlists in iTunes can be very powerful. Up until recently, I used them sparingly (a playlist just for Music Videos, for example). After reading up on what can be done with Smart Playlists, I decided to set some cool ones up in my library. There was a catch – rating music played a huge part in populating those smart playlists. I haven’t rated very much of my music over the years, so I had to make an effort to catch up. Once I started rating my music, I figured out why I hadn’t done it until now – I didn’t have a rating system.

Sure, there are 5 arbitrary stars, but what do they mean? What do I compare songs to, what context do I rate them in?  If I rate songs in my library by comparing them to all of the music out there, my music will come out with uber-high ratings. Everything in my library is better than the latest Rhianna or Britney Spears single, so if I rate my songs against those, my ratings are inflated – all of my songs will have a rating of 4 or 5 stars. This leads to a lack of variety in ratings and a non-natural distribution of ratings from 1 to 5. Because of this, I decided to rethink my scale. Consider this – for a song to be on my computer in the first place, it probably has to be a pretty good song. That’s why someone has songs in their library – they want to listen to them. Wanting to listen to a song makes them inherently “good”, so by that definition, every song in my iTunes library is “good”. With this in mind, I came up with a definite solution – I rate songs by context, not content. What do I mean by that? Well, here’s an outline of my system, with examples.

1 Star – This probably shouldn’t be in my library. I probably included it for completion’s sake (to have all of the tracks on an album, for example). Examples: Mötley Crüe – Glitter, Metallica – Escape.

2 Stars – I only really enjoy listening to this song when I’m in a certain mood. Example: The Smiths – Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, Echo & the Bunnymen – Rescue.

3 Stars – Pretty good whenever I listen to it. Example: The Ben Folds Five – Kate, Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song.

4 Stars – Great song; Probably one of the best on the album, or a cool single I bought from iTunes. Example: Death Cab For Cutie – Pictures In An Exhibition, Depeche Mode – Just Can’t Get Enough.

5 Stars – Classic. Transcendent, awesome, rad. Example: Arcade Fire – Keep The Car Running, Weezer – Island In The Sun, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – Thunder Road (or anything off Born To Run, actually).

Basically, a song’s rating is dependent on how often I will think it is good when I listen to it. In addition, my songs are only rated against each other, not all music. This way, my ratings aren’t inflated, and I have a relatively predictable spread of ratings between 1 to 5 stars. Now I just have to apply this system to rating the rest of my library. The fun begins…