Do you rate your music?

I don't. I don't really see any point in it. You could always make smartlists by other filters and still get the same results :p.

Nope. I use the ratings to identify songs on my iPod that need to be adjusted when I'm back on iTunes:
* = delete
** = rerip, or purchase a legitimate copy
*** = retag, or add to a manual playlist
**** = check this whole album for profanity
***** = contains profanity, add a tag to the Comments field

Originally posted by kojak
Never. I don't really see a point. I figure if I didn't like the song, it wouldn't be on my iPod. If I come across a tune I'm not in the mood for, I just press skip...

...but, chances are you'll hear that same song again. When I hear a dog, I TAG it with a rating so it is either excluded from my playlists or is deleted outright.

All right, I'll take that back.

There is *one* dog: the song "Girls" by Dwight Twilley. Hated it from day one. But for some reason I cannot bring myself to delete it from the iPod...

Yes, it's a cool feature. I don't know why I really do it though.

Originally posted by markp99
YES! I use these ratings with MC9 to build Smart Playlists

My system:

1. All new music starts at 3 by default
2. Favorites get 4 or 5
3. Keepers stay at 3
4. Not so favorites, but part of an album gets a 2
5. Dogs get a 1 - and are removed from library/iPod as soon as possible.

I have playlists that give me JUST 3's and higher by genre, and favorites by genre...

Works great!

This is more or less my system:
1 star means delete
2 mean like it enough not to delete
3 mean like it
4 love it
5 really love it

e.g. I have a all-star fave list with all 5 stars

Only thing is all newly added songs don't get rated but go to a smart playlist (unrated) where I will rate as I hear 'em.

why would i rate _my_ music? like i didn't know if i like it or ..?

I use ratings to make 'Best of' playlists by artist and genre. I could make them manually, but its much harder to make adjustments and I often forget to update my manual lists.

With the ratings, I just import a cd, rate the tracks, and they are automatically stuck into various lists that they meet the requirements of.

Originally posted by TrappedOnEarth
Well... You can like something in varying degrees. By rating your music, you can create specialized Smart Playlists that may include your favorites or just your ultimate top favorites, etc. It is very handy when dealing with thousands of songs and perhaps you just want to listen to your favorites of a certain artists or genre, etc.

i use "mood" playlists. so i create playlists for how i feel. i can have heavy and classical music in the same list, if they are the same FEEL. so, some examples ... salsa (as a mood), white (as relax), world music (anything of any language), mecano (as mood), dave brubeck kind of things etc.

Originally posted by legofreak769
there is really no point in rating the music if all the music you listen to is music you like!:cool:

Are you saying you like every song equally?

I dont know about you, but when I buy a cd there are always some favorites, some songs that are okay, and some that stink.

By the way, I've been wondering this - if I need to reformat my computer, is there a way I can back up all of my ratings?

... and when I plug my iPod full of music back into the reformatted computer, will it see that there's nothing on my hard drive and delete all the songs on the iPod to match it?

it is a cool feature.. but i'm just too lazy.. and it's hard to rate without having to think :P

MC9 makes smartlists too, but it can't be done on ephPOD.

Bill McNair

Yep. I rate my music. 1-5, 1 being worst and 5 being best like many others.

I haven't done that yet, but it seems like a smart idea..

Yeah, although I often find myself going back through and changing ratings... Oh well. I've got plenty of spare time ~_~

I have never used the rating system but now I have some good ideas of great ways to using it to my advantage. Thanks, all!

Sometimes..

i find no need to