Rate the records you own

Public ratings describe a general audience. Your rating describes whether you will play it again. Those are different questions, and a famous album you never reach for can score lower, on your shelf, than a single nobody else would bother to rate.

You can leave records unrated. A score on everything is less useful than a score on the ones you have strong feelings about. An empty rating means you have not decided. It does not mean the record is bad.

The score stays on the copy, in your vault. It is not published, and it is not an average of other collectors. Statistics can show the shape of the ratings you did give, so you can see whether the shelf is full of records you love or records you have not made your mind up about.

The score does not change the price guide. A record you rated highly can be worth very little, and a record you do not enjoy can be the scarce one. Value uses the price you typed, or a market guide. The rating is the opinion.

Notes are the place for why. A rating of its own, years later, can be mysterious. A line that says why you kept it, or why you nearly sold it, is the part you will be glad of.

Rate a record on its page when you have an opinion. Leave the others until you do. Statistics includes ratings with the rest of the shelf, and the collection value line stays a separate figure.

Nobody else sees the scores. A shared house does not share a vault unless you share the sign-in, which is a bad idea if the ratings are personal.