Cool...we got some interest..let me try to stir things up
i suggested a user-based system for album rating as it allowed one to personalise their collection, also allows one to calibrate ones likes/dislikes relative to the market. If i have a list of albums that i like and i could compare with others, i have confidence that i can "trust" their recommendations on billboard, amazon,etc. There have been many times when i see an album rated at 4 or 5 but i have no idea whether i will think the same.
Say ppl could post their top 10 to a website on JRiver. but thats for "maybe" the future
. It could also be possible to pull up a rating from billboard, amazon etc and display it next to what the user thought, to see how one's score compared with the market, but i think this has limited value and adds more complexity.
since my albums would average in the 2(!)-3-4 range with the previous formula, the figures after the decimal points would make it harder to see differences. So maybe a system that allowed scores to be more separated out might be more meaningful.
A ranking system based on points. 0-100.
multiplying by an album weight of 20 to separate things out.
Example.
If an album has 10 tracks.
Min.Score = Sum(10(# of tracks) x 1 (rating)) / 10(# of tracks) x 20(album weight)
gives 20 points out of 100.
Max Score = Sum(10(# of tracks) x 5 (rating)) / 10(# of tracks) x 20(album weight)
gives 100 out of 100
If i want to take this further to separate between ratings, i can use a logarithmic scale....by making the assumption. that i like a track of rating 2 twice as much as that of rating 1 and rating 3 twice as much as 2 and so on. This gives another set of weights
Rating Track Weight
1 1
2 2
3 4
4 8
5 16
so taking the previous example. With a modifed album weight of 1.25 ( to get a max score of 100)
Min.Score = Sum(10(# of tracks) x 1 (rating) x 1(track weight 1)) / 10(# of tracks) x 1.25(album weight)
gives 1.25 points out of 100.
Max Score = Sum(10(# of tracks) x 5 (rating) x 16(track weight 5) )/ 10(# of tracks) x 1.25(album weight)
gives 100 out of 100
This should give a better spread of album values. Scores could also be rounded up or down to give a nice whole number view.
An easy way to do this would be to create a custom calculated field called Album ratings. The plugin would calculate the value and populate it on an album basis.
One could then use panes and an appropriate view scheme set up in rating intervals of 10 for a scale of 1-100.
Any albums that dont have all tracks rated automatically get a score of 0.
Forgot to mention another advantage of this plugin, makes it easier to know which albums to take on vacation.